Cordae Explains Why It's Important for Him to Study Legendary Rappers

Hip Hop is the only genre where getting older and still having a career gets one criticized and many seem to think dissing legendary rappers is a cool thing to do.

But Cordae doesn't see it that way and he's often talked about how the rappers of yesteryear shaped him. 

He spoke about it again during a new interview with Beat 1's Zane Lowe and mentioned Jay-Z's Blueprint and Nas' It Was Written specifically.

"Jay-Z's music was the soundtrack of my childhood and me growing up, and as I grow older I would always go back to it and just realize how brilliant it was and how much I really learned," Cordae explained. "I was really growing up wearing Rocawear, wearing Sean John, you know what I'm saying? Velour suits, throwing up the rock sign at eight years old."

"It Was Written, it's my personal favorite Nas album," he added. "You know and 'The Message.' 'Fading thugs, no love, you get the slug.' Just how he comes in with that mafioso style. You know what I'm saying? That's just one of my favorite all time Nas songs ... History repeats itself, the cycle continues, so just by watching certain patterns you can sort of pick bits and pieces from their story that you can apply to your own journey and not trying to walk in somebody else's shoes, but just studying and learning."

Do you think Cordae's is the best rapper of his generation?