In his new song “The Parables,” Cordae (no YBN, thank you) reels off a series of stories about his rough upbringing and negative choices he’s made, so it’s only right that the video also plays these scenes out as he jots his memories in a drunken, confessional songwriting session. As Cordae takes sips straight out of a bottle of cognac, he stumbles through the streets getting into trouble, ultimately reaping the consequences of his foul behavior.
“The Parables” is the second single Cordae’s released since officially changing his name and apparently beginning a new phase of his career after bursting into the mainstream with last year’s The Lost Boy. His first single, “Gifted,” features Roddy Ricch and finds the duo celebrating their respective successes since their collective 2019 breakouts. And while Cordae has been relatively quiet since wrapping up the album cycle, he’s kept his name buzzing with a handful of features sharing his quick-witted bars and precocious perspective.
There’s “Freeze Tag” with jazz quartet Dinner Party, “Can’t Put It In The Hands Of Fate” with soul legend Stevie Wonder, rap icons Busta Rhymes and Rapsody, and fellow newcomer Chika, and “Soda” with Cordae’s fellow Rolling Loud favorites DJ Scheme and Ski Mask The Slump God. However, the most important work the young MC has been doing is in the social justice world, where he’s used his voice to speak out against police brutality both musically and in the form of protest.
Watch Cordae’s “The Parables” video above.
Cordae is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.