Cordae discusses his personal growth on new album ‘The Crossroads,’ his collaboration with Lil Wayne, his dynamic with J. Cole and Anderson .Paak, the impact of the Drake and Kendrick rivalry on hip-hop culture, balancing fatherhood with his career and more!
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00:00This is my first interview in like two years.
00:02Oh my God!
00:03Yeah, I swear to goodness.
00:04Welcome home!
00:05Yeah, I know.
00:06Oh, this is home?
00:07I need a new crib.
00:08Um...
00:09What's good, y'all?
00:10It's your boy Cordae, and you're watching Billboard News.
00:16Everyone, it's your girl Catrice J, and we are here with Cordae!
00:19What's up?
00:20We're here to talk about your new album, The Crossroads.
00:22Yep.
00:23Very, very excited for you.
00:24It's been, what, two years?
00:26Two and some change.
00:27So, why is it time for you to drop this album?
00:29Why do you feel ready?
00:30Because I think it's ready.
00:31I think I'm better than I've ever been as an artist.
00:34Like, I feel like I need that time to just live life, assess life.
00:39This album in particular, I needed to get better.
00:41I wanted to get better.
00:42Like, as a songwriter, as a rapper, I wanted my verses to be better.
00:45I wanted my storytelling to be better.
00:47I wanted my beat selection and tasting beat selection to get better.
00:51And that requires, like, work and time, you know?
00:54So, I feel like this is my best foot forward thus far.
00:57So, why the title, The Crossroads?
00:59Because I felt like I was at a crossroads in my life
01:02and just so many avenues.
01:04At the time, right, I felt like it was like life or death.
01:06I felt like literally my next decision,
01:08if I go right, everything is going to be perfect
01:10and yay, life is great.
01:11And if I go left, oh, life is horrible.
01:13I've kind of realized that one decision doesn't hold that much weight.
01:16It's a culmination of decisions.
01:17But I just felt like I was at a crossroads
01:19with just everything that's going on in the world.
01:22I just kept saying it in the music.
01:24I just kept saying I'm at a crossroads.
01:26Even, I said on my last song, I'm on a song with Dirk and Her,
01:29I'm at a crossroads.
01:31I've been traveling around these crossroads.
01:33So, I just keep saying it throughout the music
01:35and I'm like, you know what?
01:36That's the title right there.
01:38And you said in an interview, you know,
01:40you had high expectations for your last album
01:43and it didn't really meet those expectations.
01:45Yep.
01:46So, what are your expectations with this album?
01:47Like, have you grown from that?
01:49Like, out of that mindset, I guess?
01:50Yeah, for sure, because it was just all vanity.
01:53It's all vain stuff.
01:54It's like, y'all want this and this and that.
01:56And honestly, the album did great for me.
01:58I sold out a tour.
01:59Worldwide tour after that.
02:01I did a bunch of shows.
02:02A lot of people loved it.
02:03But because it didn't meet these astronomical expectations
02:07from one album, you know, I can't be upset over that.
02:11Like I said, my tour was sold out.
02:13So, a lot of great things came from the album.
02:15But for this album, my main goal is
02:17I just want to connect to people's hearts, bro.
02:19It sounds cliche.
02:20It might sound whack.
02:21But that's just my honest to God truth.
02:23I just want to connect.
02:24Yeah, totally.
02:25I just want to connect to people's hearts, souls,
02:27you know, whichever way I just wanted to connect.
02:29You also said you went through a tough time mentally, right?
02:33So, what are some things you did to kind of
02:36get yourself in a good space,
02:38especially when creating this album?
02:39Just praying more.
02:40Just getting closer to God.
02:41Just praying more, honestly.
02:43I live a great life.
02:45My life is great.
02:46I can't even front.
02:47And so, all of us have this main character syndrome
02:51of just like...
02:52And I'm a Virgo too,
02:53so sometimes I can be a bit dramatic
02:55and a perfectionist too.
