for the love of music
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By Miles Hagan
First we have Meek’s version of the song which is very interesting considering how he and Drake have interacted over the years. Meek reminisces on what it took for him to come up in these games and all the people he may have lost or gained along the way. While Meek has always preached that he is built differently, this freestyle showed his hunger and passion for the game on full display. It was refreshing to see one of the more recognizable artists in the game sound so motivated to not only come with a bar, but also tell a story of sorts.
On the next remix we have Earthgang come through and skate on the beat. At first it seems like another unlikely pairing, until the sample settles in. Once the dynamic duo starts rapping there is no looking back. “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” has now provided us with more heat than we could have originally anticipated.
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North Carolina rapper YBN Cordae has been making waves ever since he burst onto the scene in May of 2018 when he remixed J. Cole “1985”. His song, titled “Old Niggas”, responded to the veteran spitter by defending his generation of artists while simultaneously showing that his style aligned more with the emcees he was confronting rather than those he was defending.
Cordae impressed us next upon the release of his group collaborative mixtape YBN: The Mixtape. While the groups most famous rapper was the “Rubbing Off The Paint” sensation, YBN Nahmir, the mixtape rebranded the group as a three-headed-monster with Cordae leading the charge. Solo cuts like “Target”, “Alaska”, and “Kung Fu” assured us that Cordae would last for more than fifteen minutes and increased excitement for a solo project.
Cordae’s name continued to rise as he killed one radio freestyle after another, was placed on XXL’s 2019 freshman list, and received cosigns and guest appearances from industry giants like Dr. Dre, J. Cole, Anderson .Paak, and many others. Last April, to the excitement of his fans, the young rapper took to Twitter to announce his debut album as well as a summer tour that would take place prior to the albums releasee. As Cordae’s buzz got larger, so did the expectations for The Lost Boy. Excellent performances at the BET awards and on Jimmy Fallon was the cherry on top and left the entire rap community wondering a common question: “Can YBN Cordae deliver?”
Last Friday, July 26th, the young emcee finally dropped his debut album The Lost Boy. The tape has fifteen songs and runs for 45 minutes. The album was released under Atlantic Records and boasts impressive features from Chance The Rapper, Anderson .Paak, Pusha T, and Meek Mill.
The album opens with the smooth “Wintertime” which sets the tone for what to expect on The Lost Boy: clever bars, impressive flows, reflective lyrics, and soulful sampled instrumentals.
The second song on The Lost Boy is the first single Cordae released off the album, “Have Mercy”. On the upbeat bop, Cordae flexes a plethora of different flows and some of the cleverest bars we’ve heard this year (“Why cry over spilled milk if you still feel I’m the real deal? /My bitch bad with no ill-will ‘cause she’ll murk a nigga like Kill Bill /Loose lips sink ships, Cam’ron pink drip, that is my fashion/ I’m not really with the high flashin’, it’s no helpin’ with my braggin’”). This song also seems to act as the thesis for this album. Cordae can feel that his stock is rising and he is going to be very successful, he’s just praying he’s going about it the right way.
Don’t get fooled by the title of the third song, “Sweet Lawd - Skit” is far more than a skit. The one-minute “Have Mercy” gospel reprise is a perfect way to transition from the upbeat hit back to the soothing relaxed rap that is present on the majority of the project.
Cordae wears his influences on his sleeve with Chance The Rapper being one of the most obvious. This is why “Bad Idea” which features Chance feels so at home on this album. The instrumental is simple with a laid-back piano and some nice vocal harmonies leaving plenty of room for Cordae and Chance to spit some sunny Sunday raps. Chance steals the show with his excellent acid-rap reminiscent second verse.
Chance The Rapper’s influence on The Lost Boy might only be overshadowed by an apparent Kanye West influence that makes itself known on the fifth cut “Thanksgiving”. The song sounds like it could’ve made one of Ye’s first two albums and Cordae is so descriptive that you feel like you’re sitting at the table with YBN asking auntie Cordae to pass the honey baked ham.
The sixth track “RNP” is easily one of the most fun moments on the album. Anderson .Paak brings joy everywhere he goes with his iconic voice and infectious vocal inflections and ad-libs. Both emcees sound amazing over the wide-open instrumental crafted by J. Cole and the back and forth on the second verse is undeniably entertaining.
