(Photo: Provided)
Rapper Cordae, whose full name is Cordae Amari Dunston, teamed up with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) on Kickin’ It With Cordae, a music and esports-themed takeover tour presented by Coca-Cola and Cxmmunity, that kicked off Tuesday.
Throughout September, the rapper, who attended Towson University as the first in his family to go to college, will make stops at all 8 MEAC schools — Coppin State, Delaware State, Howard, Morgan State, Norfolk State, North Carolina Central, South Carolina State and University of Maryland Eastern Shore — all of which are historically Black universities.
As an avid gamer, Cordae’s main goals are to engage in conversations about topics important to students and “promote each campus’s esports program through “Gaming, Music and Conversations with Cordae,” which will also include an opportunity for a student to compete against Cordae,” according to a statement about the tour.
“We're building our sports ecosystem and each of our institutions are building their program. So it was a great way to promote not only what Cordae is doing in his music and in his initiatives with HBCUs, but also a way to brand esports on each of our institutional campuses,” said Sonja Stills, an executive of the MEAC.
Cordae, a Maryland native, will also give students a sneak peek into his upcoming album “From a Birds Eye View.”
Stills hopes the partnership will be one of many soon-to-come celebrity engagements with the conference, in order to increase “conversation about the importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.”
The current initiative isn’t Cordae’s first rodeo when it comes to working with historically Black colleges and universities. Back in June, the 24-year-old partnered with Disney and ESPN to fund scholarships for students at HBCUs.
“It’s especially important to me to invest in our youth and the future. Young people are the future of our society and the world, so we must do all we can to ensure they are properly positioned to succeed,” he said.
Cordae has already hit up Norfolk State, Howard University, and Morgan State this week.