Former world number one Naomi Osaka announced on Wednesday that she is expecting her first child
AFP

KEY POINTS

  • Naomi Osaka announced on Instagram that she's expecting her first child with boyfriend Cordae
  • Cordae is a rapper who was born in North Carolina but grew up in Maryland
  • He has been nominated for Grammy twice and delivered a powerful TED talk in 2022

Naomi Osaka will soon be a mom!

The four-time Grand Slam champion announced on Instagram Wednesday that she will miss the entire 2023 season because she is pregnant with her first child with her boyfriend, Cordae. Osaka, 25, withdrew from the 2023 Australian Open last week.

Here are some facts fans may want to know about Osaka's 25-year-old boyfriend, according to Entertainment Tonight.

Cordae is a rapper from Maryland

The singer-songwriter was born Cordae Amari Dunston in North Carolina. However, he grew up in Maryland.

When he appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" in January 2022, Cordae revealed that he was voted most likely to become famous in their grade school yearbook.

In October 2020, the rapper took to Twitter to join the "How It Started vs. How It's Going" challenge. He posted his grade school yearbook photo alongside a photo of himself in the studio with Dr. Dre following a 16-hour studio session for his debut album "The Lost Boy" in 2018.

Cordae remembered putting together his first rhyme when he was 4 or 5 years old and said it was "super G-rated."

Cordae joined the YBN collective in 2018 and left two years later. The group had collaborated with big names such as Machine Gun Kelly, Wiz Khalifa, Gucci Mane and Chris Brown for their one and only project, "YBN: The Mixtape."

He's been nominated for a Grammy twice

After leaving YBN, Cordae decided to launch his own record label called High Level. He explained to host Jimmy Fallon that the name was "a mantra, a way of life."

"Everything I do, I must do it at a high level," he said.

He released "The Lost Boy" in 2019 and "From a Bird's Eye View" in 2022.

In 2020, he was nominated for Grammy awards for best rap album and best rap song for his single "Bad Idea."

He was a TED talk speaker

In June 2022, Cordae delivered a powerful TED talk. He was only 24 when he spoke about his mantra, the high level mindset. He credited his mindset to his mom and recounted how she got pregnant with him when she was only 16 years old.

"She was a single mother with all the odds stacked against her," he said. "We lived in some pretty terrible neighborhoods, man. I switched elementary schools about five different times. I remember one time her car was stolen twice in one week. She overcame circumstance, obstacles, her environment and negativity as I watched our living situation would continue to get better and better as the years went by. Now, that's high level."

Cordae's high level mindset enabled him to land opportunities catapulting him to fame. He was able to work with superstars like Dr. Dre, H.E.R., Eminem and Lil Wayne.

However, at home, his mom keeps him grounded. According to the rapper, his mother was not impressed by his achievements at all.

"I go back home and I gotta wash the dishes, mow the lawn. For real, this is a real thing. I think that's her way of saying, 'Don't have too much dip on your chip,'" Cordae said on "The Tonight Show."

He met Osaka at a Clippers game

Cordae and the tennis champion took part in GQ Sports' couples quiz in February 2021, where they shared that they first met at a Los Angeles Clippers game.

She also revealed that she watched Cordae perform for the first time at the Roxy in Hollywood before he dropped his first album.

Osaka said she hadn't been to a lot of concerts before that and found her now-beau's performance "kind of cool."

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan is reportedly launching her own sports agency along with her former agent at IMG
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan is reportedly launching her own sports agency along with her former agent at IMG AFP / CHANDAN KHANNA