Cordae has closed out the year with the distinction of having delivered the most watched TED Talk of 2022 with nearly five million views in just six months.
Using his rise in the music industry as a foundation, the 25-year-old delivered a presentation in April called “How a ‘Hi Level’ mindset helps you realize your potential.” The Lost Boy rapper began by saying it was his mom who first showed him the “Hi-Level Mindset,” which led to him being disciplined and optimistic for the future.
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“The Hi-Level Mindset wasn’t something that she directly taught me or purposefully instilled in me, but something I learned simply by observation,” Cordae said. “The Hi-Level Mindset is a philosophy, it’s a wavelength to apply to your everyday thoughts and regiment.”
To date, the video has been watched 3.2 million times directly on the TED website, and has garnered an additional 1.5 million views since being uploaded to the non-profit organization’s YouTube page six months ago.
Cordae’s “Hi Level” TED Talk beat out presentations by Bill Gates — with whom the North Carolina native connected over the summer — media personality Bevy Smith and WNBA superstar Candace Parker, who also landed on the “Top 10 TED Talks of 2022” list.
In June, Cordae teased that he had begun working on the follow up to his sophomore effort From a Birds Eye View, tweeting: “I always gain hella weight when I’m in album mode smh,” before adding the following day: “Time to drop some music. Fuck allat waiting shit. I feel better.”
Since then, he’s delivered the double single “So With That”/”Unacceptable,” which he followed up with “Checkmate” alongside Hit-Boy in September and “Feel The Air” earlier this month.
From a Birds Eye View arrived in January and debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard 200. The project boasted features from Eminem, Lil Wayne, Gunna, Lil Durk, Freddie Gibbs, Roddy Ricch, Stevie Wonder, H.E.R. and Ant Clemons.
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Fans are expecting Cordae to drop more lyrical heat on his next album, something he credits greats like JAY-Z for inspiring him to do. During an interview for Complex‘s “G.O.A.T. Talk” series in March, the former YBN member named Hov as his favorite rapper while quoting one of his favorite lines.
“There’s this Hov line,” he said. “HOV’s like, everybody’s favorite rapper, so sometimes I feel a little pretentious saying HOV is my favorite rapper, but it’s just the fucking truth, honestly. But this line is like, ‘Do you fools listen to music or do you just skim through it?’ I love that. I felt that muthafucka, boy.”
