Last night, YBN Cordae made his late-night debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon but judging from how polished his performance of The Lost Boy single “RNP” was, you’d be forgiven for thinking he’d been at it for years. His chemistry with the song’s guest Anderson .Paak during the set is reminiscent of A Tribe Called Quest, who had a reputation for imbuing their mellow, jazzy productions with new energy live on stage. There’s hardly a moment that Cordae and Anderson are still throughout the whole song.
Tonight Show band members Questlove and Kamal Gray of The Roots provided the stripped-down live version of J. Cole’s already sparse beat, making for a stage setup that was simple and effective. While Anderson flexed in a Gucci tracksuit, Cordae stepped out in his everyday outfit of a T-shirt, jacket, and jeans. The two made for an amusing contrast that played up their give-and-go, pass-the-mic style performance on “RNP,” which they highlighted through the sort of choreographed routines that ’80s babies fondly remember from groups like Run DMC and the aforementioned Tribe.
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Cordae was in New York City on the press run for his upcoming debut album The Lost Boy, which has coincided with the continued rollout of XXL‘s 2019 Freshman features, providing Cordae with a little extra promo before his album drops this Friday. Incidentally, that’s the same day “Bad Idea” collaborator Chance The Rapper also drops his “debut” album, so it looks like friendly competition is still alive and well.
YBN Cordae is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
