Cordae has shared a major influence behind his new album The Crossroads: priceless advice from the legendary Lil Wayne.
Ahead of the album’s release on Thursday, November 14, Cordae took to Instagram to reflect on the creative process, revealing how Wayne’s guidance played a pivotal role.
“The Crossroads is dropping tonight,” Cordae wrote. “Throughout the making of this album, my mantra was simple: push that pen, push that pen.”
He went on to credit Lil Wayne with some sage advice that became the cornerstone of the project. “The GOAT, Wayne, told me to treat every song like it’s people’s first time hearing you,” Cordae explained. “That became our standard for the entire album.”
Cordae then encouraged fans to listen to the record in its intended order: “Listen to it from top to bottom,” he urged, though he joked, “But honestly, a lot of y’all don’t follow instructions anyway. Just enjoy it and pay attention.”
You can check out his full message below.
The post clearly reflects Cordae’s pride in The Crossroads, with the rapper making it clear that commercial success isn’t his main concern.
On Tuesday, November 12, Cordae took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his indifference about how the album would perform in its first week.
He stated: “I want to make this clear: I don’t care about first-week sales. That’s a flawed way of measuring impact, especially with today’s streaming numbers. I’ve seen an album do 11K in its first week, then go on to do an arena tour off the same project. End of my Ted Talk 2nd one.”
He continued by referencing his previous album: “People said my last project’s first-week numbers weren’t great, but that’s the same album that sold out my headline world tour…”
Cordae further elaborated, comparing the way music used to be consumed. “In the 90s and 2000s, people actually went to the stores to buy CDs. When you did 100K in the first week, that meant 100K people bought your album. Now, you can have 300K people streaming your album, but that only translates to about 200K units.”
In closing, Cordae sent a powerful message: “Let’s stop making music about numbers and money—it’s tarnishing something that’s supposed to be pure.”
