Chicago rapper Fatimah Warner burst through in 2016 with her jazzy debut Telefone, a soulful and genuinely optimistic volume. Sophomore album Room 25 features a deepening of her sound with added edge, commencing immediately on album starter “Self.” At just 35 minutes, she’s now produced one of the tightest and most complete albums of 2018, while advancing philosophical wax on contextual freedoms of her black body. On “Prayer Song,” she describes institutional racism through a corrupt cop’s thoughts. “Window,” the subsequent track, finds her curt in exposing her insides: “I know you never loved me but I fucked you anyway/ I guess a bitch like to gamble/ I guess a bitch like to lonely.” (2:45pm, HomeAway stage)

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This article appears in October 5 • 2018.

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Kahron Spearman is a journalist and writer with bylines including The Austin Chronicle, Austin Monthly, Consequence of Sound, Texas Highways, and the London-based journal The Break-Down. He currently serves as Senior Editor at Atmosphere TV.