Cordae has finally opened up about the tumultuous breakup of the YBN collective, a hip-hop group that started with a simple Xbox Live game session. Despite their fallout, Cordae maintains close ties with both Nahmir and Almighty Jay.
YBN, comprising Nahmir, Jay, and Cordae, burst onto the music scene with their debut project, ‘YBN: The Mixtape,’ in 2018. But behind the scenes, trouble brewed. Cordae revealed in a vlog with YouTuber Peaks100 that bad business dealings and a major argument in Europe led to their eventual breakup.
Cordae explained with a rhetorical question, ‘Name one group that stayed together.’ He also mentioned that they never recorded all together, hinting at the fragmented dynamics within the group. According to him, ‘The business side of it was kind of like, super messed up.’
In Europe, tensions reached a boiling point, resulting in an argument during which harmful words were exchanged, causing a rift they couldn’t mend. Despite their split, Cordae emphasized that there were no hard feelings, stating, ‘Nahmir, that’s still my homie. Jay, I still mess with him.’
Adding to the drama, Almighty Jay aired his grievances on Instagram in 2021, calling out their former manager, James McMillan, as ‘a fraud.’ His post accused McMillan of trapping them in unfair deals. Both Cordae and Nahmir liked the post, reinforcing Jay’s accusations.
Jay’s Instagram story added fuel to the fire, alleging McMillan trademarked the YBN name without their consent and appointed a lawyer with personal ties to him. He expressed that these manipulative actions contributed significantly to the group’s disbandment.
In the end, while YBN’s downfall was marked by bad business and heated disputes, the bonds of friendship between Cordae, Nahmir, and Almighty Jay remain unbroken. Despite the rocky road they traveled, they have managed to preserve their personal ties.
