The author, Donna-Claire Chesman, accounts her rocky relationship with her mother. Unlike how Noname’s “Hold Me Up” describes mothers, Chesman’s mother was not emotionally available. Noname’s song describes a mother as being there for you always, even when times are tough, but sometimes, “that ain’t good enough.” Chesman’s mother struggles to relate to her and openly wishes for her to be a good girl and marry a good man. However, Chesman’s mother also uplifts Chesman’s eccentric behavior and takes pride in  her “nature and resolve”, which was inherited from her mother. Unlike how Noname portrays a matriarch in the song, Chesman feels that having a “hallmark” mother is unattainable. However, Noname uses a lot of juxtaposition, which shows how rocky a relationship with your mother can be. Chesman’s feels apart from her mother, especially when she’s afraid about how her mother feels when she tells her that she is gay. “Noname’s tickling and escapist raps are a performance of the same tricks and hedging I do when trying to paint a full picture of ‘Mother’.” Noname’s song “Bye Bye Baby” portrays an abortion as selfless and thoughtful. This relates to Chesman’s relationship with her mother through the times her mother has “groomed” her and Chesman wishes her mother were more discerning. “This tenderness in the face of grief, how tenderness can eclipse grief in potent flashes, says more about our relationship than I ever could.”