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Dec 28, 2023

Cordae opens up about dealing with survivor’s guilt

Cordae wrote “Momma’s Hood” the day after one of his close friends was killed. On Friday (Jan. 14), Cordae released his second studio album From a Birds Eye View. The 14-track project includes

Cordae wrote “Momma’s Hood” the day after one of his close friends was killed.

On Friday (Jan. 14), Cordae released his second studio album From a Birds Eye View. The 14-track project includes features from H.E.R., Eminem, Lil Wayne, Gunna, Stevie Wonder, Roddy Rich and Lil Durk.

Hit Boy, Boi-1da, Raphael Saadiq, and Cordae himself laced the album with top-tier production. From a Birds Eye View reintroduces the world to an evolved version of the Maryland rapper who earned two Grammy nominations for his debut album The Lost Boy.

In a recent interview with NPR, Cordae delved deeper into the origins and inspirations behind a few tracks on From a Birds Eye View.

When asked about the song “Champagne Glasses,” which finds Cordae reminiscing about his youth and reflecting on his current success, the “Super” rapper explained that he made the song when he was on tour.

“I felt like everybody around me was much happier than I was,” he said. “And I realized it’s not selfish to put yourself first versus trying to make everybody else happy at the cost and the expense of my own happiness and thinking that monetary wealth equates to a stress-free life or happiness, you know. It makes life a lot more convenient, I’ll tell you that. It’s one less thing…To worry about. But it doesn’t make you happy.”

In regards to “Momma’s Hood,” Cordae said that he wrote that song the day after one of his close friends was killed. “I was just talking to him a couple of days before. And I was dealing with survivor’s guilt ’cause I felt like, man, I could have saved him,” Cordae explained. “I directly could have saved him. So it’s almost like I killed him too – in my mind at this time, you know?”

“Maybe bringing him on the road with me or moving him out to California with me or, you know, just taking him out from the environment that we was in [would have saved him]” Cordae added.

He told the interviewer, Scott Simon, that writing “Momma’s Hood” was “therapeutic in a way.” “Grieving is always not the most fun thing, you know? But it provided closure, if you would… Bro was the first one gettin’ money amongst us all. Like – he was, like, 15, 16 years old. And he always kept a bankroll on him. And I just miss my dog, man.”

Listen to Cordae’s full NPR interview below:

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