the beatthe beat
36 BILLBOARD | AUGUST 10 , 2 019
Midland has spent the past three years touring behind the success of breakout
singles “Drinkin’ Problem” and “Burn Out,” both of which are on the band’s 2017
debut album, On the Rocks, and hit No. 3 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
On Aug. 23, the countr y trio will release it s second LP, Let It Roll — then hit the road
again on Sept . 17. With a string of succes s ful tour dates behind them, singer
Mark Wystrach, lead guitarist Jess Carson and bassist Cameron Duddy have
figured out just how much they share — or don’t — with one another. —ANNIE REUTER
HOMETOWN
TOUR
NECESSITY
MOST-LOVED
MUSICAL
TRIO
FUNNIEST
TOUR STORY
FAVORITE
PERFORMANCE
LOOK
MOST
MISHEARD
LYRIC TO
ONE OF
YOUR SONGS
Sonoita, Ariz.
“Touring in England last
winter, our former tour manager
basically stopped caring and
booked us literally the world’s
worst tour bus. It was an
old London double-decker
transportation bus that they
converted. It was a traveling
port-a-potty that had
been smoked in.”
“My fiancée has a company
called Outdoor Voices. I use their
athletic gear to run, swim or
just lounge around the bus.”
“A buddy of mine, Ross Bennett,
made me a suit for the Academy
of Country Music Awards a little
while ago, and I still bust that out.”
“Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Those harmonies had a
profound impact on me.”
“I have to focus so hard at
remembering all the right
lyrics because we play such
a long headlining set. I don’t
dare try to learn the incorrect
interpretations of them.”
THREE’S COMPANY
From left:
Carson,
Wystrach
and Duddy.
JESS CARSON MARK WYSTRACH CAMERON DUDDY
FROM Suitland, Md. AGE 21
LABEL Atlantic
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON YBN Cordae
— who was born Cordae Dunston in
Raleigh, N.C. — grew up listening to the
music his father loved: Nas, Talib Kweli
and Mos Def. He spent hours watching
YouTube videos of famous hip-hop
artists to hone his lyrical skills. At 15, he
released his first mixtape, Anxiety, under
the name Entendre. After graduating
high school in 2015, he released two
more: I’m So Anxious (2016) and I’m So
Anonymous (2017).
SCHOOL’S IN SESSION While attending
Maryland’s Towson University, Cordae
waited tables at TGI Fridays and “was
miserable as fuck.” But once he met
YBN Nahmir — who in 2014 established
the YBN collective, short for Young Boss
N—az — through a friend in 2017, the
two instantly became close, crashing at
one another’s homes in Maryland and
Alabama, respectively. He started going
by YBN Cordae soon afterward. “It’s
a real-life brotherhood,” he says. Now
their mothers are in a group chat. “They
drink wine together. It’s that level.”
PICKING UP STEAM In September
2017, Nahmir released his sizzling
single “Rubbin Off the Paint” on
Worldstar Hip-Hop; seven months later,
its success landed the YBN collective a
contract with Atlantic Records. Through
the deal, YBN formed its Art@War
imprint, which released Cordae’s music,
including a fiery remake of Eminem’s
“My Name Is” in 2018 and a remix of
J. Cole’s “1985 (Intro to ‘The Fall Off’)”
titled “Old N****s” that boldly took aim
at Bill Cosby and R. Kelly. “That was my
coming of age,” says Cordae.
A STAR IS BORN So far this year,
Cordae was named an XXL Freshman
alongside Megan Thee Stallion and
Tierra Whack, and in July released his
debut, The Lost Boy, which bowed at
No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and features
Chance the Rapper, Pusha T and Meek
Mill. In October, he will join Logic on
his Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Tour. “An artist like Cordae comes
around every five to 10 years or so,”
says Atlantic Records vp A&R Yaasiel
“Success” Davis. “There was Kanye
West, Drake, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar.
Now you have Cordae.” —CARL LAMARRE
UP NEXT
YBN CORDAE
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JE
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XIE.“All over California.”
“I asked my tour
manager, who is an ex-
Marine, to show me how
to get out of a chokehold,
and he accidentally went
a hundred percent in and
almost broke my nose.
I was gushing blood all
over this nice wine bar
in Napa [Calif.].”
“Titleist golf clubs. Mark
and I golf almost every day
when the weather is nice.”
“I have this vintage mariachi
outfit that I have been wearing
a lot. I found it in a vintage store
somewhere in Santa Fe [N.M.].”
“Crosby, Stills & Nash,
for sure. I mean,
we’re a harmony band.”
“There’s a lyric on ‘Burn Out’
that says, ‘Watching rivers
run down the side of my bottle,’
and I’ve heard many people
say, ‘Watching rivers run down
the side of my bottom.’ ”
Sheridan, Ore.
“We were in Las Vegas, and
Mark thought [Olympic
swimmer] Michael Phelps was
[New York Giants quarterback]
Eli Manning. After talking on
the side of the stage, he
excitedly came to us and told
us that we should bet against
Manning’s team because
he was out so late.”
“Compartments in my
suitcase. I like things to have
their own little place.”
“My personal thing lately has
been very Panama-influenced.
Panama hats and
loud print shirts,
blazers. Like on our
new album cover.”
Cream
“On ‘Burn Out,’ instead
of, ‘So on fire for you,’
for some reason
people think Mark is
saying something
about barbecue.”
Manning
VERSUS