02:57So, I want everything to go exactly as I wrote it down
03:00in my life plan.
03:01Because I literally plan out my life.
03:02Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:03And so, when it doesn't go exactly as I did it
03:06in the order in which I constructed it,
03:08you know, I kind of just didn't take it super well.
03:11And again, it's super easy for me to like,
03:13oh, let me just go outside and drive my nice car.
03:16And like, you know what?
03:17Life ain't so bad, you know?
03:18But I really just had to pray, honestly,
03:20and stay prayed up and keep that connection with God.
03:29So, I want to talk about this Lil Wayne collab.
03:31You kicked off the Crossroads era pretty strong.
03:34Yeah, absolutely.
03:35You know?
03:36Yeah.
03:37Saturday morning, Lil Wayne.
03:39How did he hop on?
03:40How did we make this happen?
03:41You know, so this is a product of me pushing my pen and me.
03:45Shout out to my boy, Smoko, who are executive producers.
03:48The first time I had a real executive producer
03:51in a studio just pushing me,
03:52we had a whole nother song to that beat.
03:54I did a whole nother song to that beat.
03:56He was like, man, that's a really good beat.
03:57You sure you want to waste it with them above average bars
04:01with seven bars?
04:03I'm like, ooh, all right, bet.
04:05So, I just went back in, rewrote it,
04:07and I was like, nah, this is gas.
04:09I was like, yo, this is fire.
04:10I'm like, yo, what if I send this to Wayne?
04:12So, I texted to Wayne.
04:13He was like, oh, that's fire.
04:14Not you can just text Wayne.
04:16Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:18Living my truth.
04:19Living your life, I love it.
04:20So, I texted to Wayne, and he was like,
04:21oh, yeah, nah, this is fire.
04:22I got you.
04:23And then maybe a couple weeks later,
04:25I didn't even want to, you know, no rush.
04:27I just sent it to him.
04:28And when he sent it back, I was like,
04:30oh, my goodness, I got one.
04:32And I was driving back and forth every day,
04:34like three hours.
04:35Literally, I think on a ride back,
04:37I listened to that song for like three hours straight,
04:40and I was like, yeah, nah, I think this is good.
04:42Yeah.
04:48Why do you think you guys work so well together?
04:50Like, what's the synergy like?
04:52I can't give myself too much credit.
04:54I mean, he's just like the GOAT,
04:55you know what I'm saying?
04:56Like, me being such a Wayne fan,
04:58I know what beats that I love to hear him on.
05:00So, like, I love hearing Wayne on soul beats.
05:02Like, growing up, I love him, and I'm like,
05:04yo, like, let me, I'm just,
05:06literally, I'm just sending him songs
05:08that I think he would sound dope as as a fan,
05:10and I must have good taste in just picking out,
05:13you know, beats I think Wayne would sound great on,
05:15because he murders them.
05:16He murders them.
05:17So, in your relationship with Anderson .Paak...
05:25You just dropped another single with him recently.
05:27Yeah.
05:28Produced by J. Cole.
05:29Yeah.
05:30It's your third Anderson .Paak and J. Cole record together.
05:33Am I right?
05:34Yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:35Like, what's that dynamic like?
05:36How does y'all three, how do y'all come together?
05:38So, man, Cole is super supportive with giving the beats,
05:41you know, we so grateful for that,
05:43you know what I'm saying?
05:44Like, even with this one,
05:45he hit me and was like,
05:46yo, this joint might be, like,
05:48my fave out of the three, honestly.
05:50Anderson, that's like one of my best friends in real life.
05:53Like, if me and Anderson didn't do music
05:55in an alternative life,
05:56like, this is still, like,
05:57one of my closest homies, for real.
05:59Like, I pull up on this man,
06:00he pulls up on me, like,
06:02and won't even talk music, do music,
06:04just on some homie shit.
06:05So, I say this to say, like,
06:06you're able to feel, like, that real homie energy,
06:09you know, through the music,
06:11and Anderson is just super cold,
06:13you know what I'm saying?
