Cordae’s newest undertaking, The Crossroads, marks what he would possibly describe as essentially the most refined model of himself as an artist. In an unique interview with Billboard Information, Cordae deep-dives into why this album — which comes out on Friday — seems like his strongest work but.
Cordae is obvious on why now’s the proper time to drop this album. “I believe it’s prepared. I believe I’m higher than I’ve ever been as an artist,” he says.
He hung out specializing in his craft and drawing inspiration from life to ensure he was placing his greatest foot ahead. “I really feel like I wanted that point to simply reside life, assess life,” he says. “This album specifically, I wanted to get higher.”
For Cordae, progress has been about every thing from beat choice to songwriting. “I wished to get higher, like, as a songwriter, as a rapper. I wished my verses to be higher. I wished my storytelling to be higher. I wished my beat choice and style in beat choice to get higher, and that requires work and time, so I really feel like that is my greatest foot ahead so far.”
The album title, The Crossroads, speaks to a turning level that he felt he reached. “I felt like I used to be at a crossroads in my life,” he says, describing a interval when each choice felt high-stakes. “It was like life or dying. … If I’m going proper, every thing is gonna be good and yay, life is nice, and if I’m going left, all life is horrible.” Over time, he’s discovered that life is never formed by a single alternative. “I’ve kinda realized that one choice doesn’t maintain that a lot weight. It’s a fruits of selections.”
Cordae additionally displays on his journey with J. Cole, a significant affect. After rapping over J. Cole’s “1985” beat and calling it “Outdated N—as,” the monitor went viral when WorldStarHipHop labeled it as a response to J. Cole’s authentic. That music video caught Cole’s consideration, finally resulting in their collaboration. “That’s what ended up getting me the beats and us locking in,” he says.
Cordae credit the current Drake and Kendrick Lamar rivalry for energizing hip-hop’s aggressive edge. “It was nice for hip-hop,” he says. “The aggressive nature is sort of the basics of hip-hop, like, ‘Nah, I’m nicer than you, son.’” The rivalry, he provides, energized the tradition. “It sort of simply put a battery in everybody’s again, like, nah, we will simply say how we really feel — even when it’s like, ‘F— this man.’”
Watch the total interview with Cordae within the video above.
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