Beyoncé celebrates Juneteenth with her new song “Black Parade“. Take a listen.

Also, listen to the extended version exclusively on Tidal.

Chicago musician Noname has responded to J. Cole in her latest release “Song 33.” If you recall, two days ago we broke down the Noname/J.Cole beef and why many were calling Cole’s controversial song “Snow on Tha Bluff” misogynist and patriarchal. Noname appears to address the diss track and more on her latest release “Song 33.”

As soon as you press play the track hits you right in the feels. A sample saying “Oh, I have ambitions, dreams / But dreams don’t come cheap” opens the song, then immediately we listen to Noname discuss the patriarchal society in which Black women are forced to exist – a society that undervalues and ignores Black women. She said Oluwatoyin Salu’s name.

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I saw a demon on my shoulder / it’s looking like patriarchy

Like scrubbing blood off the ceiling and bleaching another carpet

She takes aim at J. Cole for staying silent while Black women routinely “go missing,” yet immediately having something to say when she called him out on it. 

One girl missing another one go missing / One girl missing another

But niggas in the back quiet as a church mouse / Basement studio when duty calls to get the verse out

Noname lists all the brutalities happening to Black people and Black women while at the same time, calling him to action. She reminds us Black women are going missing. 

I guess the ego hurt now / It’s time to go to work / Wow

Look at him go / He really ‘bout to write about me when the world is in smokes?

When it’s people in trees?

She then criticizes the internet at large for being too easily distracted by the “beef” and losing sight of “the new world order.” 

It’s trans women being murdered and this is all he can offer?

And this is all y’all receive? / Distracting you from the convo wit organizers

They talkin abolishing the police

This the new world order

Noname has always been an outspoken champion for Black women’s rights, often bringing attention to crimes committed against Black women that regularly go unheard. In her response to J. Cole, the musician again uses her platform to not only highlight the inherent patriarchy that causes so many Black female victims of violent crime to go unnoticed and forgotten, but to also galvanize Cole, to publicly and boldly challenge him and everyone listening to be the vanguards of a more just and equitable society. 

Noname’s call to action is one that has been repeated by women of color for years. Tarana Burke (below), a woman of color and the founder of the “Me Too” Movement, initially began saying the phrase to remind women of color that they are not alone when they struggle with coping with sexual harassment and sexual assault. 

Kimberlé Crenshaw (below), another woman of color and an outspoken feminist and civil rights activist, coined the term “intersectionality” to explain the myriad obstacles Black women face in society and how those obstacles compound on one another to create a unique brand of discrimination against them.

As we take each and every day, but especially this Juneteenth, to reflect on the painful history of the United States and remember the priceless cost of freedom, we must heed Noname’s call and begin to acknowledge the ways we Black Americans are not free, the ways Black women are not free. 

And we must do it in a QUEEN TONE!!!