06:14Like, he's just so cold,
06:15I'm so blessed to work with cold niggas.
06:17I must be cold,
06:18because only, you know,
06:19Cold world.
06:20Yeah.
06:21Uh, wah, wah, wah.
06:25I want to backtrack a little bit,
06:26because you and Cole had a little, like, rift,
06:29a tiny bit.
06:30Now, I don't know if it was real.
06:31I wouldn't even call it a rift.
06:32It was, like, he had the 1985 thing,
06:35that beat.
06:36I hear your music and I know that raps change.
06:39A bunch of folks will say that that's a bad thing.
06:41Literally, I'm in college when that song came out.
06:43Like, I'm a fucking college student,
06:45working at Friday's, selling weed.
06:48Like, and then I heard that beat,
06:50and I just wanted to make, like,
06:52the Gen Z, if you would,
06:55or my interpretation of it.
06:57Yeah.
06:58And then Worldstar called it.
07:00Yeah?
07:01They literally captioned it as J. Cole responds.
07:03Let's take it back when hip-hop originated
07:06And old niggas said it was wack,
07:07they couldn't take it
07:08That's when the whole thing became,
07:10but that's what ended up getting me the beats,
07:12and, you know, us locking in, so, you know.
07:14That's awesome.
07:15Blessing in disguise.
07:16Yeah, exactly.
07:17So I want to ask you, like,
07:18obviously this summer we had Drake and Kendrick.
07:21We had that whole beat.
07:22What do you feel like that did for the state of hip-hop
07:25and the culture of hip-hop?
07:26That clash, if you would, was great for hip-hop.
07:29I think the competitive nature,
07:31like, that's kind of the fundamentals of hip-hop.
07:34It's like, no, I'm nicer than you, son.
07:36You know what I'm saying?
07:37And it was great for the culture in general,
07:39for black culture in general, and hip-hop.
07:41It was awesome, honestly.
07:42It kind of just put a battery in everybody's back.
07:44Like, no, we can just say how we feel,
07:46even if it's like, fuck this guy.
07:47You know what I'm saying?
07:48Like, yo, like, I wanted to say how I feel,
07:50so I felt like it was great for the hip-hop culture,
07:53great for culture in general.
07:55So, yeah, it was tight.
07:56You have gotten the chance to work
07:58with some of your biggest inspirations.
08:00Yeah.
08:01Dr. Dre, Eminem.
08:03What is it like working with greats like that
08:06that you, like, as a kid, like,
08:07I don't know if you ever thought you may or would not,
08:10but, like, actually getting to do it,
08:12what is that feeling like?
08:13Man, it's tight.
08:14You know, before, when, like, dope shit would happen for me,
08:17I would just be like, all right, what's next?
08:19Oh, that's cool, but what's next?
08:20Let's keep working.
08:21And that's important to not have a mindset of, like,
08:23complacency and, like, you know,
08:26feeling yourself too much.
08:27Pause.
08:28But, um, but now I'm kind of in a place
08:32where I at least give myself a day,
08:35like one day or at least a moment
08:37to just be like, yo, I really did that.
08:39That's some, like, go to, that's fire.
08:41W, you know what I'm saying?
08:42As the young niggas say.
08:43I am a young nigga, but whatever.
08:45Gen Alpha says.
08:46Um, I give myself, like, a day to be like,
08:49yo, that was fire.
08:50Like, wow, we did that?
08:51Like, yo, we did a song with what?
08:52Like, that's crazy.
08:53Because when you're in the moment in the minute,
08:54it's like it doesn't really, like, hit you.
08:56Yeah.
08:57It's just kind of like an after body effect.
08:59No, I be thinking about it.
09:00I'm like, yo, that's what,
09:01the moment where I get the verse back is like, yo, what?
09:04Like, this is crazy.
09:05And then I, you know, back to work, you know,
09:08back to hustling, bustling.
09:09I love the craft so much that, like,
09:11I want to get as good as possible at it.
