YBN Cordae wasn’t an unknown element in the first half of 2019. Barely into his 20s, the rapper had already built up a rising-star reputation with a steady stream of mixtapes and noteworthy singles. But he shone even brighter than expected with his debut album The Lost Boy, released in July, making fans and newcomers alike stop and take notice.
The LP mixes the confessional and the nostalgic. On one track, Cordae is a wayward kid talking shit. Elsewhere, he asks for mercy and forgiveness. Later he reminisces about the holidays at his grandma’s house. Going into The Lost Boy, Cordae already had plenty of experience diving into his own psyche. His early mixtapes, under the name Entendre, were titled Anxiety (2014), I’m So Anxious (2016) and I’m So Anonymous (2017). They tackled similar themes to those approached on The Lost Boy, honing his rhymes and observations with each release.
But 2018 was when he made the biggest splash with the track “Old Niggas,” a spirited defense of his generation and response to J. Cole’s “1985,” a somewhat scolding track aimed at younger rappers. Cordae, who credits many old-school lyricists as influences, followed up with “Kung Fu,” an exhibition of dizzying raps and hard-hitting bars.
Part of what makes The Lost Boy such an exciting album is that Cordae uses every tool in his kit to its best effect. In the second track, “Have Mercy,” Cordae shows off his punchy, boastful lyricism, while the chorus paints a picture of a young man who can’t quite get right, though he probably knows better. “Sweet Lord, please have mercy,” raps Cordae, “I know I used up my three favors / Back to sinnin’ like a week later.”
That dynamic holds true across much of the album. Even in his more vulnerable moments, Cordae maintains a level of swagger and authority on each track. He’s the kind of dude who talks about trauma, hardships and setbacks in a matter-of-fact way — presumably because he has some perspective on the past. The straightforward delivery doesn’t diminish the soul-searching, and instead sounds honest.
While the 22-year-old was raised just outside Baltimore and currently lives in Los Angeles, it’s easy to see that star Chicago rappers from the past decade have heavily influenced him. The warm samples, confessional lyrics and mix of soul and gospel sounds recall work by Kanye West, Kid Cudi and Chance the Rapper. We’ve been seeing their aesthetic influences on rap for a long time now (especially Ye’s and Cudi’s), but it’s become even clearer that they’ve set up a framework for artists who want their albums to be more than a showcase of rap skills. Kids like Cordae are out to release a combination of artists’ statements and personal manifestos, wanting to drop the next College Dropout, Man on the Moon or Acid Rap — no doubt in the same way older generations wanted to mimic the iconic and idiosyncratic arrivals of The Wu-Tang Clan or A Tribe Called Quest.
Appropriately, Chance contributed a feature to The Lost Boy, on the song “Bad Idea.” And that’s just one of the high-profile guests the album boasts. Cordae and singer-drummer-rapper-superstar Anderson .Paak trade kinetic back-and-forth bars on “RNP.” Pusha T, who dropped a crop of scene-stealing guest verses in 2019, does it again on “Nightmares Are Real,” recounting his young start in the drug game with menace and gusto, adding a sharp edge to the album’s loose narrative about redemption. Meek Mill appears on the penultimate track “We Gon Make It,” which, as the title implies, is one of those anthems for dreamers. Meek’s famous struggles with the legal system are mentioned on this track, and the Philly rapper lends weight to the chorus when he asks, “We ain’t never had a shot, how we gon’ take it?”
The Lost Boy isn’t just about internal or professional struggles. “Family Matters” focuses on the troubles facing Cordae’s family members, which his relatives are slow to share with him. Cordae wonders if they just don’t want to burden him while he’s “chasing dreams,” as he raps: “The crazy part is they don’t even say a thing / They don’t want me to worry, just go and make the cream.” But even if that’s the case, the chorus, sung by Arin Ray, makes it clear that family sticks together: “It’s been hard for me / To see what you been goin’ through / It’s tiring … No more suffering in silence.”
The closing track “Lost & Found” makes it clear that Cordae sees a promising future for himself. He’s got plenty of evidence to back that up, not the least of which is the pair of Grammy nominations he earned: Best Rap Album for the LP, and the track “Bad Idea” for Best Rap Song. It doesn’t matter that he didn’t take home the hardware — all the accolades and co-signs from star rappers have grown out of something that Cordae has built for himself.
