Noname takes lethal aim at Beyoncé, JAY-Z, Kendrick Lamar and Rihanna in her song “Namesake” from her new LP, Sundial. On Friday, the Chicago native focused her ire at these four superstars for being closely associated with the NFL. In addition, the track criticizes them for performing at the Super Bowl and, in JAY-Z’s case, for being the league’s figurehead designed to improve its social justice optics.
“Everybody got their role, don’t be an opp / Everybody got their roles, I’m a play mine / Like Scooby-Doo in a haunted house/ I see the ghost that they talkin’ ’bout, I see the signs,” Noname asserted. “Read in between the line at the crime scene / I ain’t f**kin’ with the NFL or JAY-Z / Propaganda for the military complex / The same gun that shot Lil Terry / Out west the same gun that shot some Samir in the west’s back / We all think the Superbowl’s the best thing.”
As the song moves into the chorus, the self-proclaimed activist interrogates Kendrick Lamar, Bey and Rihanna for their NFL connections. Toward the end, Noname does some self-examination as she criticizes herself for collaborating with Coachella, accepting that she’s just as bad as the people she’s targeting.
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“Go, Rihanna, go / Watch the fighter jet fly high / War machine gets glamorized / We play the game to pass the time/ Go, Beyoncé, go / Watch the fighter jet fly high / War machine gets glamorized / We play the game to pass the time,” she added. “Go, Kendrick, go / Watch the fighter jet fly high / War machine gets glamorized / We play the game to pass the time/ Go, Noname, go / Coachella stage got sanitized / I said I wouldn’t perform for them / And somehow I still fell in line.”
Hov and Roc Nation partnered with the National Football League in 2019. With the deal, the 53-year-old became the league’s live music entertainment strategist and looked to push social justice efforts. The arrangement arrived after the NFL kept former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick out of the league following his protest against oppression, police brutality and racial injustice.
In his new role, JAY-Z used it to open the avenue for more hip-hop and R&B acts to take the sport’s biggest stage. Super Bowl performers have included Kendrick, Bey, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige and Anderson.Paak. Rihanna took the stage earlier this year during Super Bowl LVII.
