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Music

Noname's TV Debut on 'Colbert' Was a Glorious Statement of Intent

She played a three-song medley of 'Room 25' songs with a live band, and she crushed it.

Noname's first proper album, Room 25, is a month old now; it's still in my everyday rotation, and it's likely going to stay there well into next year. It's fearless, eloquent, witty, lusciously produced, and totally devoid of needless frills and flashy guest spots. It takes everything that made Telefone, her 2016 debut tape, so exciting, then boils off everything extraneous. It's the type of record that people will look back on in three years, when Noname is universally regarded as a straight-up star, as a career-defining moment. It rules. She rules.

She made her solo TV debut last night, and, appropriately, she started at the top, skipping right over every other late-night show and going straight to Colbert. And than playing it safe by, I dunno, bringing Saba and Smino with her for "Ace," she played a three-song medley of "Blaxploitation," "Prayer Song," and "Don't Forget About Me" with a live band. She roved the stage and spat her lyrics out as though she was performing a dramatic monologue. It was a refreshingly confident and captivating few minutes of late-night TV, and you should watch it all at the top of the page.

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