Cordae And The Prestige-Rap Problem

[DudeAsInCool]

Cordae is a good rapper. Cordae has always been a good rapper, and “good rapper” has always been Cordae’s chief sales pitch. When Cordae first emerged from internet obscurity three and a half years ago, he seemed to be an exceptional type of good rapper. Back then, he was known as YBN Cordae, and his affiliation with the rest of the young-and-viral YBN Crew placed him within an insurgent SoundCloud-rap wave. In that context, Cordae’s twisty technical flows and writerly precision stood out. But now that he’s released his second major-label rap album, Cordae’s whole context has changed, and so has his presentation. These days, Cordae is still rapping well, but he’s channeled all that good rapping into securing a permanent place on awards-show nomination lists. Cordae is a prestige-rapper now.

View the full article