Noname cancels album release: “it shouldn’t be this hard”

We've been highly anticipating Factory Baby, the followup to Noname's 2018 album Room 25 that she said would drop later this year, but other than excellent new single "Rainforest" in February, there's been no further word on it. Over the weekend, Noname went on her Instagram to explain the delay. "Most days I'm not sure if I'll ever make music again," she said. "The last time I was consistently making songs was 4 years ago. It's been so hard to find producers to link up with and who I genuinely connect with sonically."

"I'm truly grateful for the art I was able to release but that might be it from me," she continued. "Like it shouldn't be this hard. No like this shit actually makes me incredibly sad and I rarely leave the crib these days. I don't want to keep lying and saying there's an album on the way when there's not. I'm sorry I've led y'all on. I wanted to believe things would change but they haven't."

Noname's statement comes as "Rainforest" has been appearing on Best Songs of 2021 lists, including Rolling Stone's and NPR's. Stream it below.

The Noname Book Club remains active, and you can keep up with each month's picks on Instagram and subscribe on Patreon.