Few people outside of tennis circles has ever heard of Naomi Osaka‘s boyfriend, rapper YBN Cordae. And most still haven’t heard his music.
In fact, Naomi is tired of people asking her what he does for a living.
After Naomi defeated Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-3 to win the 2021 Australian Open and clinch her 4th grand slam title, she took to Instagram to plug Cordae’s music for tennis fans.
Naomi shared a video clip of herself wearing a Lakers jacket and holding her new trophy. A track can be heard playing over the video.
Cordae wrote in the comments, “That unreleased tho [sic].”
During a recent interview with GQ magazine, Naomi revealed she hears Cordae’s music before his fans.
She said she had to do a lot of begging before he would let her hear his music.
“I had to do a lot of pleases. ‘Please, sir, can I just please listen to your song?’ Eventually, he let me listen to his music, which I feel really grateful and honored about, to be honest. He’s a perfectionist, and I think that’s sort of what I am too. So maybe that’s why we get along.”
Cordae added, “She’s musically inclined, though. She has a good ear. I don’t really trust too many people’s ear like that. You get what I’m saying? She has a widespread ear. And that’s the way she thinks as well: worldwide.”
Naomi and Cordae, both 23, started dating in 2019, months after she won her first grand slam title, defeating Serena Williams in the 2018 US Open Championship.
In a recent interview, Naomi said Cordae had never heard of her or her tennis achievements when they first met.