Naomi Osaka’s Ex Addresses Their Separation As He Prepares To Welcome Second Child
Rappers and hip hop artists have a habit of hiding details in their songs, and some of the biggest revelations come through their new releases. Almost two years after their split, Naomi Osaka’s former partner and the father of her daughter, Cordae, dropped a new album where he revealed that he is about to become a father again.
The rapper released a collaborative album with Anderson .Paak, Heavy Is the Crown, on Friday, October 23. One of its 11 tracks, “Helpless,” has drawn attention for its candid lines about his separation from Osaka.
“I’m finna have my second child, although we still ain’t said our vows,” how the lyric of the song reads. “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, Can’t see it coming down my eyes, so do it through this song”
He does not say who the mother of the second child is, and the news has not been confirmed beyond the lyric.
Cordae and Osaka began dating in 2019 after meeting at a Los Angeles Clippers game. In January 2023, they announced their pregnancy and welcomed their daughter, Shai, that July. Osaka then took a break from the tour of more than a year and returned in January 2024 at the Brisbane International. She officially announced the split in January 2025 through one of her Instagram stories in a warm tone.
“No bad blood at all, he’s a great person and an awesome dad,” she wrote.
“Helpless” is not the first time Cordae has rapped about Osaka. On his 2021 EP Just Until…, he referenced the relationship in “More Life,” where he brags about dating a tennis star, and in “Wassup,” where he alludes to the Lakers, reported to be her favorite team. In “Dream in Color,” he describes how far she would go to meet his grandmother, including forfeiting a match, a line that drew criticism from some tennis fans. “Thanksgiving,” from his 2019 debut album The Lost Boy, was written about bringing Osaka home to meet his family.
He has even talked of their daughter before. On The Crossroads, released on November 15, 2024, “Shai Afeni” is a dedication to Shai and has been described as a heartfelt ode to his newborn. In the song, he reflects on becoming a father and on his relationship with Osaka at the time, describing the two as being on good terms. The album came out roughly seven weeks before Osaka’s announcement on January 6, 2025.
In August 2024, the couple appeared to have broken up but were co-parenting on good terms, and split rumors began in autumn 2023 when Osaka deleted their joint Instagram photos.
That makes “Helpless” the first time Cordae appears to have addressed the breakup directly in his music, though not his first release since it. He was part of IDK’s “Prince George” single in 2025, and this is his full project since The Crossroads.
Neither individual has addressed the breakup beyond that social media message. There is no public evidence of any custody disputes. The focus has been on co-parenting Shai. Osaka often travels with her daughter on tour, has called her daughter her “biggest blessing,” and has made clear there was no animosity.
Motherhood has also severely impacted how she approaches her career now. The experience of motherhood has also had an impact on her working style. Before this year’s US Open, she said people forget her main job is to be a mom, and described tennis as her side hustle. But earlier this year, after the Miami Open exit, she was blunt about the fact that she is playing the sport to win and not just for participation’s sake.
Meanwhile, the last competitive match that the world No. 19 played was at the China Open, where she reached the last 16, losing to seventh seed Karolina Muchova in the deciding tiebreak, a repeat loss from the Wimbledon quarterfinal.
After the defeat against the Czech, the four-time Grand Slam champion withdrew from Wuhan and flew back to her home to spend time with her family and celebrate her 29th birthday with her daughter- for the first time in years. In a message she dropped on X after the defeat stated that, even though she lost, first time after Homburg, she could finally manage her Achilles injury.
She is now listed as the eighth seed in her home tournament, Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, a WTA 500 event. Osaka will start her campaign against former world No. 4, Jasmine Paolini, on her home turf.
Osaka has already played 42 matches in the season and collected 30 wins from it – her most successful campaign since 2021. Although the campaign has fallen short of qualifying for the WTA finals, most likely after Tokyo, Osaka will end her season early and start preparing for next year.