09:13Like, my new motto is, like,
09:14when I create a song or I'm putting out an album
09:17or I'm putting out a song, right,
09:19I want to play it for, like, 15-year-old Cordae,
09:2216-year-old Cordae, and that little nigga is impressed.
09:26Like, oh my God, like,
09:27when I was able to get this good,
09:28not from the place of, like, oh, I made it.
09:30I made a lot of money, wow.
09:32I make a lot of money, wow.
09:33Like, no, more so of, like,
09:34I go back in the time machine, play him a song,
09:36and he's like, bro, what?
09:38I was able to get this good?
09:39I was able to make music and create this type of sonics?
09:43And what?
09:44Like, yo, that's fire.
09:45I got this good?
09:46Like, wow.
09:47So if it doesn't do that,
09:48then, like, it's just going to stay in the vault.
09:50Totally.
09:51So that's the space I'm in now.
09:52So I say all that to say
09:53it's definitely a mindfuck for sure.
09:55And you rapped in Saturday Morning
09:57about being able to grab your phone and text Jay-Z.
10:00It's crazy how I can just text ho.
10:02Is that also kind of, like, crazy?
10:05Like, hey, good morning, Jay-Z.
10:06Yeah.
10:07Is that crazy?
10:08I definitely don't text him good morning.
10:10Good rising?
10:11Definitely.
10:12Yeah, grand rising, king.
10:13Definitely don't text him good morning.
10:15Man, it's dope just being able to, like, you know,
10:18text ho, but he'll even text me, like,
10:20yo, this shit was funny, blah, blah, blah.
10:22You know what I'm saying?
10:23Whatever.
10:24I mean, I said it in the song.
10:25Like, it's crazy.
10:26You know what I'm saying?
10:27I rapped it because it's crazy, you know?
10:28So it's definitely a blessing for sure.
10:30But I don't know.
10:31I definitely don't be like,
10:32hope you been good morning, bro.
10:34Hope you slept well.
10:35Like, hell no, man.
10:36Who's someone you're still dreaming to collab with?
10:39Hmm.
10:40That's alive right now.
10:41Hey, alive is...
10:42Because some people will say Michael Jackson.
10:44Yeah, I know.
10:45That's the first instinct for sure.
10:47Maybe D'Angelo.
10:48Yeah, that would be fire.
10:49Wow.
10:50Yeah.
10:51I was not expecting that.
10:52Yeah.
10:53That would be fire.
10:54Yeah.
10:55Him singing on the hook?
10:56Yeah, yeah.
10:57I like that.
10:58Yeah.
10:59Who is someone that's giving you the best piece of advice so far?
11:01Wayne gave me really great advice.
11:03He said, little nigga, you need to humble yourself
11:05and treat every song as if nobody's ever heard of you.
11:08Wow.
11:09Yeah.
11:10He ain't say it that mean.
11:11Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:12But like, the way I interpret it was like...
11:13It hits you.
11:14Yo, yo.
11:15Like, humble yourself and treat every single song
11:17like nobody's ever heard you before.
11:18Wow.
11:19And he told me that like two years ago.
11:21And I took that shit and that's literally my application.
11:25Because as an artist, like, yo, I'm blessed.
11:27I have a core fan base.
11:29I really have a core fan base to where I sell out my tours.
11:31They really support me.
11:32I'm very grateful for them.
11:33That can kind of just be like a safe haven or a cushion.
11:35Like, oh yeah, my fans gonna love this.
11:37My fans gonna love this shit.
11:38But like, you gotta treat it like you don't got no fans.
11:41Every song, you know, when you in that booth,
11:43you winning people over.
11:45Yeah.
11:46And so that's how I took that advice.
11:47You're a dad now.
11:48Yeah.
11:49Congrats.
11:50Appreciate it.
11:51How has being a dad influenced your songwriting?
11:53I don't know if it's influenced my songwriting,
11:55but definitely like my work ethic and my respect for time
11:59and my utilization of time.
