These are better times for talented female rappers. It’s taken a long time baby, but in addition to Britain’s fab Kate Tempest (watch her own tempestuous Tiny Desk Concert HERE), Chicago’s Noname is a serious word-force-of-nature. Aided and abetted by some chance encounters with Noname (first on Chance The Rapper’s Acid Rap and Donnie Trumpet’s/Chance’s Surf and then Chance’s subsequent Coloring Book), we strained for years to learn more of this eloquent and emotive rapper. Thankfully, last summer she revealed far more with her first mix-tape, the impressive and critically-acclaimed Telefone (centered around important phone conversations she’s had).

You can now check her out via her Tiny Desk Concert below. Though Noname (Fatimah Warner) evidently almost missed her Tiny Desk owing to illness, watch below as she fights through and delivers impressively and movingly throughout her set. Served well by bandmates Connor Baker (drums), Brian Sanborn (guitar), Phoelix (bass, vocals), and Akenya Seymour (piano, vocals), Noname tugs hard at the synapses and hearts of listeners. Yours truly anyway. Great stuff. Go forward and prosper.

Noname and band are out on tour. They’re playing the Observatory in Santa Ana this Friday and you can get tickets HERE. Other dates can be found HERE.

Telefone is available now on iTunes or via Spotify.