(upbeat, hip-hop music)
See, how was I like, as a kid?
I don't know, I was bad as hell when I was younger,
but I couldn't even say I was a bad kid.
I was very inquisitive, let's go with that, inquisitive.
(upbeat, ambient music) Growing up
in PG county was super dope for me because I came
from North Carolina and so public schools,
you gotta wear a uniform, you know what I'm saying?
So that was super new to me, wearing a uniform.
And you know, the DMV area especially, cats is way flyer.
You know what I'm saying?
Fashion is everything.
A'ight, they was definitely jawnin' on me 'cause I came
down there with the southern accent
and my gear wasn't up to par, but it was super dope.
(upbeat, whistling music) I grew up in the culture.
You know what I'm saying?
My folks is the culture and so hip-hop,
that was just the background music to my life.
There's artists that I still look up to today
that was playing in the background, creating these memories.
Welcome to the new millennium.
Oh my God, little dude is killin' 'em.
Flow so sick, penicillin, I healin' 'em.
We pumpin' like adrenalin or better yet,
we pumpin' like bench press, we'll leave you defenseless.
My man's got some tools, I ain't talkin' 'bout wrenches.
We blaze every park--
(resonant, mellow music) I started rapping when I was
like 10, but I ain't started recording,
I mean recording like recording every day,
working on that shit every day, a couple years ago.
I was working at Friday's when I was in school.
Just being a server, you know what I'm saying, sorta sucked.
It was just not tight, you know what I'm saying?
And because I always just knew my potential
or what more I could do, so I just felt very limited,
as a creative and as a human being.
- I forgot what record it was, but you talk
about how the older generation has disappointed you.
You said old disappointed you.
(dramatic, upbeat hip-hop music)
- It's super tight just looking back
at it because it was the only song like that,
you know what I'm saying, that was around.
And it was more so sorta like the opening lines
of old and new, now what's the difference?
We all in the same boat in a stuck position,
meaning we're all dealing with the same oppressors.
We all dealing with the same marginalization of society.
You know what I'm saying, systemic, all these things
that we're going through, so we need to have an agreement.
You know what I'm saying?
Because it's such a generational gap
between the old generation and the younger.
So it was no perspective from the young generation.
Hip-hop is polarizing, you know what I'm saying?
It brings a discussion.
(resonant, hip-hop music) ♪ I don't know where I'm goin' ♪
♪ But I hope I'm on the right path ♪
♪ Life will hit you with a light jab ♪
♪ Mike Tyson, strike back ♪
The song is like, "I don't know where I'm goin',
"but I hope I'm on the right path."
And that's like the project that I'm 'bout to drop,
The Lost Boy, where it kinda all coincides together.
You know what I'm saying?
Just finding yourself, finding your path.
(techno hip-hop music)
The Lost Boy title really came
from how I was feeling, as a human being.
It's sorta like a coming of age story, you know?
Just finding out what exactly is our individual purpose
in life, what were we put on this earth to do?
So anybody who hasn't really found their passion is lost,
in a sense, you know what I'm saying?
And I'm still figuring out things about myself,
as well, through this process.
So we're all lost, in a sense.
The Lost Boy was just necessarily my story.
So that day at Puff's house with Meek
and Fat Joe and everybody in there.
- He is special.
And at the Diddy Cypher, you know what I'm saying,
you can't be greedy with the plug.
- Oh shit, man. (small crowd laughs)
- At the Diddy Cypher, everybody gotta have respect
for the plug, you know what I'm saying?
So everybody can get everybody's shit.
(mellow hip-hop music) But this don't give a.
He want it so bad and I love him,
that he asked, "Can we play another?"
And I said, "Hell yes!"
- Their reaction and everybody with the music
and vibin' with the music gave me the confidence
to go back in the studio and create more.
You know what I'm saying, so that was a big,
inspirational moment for me 'cause I was right
in the middle of creating the album.
So I left that and went back to the studio
and started creating some more, you know what I'm saying,
'cause I played them a couple of key songs.
I think I played "Thousand Words," "Have Mercy,"
and the intro, "Wintertime."
I played ell of them joints in there
and people was vibin' with it and I was like okay.
First, it's surreal to even be there,
you know what I'm saying, in the room with all those cats.
But secondly, it was just super dope to see them really
with my music, you know what I'm saying?
It was super tight.
(fun, upbeat hip-hop music)
♪ One of y'all gon be fuckin' with me ♪
♪ I got two bad gon' be rubbin' my feet ♪
♪ I got three young down to bust up the heat ♪
♪ And all y'all ain't got nothin' on me, oo ♪
- When RNP came together, that beat, I got that beat
from Cole probably like two weeks after old came out.
