Cordae Amari Dunston (born: August 26, 1997), formerly known as YBN Cordae and Entendre, is an American rapper and singer known for his music.
Life[]
Dunston was born on August 26, 1997, in North Carolina. As a child, he took an interest in music after his father played classic hip hop artists such as Rakim, Nas, Big L, and Talib Kweli. He began writing rap songs at age 15. As he got older, he would research artists through YouTube, attempting to find music like his father played. As Dunston grew older, he became more interested in pursuing a rap career. He prioritized his studies, but often became distracted by writing lyrics. He released three mixtapes as a teenager: "Entendre" – Anxiety, I'm So Anxious, and I'm So Anonymous. He dropped out of college in 2018, explaining that college was "bigger than him" as a first-generation student, and he was mainly doing it for his mother. He moved to Los Angeles shortly afterward.
Career[]
Dunston began taking his rap career seriously in 2018. When visiting Los Angeles, he hung around rapper YBN Nahmir and YBN Almighty Jay, whom he'd met through social media. Nahmir had reached out to Dunston after hearing a song he made with his brother Simba. Dunston is the only member of YBN who hadn't been introduced through video games. He said he already felt like a part of YBN, and so changed from "Entendre" to "YBN Cordae". He also said that Entendre had been a name that he'd wanted to change for while.
In May 2018, Dunston released his first single, which he called his "introduction to the world": a remix of the 1999 song "My Name Is" by Eminem. He released the song along with a music video via WorldStarHipHop on YouTube.
In August 2020, YBN Nahmir announced on Twitter that the YBN collective had disbanded after a period of tension during which he and Dunston had stopped communicating. He subsequently dropped the YBN from his stage name and asked YBN Nahmir for his blessing of the name change. On August 27, Dunston released a new single, "Gifted", featuring Roddy Ricch.
In April 2021, Dunston released the EP Just Until in anticipation of his second studio album. In May 2021, he was featured on a remix of Eminem's song "Killer" alongside Jack Harlow. In October 2021, he released the single "Super". He released his second studio album, From a Birds Eye View, on January 14, 2022.
Channel[]
Dunston created his channel on July 26, 2018, and he uploaded his first video on September 6, 2018. He uploads music videos, audio, and lyric videos to his channel.
