Cordae has been establishing himself in a lane of complete control and ownership over his work, obtaining a sense of further independence after dropping the YBN moniker from his name. The next logical step in the path seems to be the creation of his own record label –the recently announced Hi Level — and a new trailer has landed to detail the label’s mission statement.
The 23-year-old rapper recently talked about the dangers of some artists ending up stuck in bad record deals. It seems morally reasonable that his Hi-Level record label will do its best to afford upcoming artists better and more flexible opportunities with deals that aren’t as restrictive or exploitative.
In a string of teaser posts over the past month, Cordae has been hyping up the label’s mission and indicating his passion for making sure it gets off to a strong and steady start. The label account posted a teaser two weeks ago with Atlanta rap icon Young Thug, indicating his potential involvement in the label’s workflow. Nonetheless, Cordae flexing his countless connections in the industry can be very alluring for artists hoping to sign to the label.
It’s still unclear what the establishment of the label means for Cordae’s own musical output in relation to his current label deal with Atlantic Records, so it’s possible that future releases may go under Hi-Level and be considered fully-owned by the rapper.
In the caption for the new trailer, Cordae indicated that “Applications are open,” and invited users to tag a creative they know in the comments. Unsurprisingly, the comments are riddled with different artists and creatives indicating a strong interest in wanting to work for the new label. In the trailer, Cordae equates Hi Level to more of a way of life than just a simple brand or record label, outlining the label’s ethos of dreaming hard and aiming high to reach one’s goals.
Check out the label trailer below and let us know what you think.