12:01Like, I'm in the studio like nine to six every day,
12:07six days a week.
12:09And then three days a week, I go back,
12:11once my daughter is asleep, from like 10 p.m. to like 3 a.m.
12:15Wow.
12:16So my goal is to do like 70 hours a week.
12:18Wow.
12:19Because if I was working like a job,
12:20this is technically like a sales job, right?
12:23Not to sound like capitalism shit,
12:25but just using it as terms of like work ethic, right?
12:28Yeah.
12:29If I was like a car salesman or if I was in any other sales job
12:32where your input equals your output,
12:35you would put as much fucking time in as you possibly can.
12:38Yeah.
12:39And so that's what I'm doing now,
12:41except my goal isn't really like money-oriented or like sales-oriented.
12:44It's just more so like skill-oriented.
12:46I want to get really good to where like I love this thing so much
12:50and I don't want to regret like not pushing my pen,
12:53not like pushing myself as a producer or just song creator.
12:58Like I just want to push myself to the highest heights
13:00that like I can personally get to
13:02because I don't want to look back.
13:04Even if I made $10 billion,
13:06but like I didn't really push myself as an artist,
13:09as an overall creative,
13:11I would still be disappointed, you know?
13:13100%.
13:14Versus I run up $10 billion and I did put myself,
13:17I'm very happy, you know?
13:18Totally.
13:19And also speaking of being a dad,
13:21you know, we're in a weird state, you know?
13:24We had Sonya Massey.
13:26Yeah, terrible.
13:27Breonna Taylor.
13:28Yeah, it's horrible.
13:29Sandra Bland.
13:30You have a little black daughter that you're raising.
13:32How do you kind of feel raising her
13:35in this state of, you know, social injustice with black women
13:39that aren't necessarily always protected?
13:42Man, yo, we really got to do a better job
13:45at protecting our black women, you know what I'm saying?
13:50And I've always felt this way, even before having a daughter.
13:53It sucks when black people, period,
13:54get killed by the police and by some injustice, period.
13:57But when it comes to women, it just hurts me differently
14:00because I was raised by black women.
14:02Like I was raised by a single mom and my aunties.
14:04My dad was there, we just lived in a different state.
14:06But like I got eight aunties that all like did shit
14:10that above and beyond my aunt does,
14:13you know what I'm saying?
14:14They did like mom-like things.
14:15Like my mom was there, obviously.
14:16My mom was a great mom, but I'm saying,
14:18it's like I had nine moms.
14:20My mom just sent me a throwback of like
14:22my high school graduation party.
14:27It's literally all women and like three males.
14:30It's like my dad, a cousin, and my uncle.
14:33And literally like my dad, my uncle, and a cousin, and me.
14:38And it's like, so it's four males,
14:40and it's like 30 women, 30 black women.
14:42And that's my foundation.
14:44So I always have a soft spot for when I see
14:46Sonya Macy, Breonna Taylor, so many.
14:49And now especially that I got a daughter,
14:51it's just fucked up, man.
14:53We really got to protect ours.
14:54That's like the foundation of everything, you know?
14:59So, yeah.
15:00Going into hip hop today,
15:02what are your thoughts on the state of the culture today?
15:06I think we are heading in a much better direction.
15:11Like as far as the culture of hip hop,
15:13I think like people are calling out the vultures.
15:15I feel like the consumer is smarter.
15:17They're like, hold on, this nigga is a vulture.
15:20This motherfucker is just copying.
15:22He's not even, he's lying.
15:23You gotta love this shit, bro.
15:24Like me, I love this shit, bro.
15:26I'd die about this hip hop shit.
15:27I prefer not to, you know what I'm saying?
15:29But like, yo, I love this hip hop shit, you know?
15:31So I feel like the culture is going in
15:33a much better direction as far as
15:36it's like protecting it, honing it.
15:39Be like, hold on, wait a minute.
15:40Nah, you fool as fuck.
