Cordae Revisits Naomi Osaka Split On “Helpless”

Cordae put the strain of raising a child after a breakup into his new music, with “Helpless” drawing attention to his split from tennis star Naomi Osaka.

The rapper reflected on parenting their daughter, Shai, from separate homes and the family life he had hoped to build. The lyrics reflect regret and mistakes in the relationship.

“Was never my intention to raise my daughter in separate homes/Gavе your mom my all, but the love she had for mе dead and gone/Although you ain’t a man if you can’t admit it when you was wrong,” Cordae raps.

The track appeared on Heavy Is The Crown, his joint album with Anderson .Paak, released October 23. The 11-song album runs about 31 minutes, with “Helpless” arriving as part of a project that mixes jokes with more painful subjects.

Helpless” and “Karma Tax” are also among the album’s more personal songs. Cordae raps about his mother taking an ex’s side and children living apart from their mother.

Osaka had kept her own public account of the breakup warm. She announced the split in January 2025, without accusing Cordae of wrongdoing or laying out a fight between them.

“No bad blood at all, he’s a great person and an awesome dad,” she wrote in the statement reported by The Associated Press.

The four-time Grand Slam champion also thanked their daughter and reflected on what she learned during the relationship. Their child was born in Los Angeles in July 2023. Osaka returned to the tennis tour at the 2024 Australian Open after roughly 15 months away.

The two began dating in 2019 after meeting at a Los Angeles Clippers game. Osaka announced her pregnancy in January 2023.

The album also extends a musical partnership that predates Shai’s birth. .Paak appeared on “RNP” from Cordae’s 2019 album The Lost Boy and joined him again on 2024’s “Summer Drop.”