Cordae The Crossroads

From the outside, Cordae has a good life: He’s earned a handful of gold plaques and collaborated with the likes of Lil Wayne and Stevie Wonder. But with his third album The Crossroads, he’s attempting to find balance between enjoying the spoils of his success and staying grounded. He’s boastful and braggadocious on “Mad as F*ck” and “Back on the Road” (which includes one of the album’s two Lil Wayne features), but he never lets his success lead him too far from what’s important to him. He admits to buying a house in Boca Raton, Florida, since Miami homes were too expensive, and recalls memories of working at a TGI Friday’s restaurant and growing up around violence. But he’s arguably at his best when he’s waxing poetic about his family: “06 dreamin” honours his mom’s musical pursuits on shows like American Idol and Making the Band, “Shai Afeni” is a heartfelt ode to his newborn daughter, and “Now You Know” mourns the loss of his grandmother.