In a 2019 interview with Nick Cannon on Power 106 FM, young rapper Cordae (formally known as YBN Cordae) discussed his career, childhood influences and even named his favourite rappers of all time.
In conversation with Nick Cannon, the then-21-year-old emcee spoke about his debut album, The Lost Boy. The 2019 project was critically acclaimed, and in the run-up to its release, when asked by Complex about what he wanted his album to convey, the act (real name Cordae Dunston) stated, “I’m a just let the music speak for itself, ’cause it’s true to me, it’s authentic to my story,”
He continued, I just want it to resonate, and it’s just real, you know what I’m sayin’? But I don’t really give a fuck about first-week numbers because it’s a project, and then it’s a marathon. We seen n*ggas do, like, 300k the first week, but then no one’s talking about it in a couple of months.”
The Maryland rapper rose to fame as a teenager in 2018. After reaching out to YBN Nahmir on social media, Cordae frequently socialised with the YBN crew in Los Angeles and eventually, alongside YBN Almighty Jay, was drafted into the collective in 2019. As a DMV native, Dunston was raised on classic East Coast hip-hop. That said, old-school sonics permeated through his music.
Dunston first broke out after releasing his single, ‘Introduction To The World’, a remix of the 1999 song, ‘My Name Is” ‘by Eminem. He also covered songs, including Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Duckworth’ and Method Man and Redman’s ‘Da Rockwilder.’
Cordae’s body of work featured the likes of Chance the Rapper, Pusha-T, Meek Mill, J. Cole, and Anderson Paak. Concerning his early influences, Dunston has previously cited lyricists such as Jay-Z, Dr Dre, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli. However, when revealing his favourite rappers to Nick Cannon in 2019, Dunston revealed five in particular. You can see the Maryland emcee’s picks in the list below.
YBN Cordae’s favourite rappers:
- Jay-Z
- Nas
- 2pac
- Biggie Smalls
- Big L
