From A Birds Eye View - Cordae: Review
Cordae
is one of the most notable young voices in hip hop who became popular as a result of his critically acclaimed sound that blends together contemporary rap trends with classic hip hop lyricism and storytelling. He proved that he has an impressive amount of industry support backing him on his debut album in 2019 and since then had scored a number of high profile features while building up hype for this sophomore project.
Review By Lav:
I really enjoyed Cordae's debut album. Not only did it show off the specific strengths we already knew about him as an artist, compelling narrative lyricism and command of flow, but it also introduced us to just how impressively versatile he is as an artist. He built even further on this with an impressive EP last year that saw him dabbling in hip hop sounds of both knew and old while also flexing some incredible singing vocals that I didn't even know he had in him. Even though I wasn't crazy about either of the albums singles, I was still really excited for this record and what new talents he could be preparing to show us. While From A Birds Eye View is better than a lot of rap records that'll be released this year on Cordae's talent alone, it's an undeniably step back in terms of ambition and capturing what makes him such a unique artist.
Let's talk about those singles first because they show a pretty significant scaling back from some of Cordae's earlier singles. Super came first and it gets off to a pretty familiar start with the rattling trap drums. I wouldn't call it a favorite of mine necessarily but it does have a basic appeal to the often slick rhyme schemes and easy to digest beat. Sinister came next and I think it's mostly a better song. Cordae delivers a memorable hook and the Hit-Boy beat is one of the best on the entire album. On the other hand we have the Lil Wayne feature which sees him struggling to even keep up with the beat for basically the entire first half of his verse. While I know Wayne has always been a connoisseur of lyricism that's so bad it's funny, but this may be a new high, or low, in that regard.
The record gets off to a pretty inconsistent start, not bad or anything but lets just say it saves the best material for later on. The first proper song on the album is Jean-Michel though proper song may be a misnomer. It's essentially one glorified verse over a soulful instrumental highlighted by some simple but very prominent drums. While he does deliver a number of worthwhile bars there isn't much that ties all his lyrics together thematically and its more like a series of observations on his past and his artistic intent. On the opposite side of things Want From Me's only shortcoming is the lyrics themselves. The song has a well sung Cordae hook and a pretty enjoyable beat, but some of the most cringey and cliched lyrics on the entire album also show up here. It also ends off with a sample of that youtube vide you've likely heard in Trippie Redd or Snoop Dogg songs before, which seems like a weird choice.
Today is a painfully dime a dozen trap song, while Cordae does bring an exciting energy to it I can't say he's doing anything that's new or inventive. By the time Gunna shows up on the track I have severe PTSD from his album last week and I generally can't even make it through his verse in tact. Speaking of rough features Chronicles is a mostly solid track with a truly puzzling addition. I continue to be impressed by how much better of a singer Cordae is than most of his hip hop peers, he takes a really direct approach lyrically on this song but manages to pull it off quite well with the trap flavored R&B sound the song goes for. I've never really been a big H.E.R fan but even she sounds okay on the track compared to Lil Durk. This is definitely the most confusing feature because it's both not very good and also doesn't fit into the song at all.
Momma's Hood is definitely the best track of the first half with a hook that is sure to draw Kendrick comparisons. While it confused me a bit at first I grew to enjoy it quite a bit. The song deals with survivors guilt which is something rap songs have been taking on for a very long time. Despite it being such a rap staple it's delivered with the details and emotional resonance that such a complicated topic deserves. Westlake High is a similarly retrospective track that serves as the finale of the record, and it's a Cordae song named after a place so you know it's gonna be good. The track has an angelic instrumental with triumphant horns over which Cordae shouts out his favorite contemporaries and basks in his own success story. It even has a spoken outro that feels like a 90's classic and his promise to continue delivering music at a high level seems like one he's plenty capable of living up to.
C Carter is probably my favorite song on the album and one that stuck out to me from the very first time I heard it. It's a soulful celebration of everything Cordae has achieved dealing in luxurious lyricism and his own genuine wonder and amazement at how far he's come. The bright and feel good nature of the song lend itself perfectly to his voice which feels so familiar like its somehow always been present in rap. I really couldn't get enough of this song. Champagne Glasses was the sort of feature selection I was expecting after how stacked Cordae's debut album turned out to be. He and Freddie Gibbs proved how well they can work together on a Nas song last year and they do it here. If you weren't prepared for the change of pace Freddie brings than you might be blindsided by the fact that his first 3 bars are more vulgar than the entire rest of the album. If anything it's a funny change of pace and his unwavering intensity adds a new dimension to the song and the album. Also Stevie Wonder apparently provided the harmonica on the track Stop Trying To Be God style, which is cool.
Cordae is obviously one of hip hop's brightest young stars and this album didn't do anything to dissuade that. In fact at some points it works to even further prove his talent and potential, but it also fails to push his sound into anything that feels fresh or unfamiliar for him even with such a short discography to his name so far. While he always sounds professional and his performances are frequently well done there are a lot of moments on this record where he fails to show off what makes him special. For many artists this would be a very impressive step in the right direction and I'm hesitant to not let my own expectations get in the way of what is obviously a pretty decent record. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting Cordae to deliver one of the rap highlights of 2022, and From A Birds Eye View just isn't that good. It's good, just not that good. 7/10
There are parts of this cover that I really like and parts that are really underutilized. I love the way the drawing is done and the color palette used, it has a sense of depth that's hard to achieve in such a simple composition. The little details in the quality of like and shading make this something to study rather than just something to view. The use of an asymmetrical composition keeps your eye moving through the various subjects. I wish that the top left had some kind of branding on it, maybe among the stars and birds. Just something small to make it more than just a good drawing. 7.5/10
