It was all good just two years for YBN Nahmir – who at the time – was the frontman for the newly established YBN collective. His SouncCloud smash “Rubbin off the Paint” was an instant hit and just like A$AP Rocky back in 2011, the group revolved exclusively around one man and one man only – everyone else who bore the prefix acronym was simply an extra in the music videos or a weed carrier. But in the case of the Young Boss Niggas, Nahmir slowly slipped out of the zeitgeist and the group’s wittiest wordsmith, YBN Cordae, stepped into the limelight thanks to a slew of consistent viral freestyles and fierce feature verses.
Now not only is he carrying the YBN torch but also the only one keeping it lit. The fuel to this fire is found all throughout Cordae’s debut album The Lost Boy which encapsulates everything a Gen Z rapper should be aiming for; young gun energy mixed with traditional skill.
Both buckets are thoroughly satisfied within the first two tracks. The album’s intro “Wintertime” parades Cordae’s old soul as well as boasts his lyrical dexterity. Cardiak provides him a pleasantly ponderous boom-bap beat and Cordae gets off contemplative lines like “Whoever said shit was easy forever lied/I mesmerize, how simple decisions can jeopardize/When Martin Luther cheated and stared in Coretta’s eyes/This is lyrical exercise, told my idols to step aside”. But as soon as said track wraps up, he’s onto one of the album’s straight espresso shots, “Have Mercy” – a more contemporary cut that knocks at parties and inside AirPods alike.
Where most of Cordae’s contemporaries would keep these hits and conscious cuts completely separate, Cordae fuses the two and hides the medicine in the candy. “Bad Idea” featuring Chance The Rapper has a blissful bounce, is undeniably catchy but preaches the highs and lows of a young man’s life. Even the album’s biggest and brashest “banger” (“Broke As Fuck”) speaks to his humility. It’s clear that Cordae is obsessed with being unapologetically himself – to the point that bangers become bashful.
The album shows glimpses at losing steam towards the end of the 15-song affair, a Cordae’s limited life skills and cleverness began to glare up. Sonic layups for any half-decent rapper like the Coop the Truth and Kid Culture produced “Thanksgiving” and the Ty Dolla $ign-assisted “Way Back Home” give way to melancholically paint-by-numbers rap-singing.
Guests such as Pusha T on the haunting “Nightmares are Real” or Meek Mill chasing dreams alongside on “We Gon Make It” give much-needed variety. It’s impressive — to say the least— that Cordae tapped these A-list rap acts for his debut project when 18 months ago he was simply “another member” in the YBN collective, lurking behind Nahmir’s shadow.
Everything that Cordae raps about in detail on this album can be summarized in the final track “Lost & Found.” Themes of desired success, known ability and future uncertainty encompass everything running through Cordae’s braid-covered head.
While he spends a lot of this album contemplating his newfound fame and all the moving pieces in his life, lines like “I am just another rebel rappin’/But that studio time led to Louis Vuitton/That I just bought for my mom” are relieving to hear any artist, let alone one as pure-hearted as Cordae.
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I keep hearing good shit about this album , I gotta check it soon
I was born in 86 and grew up on 90s hip hop. This was the most solid new school listen through I’ve heard in a long time. Highly recommend it.
This album is top 5….dope
Top 5 of yr……
This album was so soulful so cohesive it’s crazy. I wouldn’t get rid of any song and for that I think this album deserve the 5.
I saw this dude pop up on Instagram and thought oh here we go, another new rapper with a stupid prefix about to mumble some shit. But the clip was him and Anderson going back and fourth and it sounded nice. So I checked his album and I was shocked at to how sick this guy actually is. Very nice album, can listen the whole way through without skipping any.
Same experience, so glad I stumbled onto his album. With time we’ll see where it ranks but I think it’ll be considered a ‘19 classic.
FUCK YBN CORDIDDLE, PORT OF MIAMI 2: DIARY OF A CORRECTIONS OFFICER, BEST LAW ENFORCEMENT-INFLUENCED HIP HOP RECORD SINCE CHIEF DARYL GATES PUT OUT HIS SEMINAL ” WELL A HIP-A TO THE HOP-A YOU DON’T STOP-A RACIAL PROFILING” LP FROM 1987!!! BAWSE!!!
He looks bit like young KRS One glad to hear that there is still good stuff around!?
i couldn’t stand how mundane this album was… it’s sad because the kid can rap and i dont wanna diss him, i was looking forward to his debut but unfortunately it did nothing for me.
5
This album was fire for his first major release…..one of the best albums of the year so far…
great album. Very worthy of top album of 2019.
I was surprised at how great the album was. Definitely checking for him from now on
The 3.9 is wild. Very good album, easily one of the best of the year. The grades on this site continue to have no rhyme or reason behind them. Just a bunch of different people throwing numbers up without regard to how other albums were rated.
FUCK CHANCE THE CRAPPER, PORT OF MIAMI 2: DIARY OF A CORRECTIONS OFFICER, BEST LAW ENFORCEMENT-INFLUENCED HIP HOP RECORD SINCE CHIEF DARYL GATES PUT OUT HIS SEMINAL ” WELL A HIP-A TO THE HOP-A YOU DON’T STOP-A RACIAL PROFILING” LP FROM 1987!!! BAWSE!!!
Best album I’ve heard in YEARS.
From what i’ve heard i def did not expect anything good out of ybn dudes so a pleasant surprise that at least 1 of them have talent
Fantastic. One of the top albums this year. Melodic. Dope rhymes. FIRE!
This morning, I awoke to find out that my teenie white penis had grown into a massive Negro schlonger donger hanging between my pasty white legs!!! I had been praying to Allah for months day and night that my itty bitty white pee pee would grow to the length and girth of that of the typical American Negro. Today, at long last, my prayers were answered! Where once there was a tiny pink wee wee, now there is a giant black mamba, a 10 inch boa constrictor hanging out of my boxers, splayed across the floor! I thought my prayers had indeed been answered, my life was finally worth living, all the bitches would want me, and I praised and thanked the Profit Muhammed until tears streamed from my eyes and snot dripped from my nose, but I am now suddenly shocked to find that, although my penis is now Sambo-Sized, all the money that was in my bank account has suddenly vanished, my fridge is full of nothing but two week old fried chicken and malt liquor, I have dozens of illegitimate kids with names like Leroi and Shaquanna, I have four fat, lazy, angry baby mamas on food stamps, I have nothing in my wallet but a maxed out EBT card, I have three outstanding warrants for vagrancy, robbery, and public chicken consumption, I’m unemployed and I live in a filthy trap house! HELP! HEEEELLLLPPPP!!! PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP MEEEEE!!!
i really appreciate your review as i believe it is the best review i have ever seen in my very long 69 years on this earth. Thank you very much and i hope ur problem is solved. Keep us posted. Bless up.
Cordae the most lyrical up-n-coming rapper
One of the best up and coming lyricist