Cordae turns the heat up to 100 for the seventh song “Broke As Fuck”. The North Carolina rapper opens up and speaks on his hardest days, such as the day his grandma died, the day his cousin was shot, and every day in between when he had no money. The announcement that his frequently aforementioned grandma died at 62 is shocking and hard to stomach after hearing how much she meant to Cordae on “Thanksgiving”. The first two minutes of the song showcases Cordae’s impressive flow and lyrics over a high-energy beat. After two-minutes of in-your-face energy, the beat calms down and the song dives into a melancholy interlude that then transitions into a soulful sampled instrumental that is more in-line with the rest of the album. Cordae reminiscing on listening to “No Problems” in the first verse doesn't only speak to the obvious Chance influence but also reminds us of the articulate emcee’s young age.
“Thousand Words” follows and dives into the topic of social media and its pros and cons. Naming a anti-social media song “Thousand Words” is the exact kind of clever song concepts that I was hoping for when I hit play on The Lost Boy. Cordae makes some convincing points about social media and will have most listeners rethinking how they use Instagram.
On “Way Back Home” Cordae showcases his versatility by introducing us to his smooth singing voice that is an excellent contrast to his classic style of rapping. Everything about this song is relaxing and is the kind of track I’d blast when I’m in desperate need of some de-stressing. Ty Dolla $ign pulls up for the second voice and adds to the chill energy of the ninth track.
One of the most impressive things about The Lost Boy is how Cordae was able to get the absolute best out of an elite group of features. While every single A-List emcee Cordae called upon answered and came with heat, Pusha T just might outshine all the other bright lights on this album. His second verse about his come up is laced with classic cocaine bars he’s become known for and drenched in his patented King Push swagger. Both rappers pull back the curtain on the origin of their rap career and how they developed over their younger years rapping.
Cordae spins Kanye West’s “Family Matters” for the following track with the same name and it gets personal. Cordae’s pain is palpable and you can hear how hard it is for him except the fact that these tragic family conflicts and issues are still occurring even though he is now a popping rapper chasing his dreams.
The second to last song “We Gon Make It” features Meek Mill and is the most powerful song on the album. Meek delivers with a catchy hook and an excellent verse while validating the song's message of social reform and hope simply by rapping on it. From Cordae’s first bar (“I know how it feels in the late night/swimming with the great whites”) his tone and lyrics hold a certain weight and importance to them which is an early sign of greatness. While almost always extremely humble, Cordae isn’t oblivious to his potential greatness either. On the third verse, Cordae says he’s “Savior of this rap shit, the leader of the renaissance” and at this point in the album, it’s hard to argue with him.
YBN Cordae has finally arrived. The Lost Boy is reflective and polished and exactly the kind of debut the young emcee needed to promise longevity in the rap game. While the entire album is strong, the back half is exceptional making The Lost Boy an extremely captivating listen that only gets better over the course of the 45-minute run time.
Cordae is so impressive because even when his intention for a song is streams and radio play (Have Mercy, Broke As Fuck, etc.) he refuses to compromise his message. Every song is substance-rich and Cordae never raps without meaning behind his bars. Whether it’s asking God to lead him on the right path and referencing Mike Tyson as a symbol of resiliency on the radio-friendly “Have Mercy” or telling the most vivid and heartbreaking stories on the rap-caviar-ready “Broke As Fuck”, Cordae refuses to rap without purpose.
Another serious strength of The Lost Boy is its undeniable cohesion. The project flows beautifully and Cordae sticks to themes of coming of age, the importance of family, and a passion for rapping throughout the entire album. While the instrumentals all deviate greatly in tempo and tone, they all seem to co-exist in the same universe and have specific traits that marry them together. Keeping a narrow lens on a specific thesis throughout an entire album is an art form that is all but lost in 2019, so to hear Cordae execute this feat precisely is just another reason to buy in and ante up on the young rapper.
YBN Cordae’s debut album didn’t come without faults such as the occasional corny bar, but the bad was far overshadowed by the good. One could complain that Cordae is too obvious about his musical influences but I don’t think this is the case. Sonically, he is as Chicago as it gets and totes a heavy Chance/Kanye influence but when this mixes with his North Carolina memories and slight southern drawl it makes for a unique style that I find refreshing and unique from his contemporaries and influences. All-in-all, The Lost Boy is smoothly polished, delivered tastefully, and packed with substance making it one of the stronger releases of 2019. Wherever Cordae chooses to go next, I will happily follow.
