Cordae Responds to “Flop” Criticism Over ‘The Crossroads’ Album Sales
Cordae is not fazed by the criticisms surrounding his latest album The Crossroads, which saw first-week sales of around 10,000 units. During a recent interview with The Breakfast Club (published December 18), the rapper addressed claims that his album “flopped” by many critics.
Addressing the “Flop” Label
The criticism came from a review which called the album a “flop”, prompting Charlamagne Tha God to ask Cordae if he agreed with the assessment. The rapper dismissed the claim, responding confidently, “No.” He elaborated, saying the review was likely written by someone with a negative perspective: “It’s [written by] some white boy in Indiana. Not that it’s a race thing, but it’s the truth of the people that run those [channels]. Their whole channel subscribes to a bunch of negativity. That’s what they’re about.”
Cordae pointed out the inconsistency in focusing on a single week’s sales, particularly when there are 52 weeks in a year. He explained that while first-week sales may be a metric, they don’t define an album’s long-term success, noting that previous projects of his had underperformed in early sales but still ended up performing well in other areas like touring.
Comparing to Industry Peers
While acknowledging that his sales may not match mega-stars like Kendrick Lamar, Cordae emphasized that his performance compared favorably to other artists in his lane. “When it comes to my actual peers who do the type of music that I do, we have the same comparative numbers,” he said. He also added a philosophical view on comparison, saying, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Cordae’s Stance on First-Week Sales
Before The Crossroads dropped, Cordae expressed indifference towards first-week sales. On X (formerly Twitter), he wrote: “Want to say this now I don’t give 1 fuck about a first week sale. It’s a very inaccurate way to calculate impact, especially with the current streaming metrics.” He pointed out that artists can sell far fewer units and still do well, referencing an artist who sold 11,000 copies but went on to do an arena tour.
He elaborated further on how music consumption has changed, noting, “In the 90s/2000s, music was consumed by people actually going to the stores and buying albums. When you did 100K first week, that meant 100 thousand people went and bought the CD. Now you can have 300,000 people listening to your album on streaming, and the units equivalent is 200.”
A Call to Refocus on Music, Not Numbers
Cordae concluded with a poignant statement about the industry’s fixation on numbers and financial success, which he believes detracts from the purity of music. He said, “Whole point is let’s stop making music about numbers and money, it’s killing something that’s so pure.”
While Cordae’s first two albums had muted commercial success, both debuting at number 13 on the Billboard 200 and failing to break 25,000 sales in a week, he remains focused on artistic expression over immediate commercial metrics. Despite the lack of RIAA certifications for his albums, his commitment to growth and impact through performance and personal connections shows a different, more holistic perspective on what it means to succeed in the music industry.
