Noname Calls Off ‘Factory Baby’ Album: “I’m Not Sure If I’ll Ever Make Music Again”

Noname announced Factory Baby, what would have been her third studio album, in February of this year.

Earlier this year, Noname announced her third studio album, Factory Baby, would be arriving by the end of 2021. But it appears the critically-acclaimed Chicago rapper won’t be dropping anything anytime soon. 

Over the weekend, Noname took to Instagram (see below) to reveal she’s put an indefinite hold on Factory Baby, citing a creative block and an inability to connect with producers in the years since the release of her sophomore album, Room 28. “Most days I’m not sure if I’ll ever make music again,” the rapper admitted in a story posted on Sunday. “The last time I was consistently making songs was four years ago. It’s been so hard to find producers to link up with and who I genuinely connect with sonically,” she added. 

“No lie this shit actually makes me incredibly sad and I rarely leave the crib these days,” the rapper lamented before admitting she may have jumped the gun in announcing the album in the first place. “I don’t want to keep lying and saying there’s an album on the way when there’s not.”

The Factory Baby campaign commenced at the top of the year with the release of the politically-edged loosie, “Rainforest,” which was produced by sound designer and perpetually viral Twitter beatmaker, The Kount. The song marked her first release in roughly six months and followed the Madlib-produced “Song 33,” which found the rapper returning fire after being targeted by J. Cole on “Snow On Tha Bluff.”

Though the musical output seems to be paused for the time being, her book club, aptly titled, Noname Book Club, is still up and running. And it has a new HQ in Los Angeles. Subscribe to the club’s Patreon page and keep up with their monthly picks via Instagram.