RNP (Feat. Anderson .Paak)
Way Back Home (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign)
We Gon Make It (Feat. Meek Mill)
Rating: 8
Listen to The Lost Boy here:
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In just 18 years of life, Lil Snupe has earned many monikers. From “The Freestyle King” to “Meek Mill’s Protege” to “2Pac Reincarnated” it is easy to gather that he was beyond well-respected. Snupe had peers twice his age looking up to him due to his absolutely lethal flow and southern drawl that allowed his punchlines to be piercing. For the two months following the release of his only mixtape R.n.i.c (Real Niggas In Charge), there was a unanimous belief in the rap game that the throne was Snupe’s for the taking. That is until tragedy struck changing the fate of rap forever.
Lil Snupe was born in Jonesboro, Louisiana in 1995. Born Addarren Ross, Snupe frequently got into trouble as a kid and alludes to spending time in juvenile detention in his music. It’s unknown when Snupe started rapping, but his career took off in 2012 when he approached Meek Mill’s tour bus. In 2013, Lil Snupe spoke about that day with MTV news. “He (Meek Mill) was in a van, they was finna pull off. And I went and knocked on the van, on the window. They let the window down and grabbed the mixtape.” 20 minutes later, before even finishing the mixtape, Meek Mill called Lil Snupe and asked him to be apart Dream Chasers, Meek’s record label. "He was spittin' so much pain, he's from the south with a flow like an east coast guy," Meek told MTV.
Meek quickly took Lil Snupe under his wing and began to show him how to be a successful rapper. The two spent a lot of time together that year and became close. There are many videos of Meek and Lil Snupe freestyling together and in almost all of them Snupe has to go ahead and body his mentor. There is a reason the 18-year-old MC was referred to as “The Freestyle King”, Snupe could rhyme for an hour straight without hesitation while always keeping his bars fresh and entertaining. The young emcee ability to spit was unparalleled and he is the best freestylers I’ve ever heard.
The mixtape that led to Snupe joining Dream Chasers (R.n.i.c) was rerecorded under Meek’s guidance and released in April of 2013. Upon release, the world was introduced to the gifted rapper and his instant impact on the rap game was palpable. The effect R.n.i.c had on the genre was felt strongly in the south but resonated throughout the entire country. Emcees everywhere started to feel a new pressure and it was widely excepted the Dream Chasers was soon to be the best rap collective in the game.
R.n.i.c is 14 songs long and is all killer no filler. The mixtape opens with the in-your-face “Take Over”. The track concludes with a minute of DJ Khaled co-signing Snupe and calling him the future. The third track features Meek Mill and, in hindsight, is easily his most tragic song. The cut contains grim foreshadowing as at the end of the first verse Snupe raps, “I gotta get it, ‘cause I’m tryna get full rich / And I refuse to let my mama lose me to some bullshit.”
The fifth track on the mixtape, “In Tha Air Freestyle” is easily one of his most iconic tracks. The combination of the soulful, slower, sampled instrumental and Snupe’s brutally honest lyrics make this song hit different. Snupe instantly changes the mood as goes into one of the most braggadocious and cocky cuts on the mixtape “I’m That Nigga Now”. This track shows Snupe at his most playful which is so fun to listen to.
“X Bitch” is the ninth track on the mixtape and potentially my favorite. I believe it to be one of the best odes to an ex-girlfriend in rap history. Snupe’s youthful confidence shines brightly throughout this cut as he raps about his “ex-bitch” who is constantly concerned with his “next bitch”. While “X Bitch” has one of the catchiest hooks on the album, it isn’t quite as addicting as the hook on “Melo” Lil Snupe’s biggest hit to date. The eleventh song on the tape is upbeat, fun, and showcases the rappers unmatched pen game. “Melo” is frequently the first song I show rap fans who are unfamiliar with the work of Lil Snupe.
While R.n.i.c was very well received and quickly threw Lil Snupe into stardom, he only enjoyed the limelight for two months after its release until the night of his death. Addarren Ross was shot dead in Winnfield Lousiana by 36-year-old Tony Holden on June 20th, 2013. Ross and Holden supposedly had bet a large sum of money on a game of NBA 2k. The story goes that Lil Snupe beat Tony Holden on a buzzer beater leading him to shoot Snupe twice, leaving the 18-year-old boy dead. Holden turned himself in six days later to the authorities.
