On January 28, 2019, Cordae released a music video for a new song titled, "Locationships" on his YouTube channel before releasing another song titled, "Have Mercy" in March 2019, with the latter song becoming the lead single from his debut studio album, "The Lost Boy". He was later named as one of the members of "XXL's" "2019 Freshman Class" on June 20, 2019. Cordae later released "Bad Idea" and "RNP" as the second and third singles from the album respectively. "The Lost Boy" was released on July 26, 2019. The album landed YBN Cordae two nominations at the 62nd Grammy Awards; Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song for the single "Bad Idea". In November 2019, YBN Cordae announced that he would be headlining "The Lost Boy in America Tour", which began in January 2020.