01. Young Gifted & Black (Intro) (3:21)
02. Busy Now (Feat. Wale) (5:02)
03. Curious (2:51)
04. Dont Stop (2:42)
05. Im Cold (3:24)
06. Cookup (Feat. Wale & Stalley) (4:12)
07. Personal (3:34)
08. Tell Me Why (1:53)
09. Sweet Her (Feat. Magazeen) (3:40)
10. Its My Party (3:41)
11. Overlooked (3:28)
12. Crucified (3:39)
13. 4 AM (Feat. Wale) (4:44)
14. Intoxicated (Feat. Tiara Thomas) (2:48)
15. Who Is Yall (4:04)
16. The City Is Mine (Outro) (10:22)
17. Salutations (Feat. Tre) (3:25)

“Nearly a year after releasing the mixtape Now, Alexandria, Va.,’s Black Cobain has dropped the follow-up project, Young, Gifted and Black, which is out today. He’s had a crazy year, receiving local, and then national attention, touring with musical mentorWale, and, most recently, shooting a video with Rick Ross. Oh, and defending his name.
“I do get tired of being bashed for it,” he says of his name. “I knew people would talk about it, and the controversy over it, the good and the bad, I love it all. But I want people to know I’m not discrediting Kurt Cobain, or trying to be the black Kurt Cobain, I’m not trying disrespecting the name at all—I’m trying to pay tribute to someone I love as an artist.”

Last week, Black Cobain talked to me about his wild year, the new album–which drops today at 1 p.m.—and how Rick Ross has a camera crew with him at all times.
On escaping comparisons to Wale and former label mate Fat Trel:
“Last year, me and Fat Trel were putting out projects at the same time, and locally his buzz was bigger than mine, and being on same label, at the end of the day, it’s a competition. But at the end of the day, we’re also brothers.
Sometimes I think people don’t give me fair listen–maybe they’ll listen for the first time and think I sound like Wale, which is just their way of thinking, because we’re associated with each other.
But this past year, I got to go out on the road and show my showmanship in front of 5,000, 10,000 people in clubs. It has really been an opportunity for people to open up and listen. I just finished a 15-city tour a week ago, and new people are just now downloading Now, and now they’re waiting for this one. It just goes to show that groundwork is important. And now there’s a lot less talk about me sounding like Wale, and more about me just being Black Cobain.”

On the video shoot for 4 AM:
“We were in New York for a photo shoot that Wale had to do with Rick Ross, and then they had to go to MTV, so were were just hanging out, kicking it. After ‘4 AM’ was recorded, Rick Ross is an on-the-spot kind of guy and he always has a video man with him, so he can just say, ‘Shoot that’—that’s how he works.
We were outside of the studio–me, Meek Mill, and Wale—rapping, and [Ross] was like, ‘Shoot this footage right here.’
Me and Wale got a lot of buzz off of that track. We were in New York at the time, at a real late hour, and went out to capture the scenery of the city. We got some background shots, and then Rick Ross and DJ Khaled were at Quad City Studios–which, you know, is where Tupac got shot—so we went past there. It was so monumental for that to even happen. We were all just vibing out, and everyone was enjoying the track–it was real organic. So, shout-out to Rick Ross and the Whole Maybach Music Group family. I think ‘4 AM’ really helped to take things to another level.”
On the differences between Young Gifted and Black and Now
“It’s the same energy, and the same type of promotion, but it’s on a bigger scale. People want to book me for shows outside of Wale, which shows the work I’ve been putting in for the past year, so I’m just going to put out the tape and see what happens. I don’t know how consumers will take it, but I’m just gonna put out the tape and see what happens. We’ll just see where we stand after the mixtape comes out and see who wants to talk a little business.”
On his favorite tracks from Young, Gifted and Black
“‘I’m Cold’ gets a great response, and there’s a track on there called ‘Personal’ about my friends, and the grind, and the things we go through every day. It’s like telling them, ‘I can’t be around y’all all the time, but don’t think I changed, don’t take it personal.’ It’s a great story.
‘Busy Now’ is talking to people in the DMV, those who are still trying to overlook me. For me to go out of town and get more love on the road than at home, that hurts. And people are reaching out for features now, but no one wanted to give me a feature when I was starting out. But it’s not me ignoring them, it’s just, I’m really busy now, you know?”