The story of Lil Snupe is one of tragedy, but at the same time, one of familiarity. As a nation, we have become used to the story of a young black man being gunned down before he could even scratch the surface of his potential.
“He would spit off the top like it was written. Rap real tight for hours and not mess up. That’s unheard of, I’ve never seen nobody like that”
Snupe’s death was devastating to the rap community, it was blatantly apparent to any fan or artist that Addarren Ross was something special. Six years after his death, Lil Snupe is still held in the highest of standards among rappers and is shouted out many times a year. If we can learn anything from the fatal story of Lil Snupe, it is that we need to understand the value of our own gifts and value them so highly that we are careful about who we choose to be around. Snupe had so much to offer the world, as do we all. Rest in Peace to The Freestyle King. Rest in peace Lil Snupe.
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Welcome to “Songs of the Week” a weekly segment where I highlight three of the best new songs released the week prior along with one throwback song of the week. To stay up to date on all new music, follow my Spotify playlist “What I’m Feeling” which is updated weekly to always include the freshest new music. Always 30 songs, hottest always at the top. Stream it here:
A playlist updated weekly with whatever new songs I'm feeling at the time. Always 30 songs and in order with what I'm feeling the most at the top.
Make It Better (feat. Smokey Robinson), a song by Anderson .Paak, Smokey Robinson on Spotify
This week Anderson .Paak released the second single off his upcoming album Ventura which is starting to look like a can’t-miss album. On “Make It Better” the soulful rapper recruits music legend Smokey Robinson to help him craft a track about lovers who have fallen out of love but are determined to reignite the spark they once shared. Anderson’s vocals are absolutely to die for as he rides one feel-good melody after another on the way to a musical masterpiece. The instrumental, which was aided by legendary producer The Alchemist, is just as impressive as the production team uses a stringed orchestra beautifully to create a modern symphony that is equal parts fun and brilliant. If you haven’t already, you need to hear this cut.
“Remember when we first met?
We were havin’ so much fun
So, now, how can we both forget
Tellin’ each other, “We’re the one”?”
Song 32, a song by Noname on Spotify
Claiming that Nonmame is the most talented female MC in the game right now is far from an outlandish statement and on “Song 32” we see exactly why this is the case. The Chicago rapper absolutely snaps bouncing between unique flows that we’ve only heard in other Noname tracks. It would be more accurate to call her a poet than a rapper and she makes this clear on the hook when she raps “Started getting money from writing the haiku.” Both of Noname’s recent releases have been excellent and we can only be excited for what the talented artist has in store for us in 2019.
“I’m patriarchy on Sunday, don’t push me, I’m Viacom
Y’all niggas got Diddy money, don’t push me, I’m atom bomb
I’m Obama pushing the button, in Lybia, Pakistan
Humanly a hypocrite, the sinner and the civilian”
UDIGG (feat. Young Thug), a song by Cheeks Bossman, Young Thug on Spotify
Florida rapper Cheeks Bossman has been making waves in the underground scene for awhile now and with a solid Young Thug feature, it might finally be his time to share some of the spotlight. “UDIGG” is an extremely catchy cut that lacks context but makes up for it with a rattling hook, braggadocios bars, and an instrumental that kicks like crazy.
“I’m gettin’ straight to the check in the morning
I’m tryna double my bag while you snoring
I got your bitch givin’ top in a foreign
If they ain’t talkin’ ‘bout racks, I ignore ‘em”
Traumatized, a song by Meek Mill on Spotify
Meek Mill’s biggest strength as a rapper is his ability to pump an absurd amount of emotion into every bar he spits and make you truly feel everything he’s saying. No song in his catalogue displays this skill like “Traumatized” and while it may be an unpopular opinion, I believe it to be the best song on his classic mixtape Dreams and Nightmares.” Over the course of the four-minute cut, Meek tells us the story of his fathers murder and how it effects him everyday of his life. The rhyme schemes in this emotional anthem are extremely complex and allow this song to have the power and impact that it does. Do yourself a favor and revisit the Dreams and Nightmares mixtape today.
“So I’mma let this flame hit you just to let this pain hit you
And for all them cloudy days I’mma let this rain hit you nigga”
Check back in next week for three new hot songs and one new throwback! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram to get updated when we post:
