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When Kendrick Lamar, Jay Z, Beyonce, and Rihanna Were Dissed for Their Relationship With NFL
A scathing look back at rapper Noname's bold diss track calling out music's biggest stars for their relationships with the controversial NFL amidst racism allegations.
In the summer of 2023, as the world eagerly awaited new music from the reclusive Chicago rapper Noname, few could have predicted the firestorm she was about to unleash. Her album Sundial, ending a five-year hiatus, contained a searing indictment of some of music's biggest names for their cozy relationships with the National Football League (NFL).
Noname Fires Shots at Hip-Hop Royalty Over NFL Ties
On the track Namesake, Noname trained her sights on Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, and Rihanna, chastising them for performing at the Super Bowl halftime show and aligning themselves with an organization mired in controversy over its treatment of Colin Kaepernick and lack of action on racial injustice.
Her lyrics pulled no punches: "I ain't fucking with the NFL or JAY-Z, Propaganda for the military complex, the same gun that shot lil' Terry." Noname evoked the names of Black victims of police violence to underscore her stance against the NFL's shortcomings on racial equity.
But she didn't stop there. Adopting a mocking cheer-squad cadence, she took stinging jabs at music's most prominent entertainers:
"Go, Rihanna, go! Watch the fighter jet fly high/War machine gets glamorized, we play the game to pass the time."
"Go, Beyoncé, go! Watch the fighter jet fly high/War machine gets glamorized, we play the game to pass the time."
"Go, Kendrick, go! Watch the fighter jet fly high/War machine gets glamorized, we play the game to pass the time."
In a startling display of self-awareness, Noname didn't spare herself from criticism either: "Go, Noname, go! Coachella stage got sanitized/ I said I wouldn't perform for them and somehow I still fell in line… fuck!"
The NFL’s Controversial Ties With Jay-Z and More
Noname's blistering bars reignited the longstanding debate over the NFL's troubling race relations. Jay-Z's business partnership with the league in 2019 had drawn heavy criticism, seen by some as a craven money grab that gave the NFL a pass after blackballing Colin Kaepernick for his iconic kneeling protests against police brutality.
While Jay-Z maintained he was aiming to change the system from within, the outrage over artists like Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, and later Rihanna taking the massively prominent Super Bowl stage seemed to lend credence to allegations that entertainment's elite were simply cashing in, principles be damned.
Rihanna's About-Face
Rihanna famously rejected a 2019 Super Bowl invitation, telling Vogue, "I just couldn't be a sellout. There's things within that organization that I do not agree with at all."
However, after becoming a mother, she had a change of heart, defending her 2023 halftime show by stating: "It's powerful to break those doors and have representation at such a high level...It sends a really strong message."
Amidst the deluge of think pieces and social media frenzies that followed Sundial's release, one thing was clear: Noname's fearless willingness to hold musical icons accountable over matters of racial justice and ethics firmly cemented her status as hip-hop's voice of conscious dissent.
While her scalding bars deeply polarized fans, her message undoubtedly impacted the public discourse. As Noname herself acknowledged, "We all think the Super Bowl is the best thing," but her words forced us to rethink the ethical lines we're willing to cross for entertainment's biggest stage.
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