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Cordae

Cordae Amari Dunston (August 26, 1997), known mononymously as Cordae, is an American rapper from North Carolina. Born in the city of Raleigh but raised in Suitland, Maryland, he began rapping during his teenage years under the pseudonym Entendre, inspired by old-school hip-hop acts such as Nas, Big L, and Talib Kweli. However, he didn’t entertain the idea of becoming a professional rapper until 2017, when he moved to Los Angeles and became a part of the YBN collective. After changing his stage name to YBN Cordae, the young MC rose to Internet fame in 2018 with a remix of Eminem’s “My Name Is,” followed by a response to J. Cole’s “1985” titled “Old N*ggas.” Follow-up singles “Fighting Temptations,” “Kung Fu,” and “Scotty Pippen” all helped establish Cordae as one of the most promising talents in the rap game as he toured the US opening for Juice Wrld and appeared on YBN’s 2018 debut mixtape YBN: The Mixtape. Preceded by the singles “Have Mercy,” “Bad Idea,” and “RNP,” Cordae’s first full-length The Lost Boy came out in 2019 and quickly climbed to Number 6 on Billboard’s Top Rap Albums chart, earning him two nominations at the 62nd Grammy Awards. Subsequently, he dropped the ‘YBN’ from his name following the group’s dissolution in 2020 and soldiered on with the release of the ambitious From a Birds Eye View (2022), which featured cameos by Eminem, Stevie Wonder, and Gunna, among others. A huge leap in terms of songwriting, the album peaked at Number 4 on the US rap charts and reached Number 13 on the Billboard 200.