(light piano music)
And I played that beat for Anderson
and he with the beat heavy, and so we just recorded it
like back and forth, and my boy Dim Joints added the,
"Mm, yeah," and the (hums melodically).
You know, the ear candy for it.
And it was a process to that song where we cut it down.
We had the actual song and then, I was like,
"Yo we need a really dope, dramatic beginning to that song."
So it was super tight.
- Trouble in my way.
- I have to cry, sometimes.
- Cry sometimes.
- Trouble in my way.
- I have to cry, sometimes.
- My grandmother's definitely a huge part of the album.
She's on the interlude skit, Grandma's House.
That's my actually grandmother singing that.
Just 'cause she's a huge part of my life,
like my grandma raised me, I was raised by a old lady
and so she has a huge part in who I am today
and what I'm going to do in life.
- [Interviewer] Did she get the chance to hear it, ever?
- Oh, yeah yeah yeah, she called me.
She was like, "Man, our line been blowin' up Cordae."
(laughs) - Our line been blowin' up!
- That line been, man, boy. - Grandma poppin' out there.
- Yeah, Grandma said, "We hot in these streets."
They was like, we need to make some more songs.
You know what I'm saying? (laughs)
(fast, fun, hiip-hop music)
"Family Matters," I was almost no gonna put it
on the album because it's so personal, so true.
All I can do is just tell my story and what goes on
in my life, you know what I'm saying?
But I felt like the vulnerability and the transparency
of that record was gonna be something
that so many people can relate to.
And that's always a track that when I'm
on a roll, somebody's like, "Yo, that's the one
"that really did it for me, like that sparked conversations
"between me and my family that was much needed."
You know what I'm saying?
So it just shows how powerful music is.
(mellow synth hip-hop music)
With this album, I just want it
to be as transparent as possible.
You know what I'm saying, I just want it
to be as transparent, and honest and vulnerable as possible.
You know what I'm saying 'cause I feel
like we have that duty, as a artist because a lot of times,
we're looked at as superheros,
we're put on this higher pedestal,
but nah I'm a human being, first and foremost.
- I love to watch...
the YBN Cordaes come up and you're like,
"Oh shit, he's gonna be the next."
You know what I'm saying?
- YBN Cordae. - Oh, now he,
you gotta give him a ear.
They got these new artists that you actually,
you gotta let 'em know, you gotta give 'em an ear.
You can't just hear 'em, you gotta listen to 'em.
He be spittin'.
- My hard as shit.
Brand new, news you'll review, he hard as.
Yeah, real shit.
(light tapping)
So wake up!
- Facts. (small crowd laughing)
Gettin' a grammy nom for best rap album was tight.
I was actually in Turk and Caicos during that.
That was my first vacation ever.
So it was just very timely, you know what I'm saying?
But we gon' be back there, a year, winning.
And we gon' be one of these BET awards every year.
You know what I'm saying, it's a process.
I'm super happy to be nominated
for best new artist at the BET awards,
you know what I'm saying 'cause BET awards is just
as important as the Grammys.
You know, with all the stuff we, as black people,
are going through right now, it feels weird even talking
about my accomplishments and my music
and all of that stuff because all of that shit.
We out here dying, you know what I'm saying?
Left and right, male and female.
As a people, we just gotta stick together,
organize and uprise, the other side.
You know what I'm saying, you either with us
or you against us and that's always been my energy.
Like on Huey Newton's "Revolutionary Suicide,"
revolutionary suicide does not mean
that you have a death wish, it means the opposite.
It means to live without the existence
of hope and dignity is impossible.
I quote that and say all that to say we just too nice.
You know what I'm saying?
It's really time to do what we gotta do,
by all means necessary.
Hip-hop arose from the voice of the unheard.
So that's what we have, the responsibility
to continue that 'cause that's the core
and the origin of what hip-hop is,
to represent the voice of the people that's unheard.
I feel like this year is gonna be transformative,
when we look back at it because if it were not
for coronavirus, would we be gettin' all this attention
towards police brutality that's been goin' on forever?
We need to utilize this to really create a shift
in the system and all of these things and realize our power.
As a artist, you gotta think legacy.
In the grand scheme of things, I wanna be remembered
for using my platform to create actual change and inspire.
I wanna really inspire some great people
to do what they gotta do and really create change
with my platform that's gonna continue to grow
and really make a difference in people's lives.
(upbeat hip-hop music)