SAMPLEDAnderson .Paak and Cordae are finally making the album 'RNP' promised
Heavy Is the Crown, the duo's first full-length together, arrives October 23 via APESHIT, Mass Appeal and EMPIRE — with a physical-first rollout already live.
Seven years ago, Anderson .Paak (opens in a new tab) and Cordae (opens in a new tab) made "RNP," the centerpiece of Cordae's 2019 debut The Lost Boy, and the obvious question followed them ever since: when does this become an album? This week the two answered it. Heavy Is the Crown, their first full-length collaborative record, arrives October 23 through APESHIT, Mass Appeal and EMPIRE.
The announcement came straight from the artists: a trailer built around a studio portrait of the pair in matching argyle sweaters, deliberately styled after the poster for the 2008 comedy Step Brothers — two grown men forced into brotherhood, figuring out whether they actually like each other. "We can't wait for y'all to hear this one," .Paak wrote alongside the teaser on Instagram. No music from the album has been shared yet.
A rollout built around physical copies
What is already live is the physical side. Pre-orders for Heavy Is the Crown opened with the announcement across three formats — black vinyl LP, CD and cassette — with an Amazon-exclusive vinyl variant in the mix. EMPIRE's official pre-save page (opens in a new tab) is running a countdown to release day, and the Vinyl & CD option routes directly to the duo's store. It is a rollout that leads with the record as an object rather than chasing first-week streaming visibility, which fits a Mass Appeal release in 2026: the label has spent years treating vinyl and cassette as the core product for catalog-minded rap listeners.
The partnership so far
The album formalizes a chemistry that has been building in public for most of a decade:
- "RNP" (2019) — the first link-up, produced by J. Cole, from The Lost Boy. Two rappers trading breathless runs over a beat that sounded like a session, not a studio construction.
- "Two Tens" (2023) — the reunion single that proved "RNP" was not a one-off, again with Cole in the production equation.
- "Summer Drop" (2024) — the third single, plus live runs together at the BET Awards and on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where the duo's loose, in-the-room energy carried nationally televised stages.
Where each of them is right now
.Paak has been busy in three directions at once. In May he released K-POPS! (Music from and inspired by K-POPS! Motion Picture), the soundtrack to the film he co-wrote, produced, directed and starred in alongside his son, Soul Rasheed. Before that came Why Lawd?, his 2024 album with Knxwledge as NxWorries, and earlier this summer he appeared alongside Stalone on "Where I'm From" from T.I.'s Kill the King. As DJ Pee .Wee, he is currently opening Bruno Mars' The Romantic Tour — the North American leg kicked off August 21 at MetLife Stadium — while joining Mars mid-set for Silk Sonic songs.
Cordae's most recent solo statement is The Crossroads (2024), the album that recast him from prodigy to adult songwriter. At 28, he is the younger half of this duo by more than a decade, which is part of the record's premise.
What the title means
Per the official release copy, the title is about real weight: two artists who are now providers and anchors for their families, carrying that responsibility into the music instead of around it. Heavy Is the Crown is out October 23. The trailer and pre-orders are live now; the first single is the thing to watch for next.