By Joseph Palatsky

Cordae (“Bad Idea”) released his second studio album, “From A Bird’s Eye View” (FABEV) to follow up his debut, “The Lost Boy.” The Maryland native’s first album was overshadowed by the all-time flop of an album released the same day by Chance The Rapper (“The Heart & the Tongue”), “The Big Day,“ but Cordae makes sure he is heard on FABEV. 

Cordae gained traction ahead of the release by freestyling on popular Los Angeles radio show “LA Leakers” in a session that has gained one million YouTube views in two weeks. FABEV is a concise album, featuring a 12 song tracklist that shows Cordae’s versatility to perform with featured artists including Gunna (“Too Easy”), Lil Wayne (“Wockesha”), H.E.R (“Come Through”), Lil Durk (“Broadway Girls) and an Eminem (“Godzilla”) remix of his single “Parables.“

The album gets off to a slow start on “Shiloh’s Intro,” which is a minute of Cordae’s friend Shiloh Young freestyling through a prison phone with a very quiet, cinematic type beat in the background. “Jean-Michel” comes next and it is a lackluster, unorganized one-verse song from Cordae which seems to send the album in the wrong direction.

Cordae regains the attention of the listener with a quick beat drop and rapid fire verse which begin simultaneously seven seconds into third track, “Super.” This track is arguably the second best on the album, and after a disappointing first two tracks, it reassures listeners that Cordae was not going to play around with this album. 

Cordae makes sure the listener knows his worth, talking about making millions with no shows in 2020. He reminds them of his appearance in the Coca-Cola Super Bowl commercial and conversations with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey while making it known to the rest of the rap game he is a top dog.

“Momma’s Hood” and “Want From Me” come next, and Cordae slows things down. The chorus of track four sees Cordae experiment with an interesting echo, while talking about driving a Jeep in his old stomping grounds, signifying how far the 24-year-old has come. Track five sees Cordae question if he is doing the right thing in his relationship with his girlfriend, star tennis player Naomi Osaka. 

Gunna marks the first feature on the album, as he gives Cordae a lengthy verse on standout track “Today.” Cordae talks about grinding, high school memories, and keeping his optimistic outlook on life. Gunna’s verse does not feature his typical brand name mentions and flaunts of wealth, but rather praising God and traveling the world are the standout lines.

“C Carter” is a reference to the Samuel L. Jackson (“Captain Marvel”) basketball movie “Coach Carter,” was released when Cordae was seven years old, acting as a reminder of his childhood. On this track, Cordae talks about watching “Coach Carter” in his younger years and how he would dream and manifest his current lifestyle including brands Cartier and Hummer. Verse two is Cordae’s most spiritual and one of the best verses on the album, as it talks about Cordae using his mind to his advantage, alignment, having a purpose and breathing.

Guest artists are showcased on the remaining tracks, including “Sinister,” and “Chronicles.” “Sinister” has a cypher type beat, as Cordae and Wayne flaunt their mindsets, while Cordae goes a bit more spiritual and Wayne leans towards lifestyle bars. “Chronicles” sees Cordae questioning his ability to settle down with a woman, before H.E.R. joins him for a beautiful chorus. The two then perform shorter verses expressing their outlooks on love. 

This is a fantastic sophomore album from Cordae, who is clearly one of the best young rappers in the game. While there are some misses in his 12 tracks, there are also plenty of highlights, including Cordae’s ability to rap at different speeds, his melodic choruses and the mixture of flaunting his lifestyle with teaching life lessons and relating to listeners.

Image from Cordae via YouTube