Cordae (Three Song Listen)

Cordae Amari Brooks is an American rapper, born in 1997. He was formerly a member of a hiphop collective called YBN. "Cordae lists Nas, Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Kanye West, Eminem, Capital Steez, Lil Wayne, J. Cole, Big L, Travis Scott, and Kendrick Lamar as some of his biggest influences." - I have heard of all of these people but Capital Steez, and I'm not sure if I've heard a single song by Kid Cudi. Probably yes, but not in full, since the name rings a bell. From what I've heard thus far, I like Nas, Eminem, J. Cole, Big L and Kendrick Lamar, I don't know about Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Capital Steez (obviously) or Travis Scott, and I don't like Kanye West or Lil Wayne. These opinions might change to some extent - I don't think I'll ever dislike Em, Big L or Kendrick, or like Kanye West, but otherwise.

Cordae is knowledgeable on the history of hiphop, because his father taught him, and seeks to be a person who closes the generational gap between old-school hiphop and what hiphop is evolving to. Which is an interesting pursuit. I still consider myself to be a newbie into this genre, even after almost three years of listening to it, but from my perspective, this is a big challenge, but not one he's facing alone. Old-school hiphop, before the internet era, was like everything was before the internet era - largely spread through word of mouth and bootleg copies of copies of copies (but still, that was an individual fan being so into something they copied it just so they can show it to their friends). It was more tight-nit in a way. Nowadays, with Gen Z and especially Gen Alpha, who grew up in the broadband internet era, it is much more scattered. As a metalhead, I hate that there are so little genre names out there to describe all these different styles of hiphop, but there are A LOT and most of them don't seem to know about each other. In music in general - there are so many artists out there, with the opportunity to share their music with the world, that it's impossible for anyone to know all of them, including the artists themselves. But it is a wide spectrum of music within one genre, and with the internet era, these younger generations have typically heard a wide spectrum of styles within and beyond it. And then the music they make becomes a melting pot of all the music they've listened to, and everyone sounds different, and the scene... There is no one scene of hiphop. Some have continued in the lane of the GOATs - apparently Cordae as well - but a lot have not and several different scenes listen to their own version of hiphop now. I bet Cordae and some others CAN bring together the fans of old-school hiphop and those of Gen Z that listen to music directly influenced by that, the mainstream hiphop. But the more alternative hiphop fans... I don't see that. They exist in a completely different realm from the mainstream. I don't believe he can bring together old-school hiphop and lets say, queer hiphop scenes. Not until I see it with my own eyes - if he collabs with some of the more alternative artists and old-school hiphop heads fuck with that.
So far, he has not, at least not on any of his single releases.

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordae)

I've already heard Doomsday, I just didn't remember he was on it. So that'll be one of my songs to react to. I'm also picking his first single My Name Is and Bad Idea (ft. Chance the Rapper). I want to know what is a bad idea, and I've also meant to listen to Chance the Rapper for the longest time but haven't yet, so. Two birds with one stone and all that.

Doomsday (ft. Lyrical Lemonade & Juice Wrld)

Finally found out what Lyrical Lemonade actually is, can't believe I haven't checked it out before... It's a production company. Cole Bennett, the owner, co-wrote the beat with Max Lord and it features a sample of Eminem's song Role Model. I think I need to listen to this entire album, All Is Yellow by Lyrical Lemonade. It has A LOT of big names in hiphop, and many that I haven't heard before but probably should have. Forget two birds with one stone, this like 30 birds with one stone lmao. I added it to my Deep Dive list, so I'll remember. (I don't have time to do Deep Dives right now, but eventually I will, I just need to finish some other projects first.)

I love this beat. It's interesting on it's own for a hiphop newbie like me, but I bet it's also nice for a rapper, with all the different notes and sounds to build flows on.

I haven't listened to Juice Wrld that much, it took until Cordae said "Me and Juice Wrld takin' over..." whatever. 

I've seen Knox Hill react to this and can't unhear his commentary in my head while listening to this song. Good thing that he rarely criticizes songs, so he doesn't ruin good songs for me, unlike some other reactors. Rather, his commentary makes me like songs more, because he often has things to say that I didn't think about.

I do really like the Birkin bag bar (about one of the guys getting their mom the Birkin bag, despite not really knowing what it is exactly). I know what it is. Not only is it hell expensive, around 20 000 to 40 000 USD for a bag, they also intentionally make them hard to get. There's no flashy brand logos or anything else that the Sheins and H&Ms of the world would emulate (=there are Birkin dupes, but not as many as for example Louis Vuitton, who blaster their logo print all over their products). The bags look timeless and classy (very demure), and they make a limited edition of each design/color, which adds to their re-sell value. Her and her son are doing great now, but if one day they are not, she can sell the bag and they're good for a while. Plus, it's much more fun to invest in a bag than on some stocks. She can look at the pretty bag every day and feel proud of her son.

My Name Is 

Had to listen to it on YT, it ain't on Spotify. It's apparently an Eminem remix, so that explains it.

https://youtu.be/qWm9y7Zkb4E?si=-EvSC-Aq9QTcGHzz

He looks so freakin young here, but apparently he's 21.

Some of these flows are insane, especially the last one before the hook and the one in the beginning of second verse. No wonder he got so big in the next years that followed this.

The hook's a bit meh.

Bad Idea (ft. Chance the Rapper)

Comparing Cordae and Chance the Rapper, I prefer Cordae. His voice is smoother and more pleasant, where as Chance's is a bit more high-pitched. Also, Cordae'd flows are easier to get on board with, easier to understand what he's doing. This is the first time I hear Chance, though, so I'm not saying he's a bad rapper. I'm just saying that in this particular song, I prefer Cordae over Chance. 

Cordae had some weird doubles, though, I'm not super duper hyped to listen to him after this on my own, but I'm not against hearing him either. I like his voice and his flows, but his lyrics don't do anything to me and some of his doubles are a bit meh. Like, in this song, "You can't even stomach the pain, now that's a bad lunch"... I hate it when doubles are out of context like this. What the heck do lunches have to do with anything else in the song? Nothing. He just used it 'cause it rhymed and because a "bad lunch" and the situation are both "hard to stomach".