15:41You not really from this.
15:42You not really what you talking about.
15:44Nah, you trying to use this shit.
15:46So I fuck with it.
15:47I think we're heading in the right direction.
15:49I just hope we keep on to this momentum.
15:51Totally.
15:52I hope it's just not like a seasonal right now thing.
15:54I hope it's just like everybody just coming together
15:57and just like, yo, we gotta protect this shit.
16:00And like, yo.
16:01But I feel like the cream always rises to the top
16:03and the real would always connect
16:05and the fake always has an expiration date too.
16:07Facts.
16:08Couldn't have said it better.
16:09Facts.
16:10Regardless.
16:11And you said, or I heard,
16:12that you don't go on social media that much.
16:14Yeah, yeah.
16:15What do you feel like social media does
16:18as far as helping artists
16:19or like newer artists that are coming up?
16:21I think for new artists, it's everything.
16:23I mean, that shit is your guiding light.
16:25You know what I'm saying?
16:26And if you're, I've seen Pharrell say this,
16:28if you're dope and you work on your craft enough,
16:30people will find you.
16:31Like the kids, they gonna find if you dope.
16:34You know what I'm saying?
16:35Like obviously you gotta market yourself,
16:36all these other things come into factor,
16:38all these algorithms,
16:39which is a whole nother monster.
16:41But yeah, I feel like it's everything,
16:44like on the ups and shit,
16:46even for established artists.
16:47You know what I'm saying?
16:48Like it's super important, unfortunately.
16:51Unfortunately.
16:52I would love, I'm not, you know,
16:54I can't wait till I get to a place
16:55to where I can just like give my social media
16:58to somebody and be like,
16:59all right, I took a cool picture,
17:00nigga, upload this shit.
17:01Not like that, but you know,
17:02like upload this to my gram and okay, you know.
17:06Tweet this for me, please.
17:07Yeah, exactly.
17:08But you know, I gotta stay tapped in.
17:14I want to get into the business side of you.
17:16Talk about the decision to start High Level.
17:18What was like your thinking behind
17:20wanting to create something like that?
17:22I just wanted to make something
17:23that's just bigger than me.
17:24I feel like as an artist, right,
17:26it's about building things that,
17:28that's again, just larger than
17:30the personal brand of the artist.
17:32Making, building things that's bigger than you.
17:34So High Level is kind of just like
17:35this in totality thing to where it's like
17:37we have the grassroots label,
17:39but even above that we have a sense,
17:41it's a community, you know.
17:42It's a community of people that we're just,
17:45what it represents is just community
17:47and just pushing, like trying to push yourself further.
17:51You know, even if you got obstacles in your way,
17:53whatever's in your way, just trying.
17:54Like if you fucking try, you are High Level.
17:56You know what I'm saying?
17:57And so we do a bunch of community outreach stuff,
18:00a bunch of charitable stuff,
18:04and just a bunch of dope shit, you know.
18:06So it's tight.
18:07Who are some artists or producers
18:09on the label that you're excited about?
18:11Well, to be honest, as far as artists go,
18:13they're all like developing acts.
18:15Like I feel like, again, just pushing that pin,
18:18you know, just pushing themselves as artists.
18:20So I got a couple that I don't want to say
18:22that they're High Level because
18:24I haven't given nobody no contracts yet.
18:26You know what I'm saying?
18:27I'm not like,
18:28here, sign this nigga.
18:29You know what I'm saying?
18:30Like I'm not super quick on that.
18:31But we got some dope shit coming, I will say this.
18:34And I feel like after the crossroads,
18:36it's going to start to reveal itself.
18:38Well, I'm excited for that.
18:39And in conclusion,
18:41what do you hope fans will take away from this album?
18:45Man, I don't know.
18:46I just pray they find something that connects to them.
18:49I pray they find like a few songs
18:51that like just connects to them personally,
18:53connects to their heart.
18:54Well, thank you so much.
18:55I appreciate y'all.