Che Noir, Food For Thought

By Leo Hewitt-Provost

01/21/2022

Che Noir, the Buffalo-born rapper delivered Food for Thought, her latest release  featuring 38 Spesh, Ransom, Jynx716, 7xvethegenius, Armani Caesar and Rome Streetz.

Originally supposed to come out on the 17th of December 2021 after Bless the Food and Praises came out respectively on November 19th and December 3rd, the album was delayed and eventually saw the light on the 21st of January 2022.

The track list had been revealed a while ago, and the theme for the album and its title is a phrase Che Noir says she has been living by for some years, explaining that she has always connected to people mentally instead of physically because ‘the physical is what you can see and I am all about what you cannot see’, furthermore she believes some aspects of a person’s life are inside of them, that you are unable to see them if you do not connect with them.

Food for thought is composed of 12 tracks and begins with Split the Bread after Eat to Live (intro), a track showcasing what people are going to expect in this project, with the scratches, Che Noir’s cold delivery and the instrumental all sounding excellent, and even that sounds like an understatement for what you are truly listening to.

Che Noir was born to rap so effortlessly on Eat or Starve, she shows why she is in her own lane and is not preoccupied about the industry and what they have to say, Jynx716 features on the song and kills his verse.

The Food for Thought can be seen as a double-entendre, whilst the literal meaning of the album title means to consider something with close attention, Che Noir uses this opportunity to name every track on the record to a food related topic or essential way of life. The same way rapping is an essential way of life for Che Noir.

On tracks like Bless the Food and Praises, having trust issues whilst trying to build an empire after the struggle of her childhood in Buffalo often come hand in hand for hard-working and dedicated people who set their mind for success and leave no room for errors: ‘Biggie lyrics but in the mirror it’s Pac’s reflection […] never trust a team member that always agree with you.’ Those two bars in the same train of thoughts tell so much about what Che Noir wants and what she will do to achieve it.

On Ladies Brunch, we have three lyrical geniuses, with Che Noir, 7xvethegenius and Armani Caesar, this song is the embodiment of flawless and it will take quite a while to take this track in in its 4 minutes runtime with the number of bars we are getting. The song sounds like it could feature in The Godfather, but we got to make sure to take out the ‘father’ part and replace it by ‘mother’

Table for 3 which served as the final single for the album, features Ransom and 38 Spesh, with minimalist vocals in the background, these three all compliment each other, Ransom raps like he breathes: naturally, and 38 Spesh’s presence is always a bowl of fresh air, some bars in that song might go over some people’s heads but we have to let this be, rap excellence is not meant to be understood by everybody.

Gold Cutlery features Rome Streetz, who had one of the best years in hip-hop in 2021, over this melodic beat, Che Noir and Rome Streetz’s chemistry is quite exceptional as they both display their pens and their vocals match perfectly with the instrumental.

In Brains for Dinner, Che Noir’s flow slightly varies as she sounds much more conversational and the sample at the start of the song and used at times to give her a breather is something different and refreshing to see.

Something that frustrates me is that I will never get to hear Che Noir rap over the beautiful instrumental that can be heard on Water to Wine (Skit), but skits are often just that: a teaser that does not necessarily set up a song but in this case it does, and it is perfect.

In Communion, the last track of the album, Che Noir is at her best and talks about life in general and losses she has mourned throughout her life, she is very reflective and explains that her childhood was tough and as a result has needed to go to therapy because of anxiety and the song is simply stunning and strikes the listener in a way that had not been seen until this last track.