In the swarm of new hip-hop that has dropped this summer, YBN Cordae appears unfazed by the pressures of success. “This is lyrical exercise, told my idols to step aside”, he raps in the opening verse of his debut album The Lost Boy—a bold statement setting the tone before the 21-year-old rapper pulls the curtains back on his autobiographical new project.
Since winning over the rap community’s attention last year with his track “Old N*ggas” (a methodical response to J. Cole’s “1985”), Cordae’s been on the fast track to becoming a household hip-hop name. Functioning as a beacon of hope for those who have lost faith in the lyrical abilities of rap’s new wave and dispelling stereotypes that young rappers lack substance, the hip-hop world’s invested a lot of stock in Cordae in a short period of time, most recently being christened on XXL’s coveted Freshman Class list. In return, he has delivered an album straight from the heart, packed with carefully crafted 16’s dispersed across a 45-minute runtime.
Following suit with hip-hop’s most memorable debuts, Cordae looks no further than within himself to form the lyrical content that drives The Lost Boy. He channels a form of honest introspection reminiscent of The College Dropout, balancing a narrative that’s part coming-of-age and part prophesying his own rise to stardom. But while Kanye was well into his 20s by the time TCD dropped, Cordae makes his debut at 21-years-old. Regardless, his wisdom extends beyond his age, whether he’s wrestling with the pitfalls of fame and fortune or meditating on tales of love and loss he’s confronted firsthand.
This wisdom comes through especially clear on the single “RNP”, as Cordae waxes poetic over a funky west-coast vibe assisted by Anderson .Paak, and the track marks a full-circle moment in Cordae’s career with a beat produced by J. Cole himself. In fact, the whole album pits Cordae in the presence of rap’s finest talent with features from the likes of Meek Mill, Pusha T, and Chance the Rapper. For most rappers, a debut album with so much star power could wash an artist’s voice out. However, being surrounded by greatness only seems to motivate Cordae’s lyrical dexterity and penchant for complex rhyme schemes; he’s not fighting to keep up but setting the tone for his own project with precision.
While the material leading up to The Lost Boy introduced listeners to a rapper with unquestionable technical skill, the album provides a resounding answer to the question of “who is YBN Cordae”. It’s a feat that requires a level of artistic reflection that could take some musicians a whole career to find. But Cordae proves he’s well ahead of the curve, drawing relatable connections to formative moments in his own life. In the process, he’s offered a rap album that entices listeners to come back, perhaps when they experience similar feelings of lostness that inspired the project’s conception.