Cordell Harris performed for WITF Music on January 15, 2025
Joe Ulrich / WITF
WITF Music: Cordell
Representing Harrisburg
-
Joe Ulrich/WITF
Joe Ulrich / WITF
Cordell Harris performed for WITF Music on January 15, 2025
Harrisburg hip-hop artist Cordell drew his earliest inspiration from Nas, and as he’s grown in music, his mindset has evolved regarding the balance between having a job and pursuing music. We talk about Cordell’s songwriting, his evolution in lyrical style, and the deep connection to his hometown, Harrisburg.
Joe Ulrich: Was there someone that made you think, that’s what I want to do?
Cordell Harris: There was a show called All That. It used to come on Saturday nights on Nickelodeon, and they used to have performing acts at the end of the show. And Nas was performing. I can’t even recall what song he was performing, but I just know he looked cool doing it. I’m really young at that time. Maybe six, seven. He had the Jordans on. He had a nice gold necklace on. And I was like, man, I would like to be that. I was always really sensitive and aware about music and videos and the radio and things of that nature.
Joe Ulrich: There was a time when you felt that having a job to support music was a failure. But you’ve evolved in your thinking there.
Joe Ulrich / WITF
Cordell Harris performed for WITF Music on January 15, 2025
Cordell Harris: When you’re signed to a record label, that’s just like a job and they tell you, Hey, listen, we want you to make this kind of music. Or, hey, we like what you got, but we think it could be more of this.
If I’m gonna do that, I’ll just keep a job and the job allows you the creative freedom. I’m the CEO, right? I’m the record label executive. And people may think it hasn’t netted you any results financially. No, but I make the music I wanna make when I can afford to make it.
A young lady had said, you have to chase your dreams to the point you can afford them. If you getting put out of your place, your house is getting foreclosed, your lights are getting cut off because you want to go make an album, that’s not good. I am a father.
It’s okay to shoot for the moon, but be reasonable. It resonated, but it didn’t all the way click. But now at 34, I get it completely.
Joe Ulrich: Has anything changed about how you approach writing?
Cordell Harris: When I first started, I wanted to be really like complex and intricate. That’s how I defined talent. The more wordy I was, I thought that meant that I was more skilled or more technically sound.
I was listening to Sly and The Family Stone. [They] had a song, I Wanna Thank You for Letting Me Be Myself. And I thought about how poetic it was in its simplicity.
You still think about what you say, but I don’t want anybody to be like, what did he mean by that?
Joe Ulrich: Is there a theme that’s run through your music over the years?
Cordell Harris: If I could think of through lines it would probably be Harrisburg and hip hop. The backdrop or the setting. Because that’s was where I’ve been my entire life.
Joe Ulrich: I looked at a social media post, I think you said it was from your mom, about people wanting to migrate home because they wanna be somewhere where people know them.
What are the important things in this area to you? What’s kept you here?
Joe Ulrich / WITF
Cordell Harris performed for WITF Music on January 15, 2025
Cordell Harris: I think there’s a gravity about smaller places that just sometimes can keep you stuck. But I think for me it’s just where I’ve been. My family is here. There’s not a lot of people that wanna beat me up [laughs] so I haven’t lived a life where I’m haunted by all of the ghosts from the past.
It was very popular, especially in my time, for people from Harrisburg to speak down on it. Ah, is this corny. It’s corny here. It’s boring. And in hip hop particularly, representation is important. And authenticity. So if I’m going to make music, I always felt like I had a serious responsibility to represent.
My first album was called Seven7teen: A Love Story. And I would hear things like, yeah, it’s a good album, but it’s too Harrisburg.
And I’m like, when you listen to Lil Wayne, do you say this is too New Orleans? When you listen to Jay-Z, do you say this is too New York? I always say nobody cares until everybody cares. And I’m not about to disguise where I’m from because it’s not a big city that you know. I’m not doing that.
Joe Ulrich: What was the first live show you attended?
Cordell Harris: It was Rock the Bells 2008. It was a hip hop festival in Washington, DC at the Merriweather Post Pavilion. And the lineup was insane. It was Nas, Mos Def, Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul. The Pharcyde. Redman. It changed my life. That was another one of those watershed moments where I was like, man, I want to be a part of this in whatever capacity God or the universe may allow me to.
Mosaic is WITF’s home for all things arts, culture and lifestyle.
We spotlight and uplift the creators around us, featuring amazing artists, musicians, authors, chefs, dancers, designers, photographers, and more.
