In this track, Noname raps about the fears and difficulties that kept her from completing this album and seizing the opportunities presented to her.
[Verse 1: Noname]
Opportunity knockin', a nigga was out for coffee
Inadequate like my window, the Grammys is way too lofty
And I could stay here forever, I could die here
I don't have to try here; can I get my two sugars please?
Jesus made an album, I'm still waiting in the line for cream
She dream in techni-color, live black and white
Opportunity knockin', a nigga just got her nails done
Skeletons in my closet gon' open the door when Yale come
They ain't gonna wanna see my silhouette rap
He's fucking cognac, my smile in all black
Mississippi vagabond; Granny gon' turn up in her grave
And say, "My granny really was a slave for this?
All your uncompleted similes and pages ripped
You know they whipped us niggas, how you afraid to rap it?
You went to heaven after so we could free them now
Ain't no ocean floor when you can be a Yeezus now."
[Hook: Eryn Allen Kane]
Don't fear the light that dwells deep within
You are powerful beyond what you imagine
Just let your light glow
[Verse 2: Noname]
Seventeen moments and cloudy days on my snap
Mysterious aberration, illuminated the trap
My telefone-calications synonymous with the sunrise
Mountains against the foreground forever me coming back
I ain't gonna cry; the last time Ali marched Chicago
Twenty-four and a late mojo teaching me how to drive
Whole world inside my rearview, this feeling, me so alive
This feeling, me so alive, enjoy the joyride
Opportunity knockin', it's finally time to answer
The doorbell was only broken cause auntie was fighting cancer
And cigarettes on my mantle keep callin me by my first name
Loving me when I'm lonely, pretending they really Noname
[Hook: Eryn Allen Kane]
Don't fear the light that dwells deep within
You are powerful beyond what you imagine
Just let your light glow
[Outro: Akenya]
And when that call comes (You better say hello)
You better say hello, no hesitation
(You better, yeah) No hiding deep down below
No beg your pardon (You better stay and grow)
You better stay and grow your liberation
(You better, yeah) For your lonely soul
Or you’ll be on your own
Reality Check was written by Akenya & Eryn Allen Kane & Noname.
Reality Check was produced by Cam O’bi.
Noname released Reality Check on Sun Jul 31 2016.
When Noname says “she” in the first verse, it seems as though she’s talking about herself.
Not only does it make sense in the context of the verse, but she also refers to herself as “a nigga” when she describes what kept her from taking her opportunities. Given that she refers to herself in the thi...
Cam O'bi: “I never actually listened to ‘30 Hours’ while we were making ‘Reality Check’… It was in the back of my head, but my memory of songs strays from the song itself, and I kind of like that because it lets me make something different. I did the drum beat similar to how I remember ‘30 Hours’ an...