BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
It’s that time again. Every few weeks I’ll take a few hours out of my life and listen to an artist’s entire studio discography. The only hook is that it has to be an artist that I’m not too familiar with and one that has three to six albums. This allows me to experience something new, hence the whole “first impression” part and allows me to take in their entire body of work in pretty much one long sitting. Sometimes I find new bands that I love and add to my personal musical lexicon and other times it’s hell for three hours. Regardless, I give my honest first impression in almost a free form train of though. That said, sometimes my thought process derails.
Why Kid Cudi?
Why not Kid Cudi? I’ve heard one or two of his songs and thought they were good. I don’t know why I never dove in to a full album of his. He’s popped up in a few acting roles and seems to be a cool guy. I’m sure he has something interesting to say and can say it in an interesting way. At least that’s what I’m hopeful of. Regardless, I’m going to take a listen to Kid Cudi’s three studio albums.
Man on the Moon: The End of Day
(2009 – 59 minutes) - Kid Cudi’s debut album is probably the one I’m most familiar with. A few of the singles were hard to avoid, but I really don’t think I’ve absorbed it enough. This album is divided up into five acts so I’m assuming a theme or narrative will be here. The album starts off with “In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem)”. It’s a slow burning, tripped out, soulful track. I really enjoy the programming and production on this song. I honestly wasn’t expecting something this layered. My optimism and interest is higher now. After some ranty stuff, we go into "Soundtrack 2 My Life”. It’s a tight tempo’d tune that bounces through Cudi telling a bit about his backstory. A light chatter of “A,B,C” and “1,2,3” is echoed as the beat kicks in on "Simple As...". The melody has a little bit of a reggae-pop vibe going on. The chorus is riduclously addicting. “Simple as that for your simple ass” is going to be in my brain for a while. The song ends with an outro that basically brings up to another “act” in the album. "Solo Dolo (Nightmare)" starts off with an eerie and gloomy build up. Cudi chimes in with a chanty delivery before it breaks. I like music and the way the vocals are delivered, but the words “solo dolo” just don’t connect enough. It’s weird, but it’s off-putting for some reason. I’m going to have to warm up to it. "Heart of a Lion (Kid Cudi Theme Music)" is awesome. The thudding base carries the tune, but Cudi’s rhymes are pretty outstanding on this track. I’m really surprised I’ve not heard this song used in promos and commercials. It’s money. It’s a cool track and it has an easy marketability side to it. I just like it a lot. There is a lot going on in "My World", but the drop beat is the coolest part. It’s just a steady beat that pulls you in and out. The one track I’ve heard the most from this dude is obviously "Day 'n' Nite". It’s a bad ass track. There is no nice way of putting it. If I hadn’t heard this song I would not have done this column at all. The melody, the beat, the lyrics, and the whole production is just spot on. The opening for "Sky Might Fall" is big and has an 80’s vibe going on. It breaks down with some smooth organ synths. At first I wasn’t too into it, but it ended up being a pretty cool tune. The track "Enter Galactic (Love Connection Part I)" is a funky song using a futuristic metaphor about hooking up. I know my description makes it sound a little strange, but it’s a fun song that’s pretty hard to not AT LEAST nod your head along with. The opening tones of "Alive (Nightmare)" rock. It swivels into another pretty decent head banger. It’s not the best track on the album, but it’s not horrible at all. You forget about it quickly because "Cudi Zone" has some great intro production that drops into Cudi letting loose with a great flow. "Make Her Say" is great. The weird GaGa sample is used better than most of the actual gaga tracks I’ve heard. Then we get drops from Kanye West and Common. What more can you ask for? This track takes a lot of really great ingredients and buts together one of the most interesting tracks I’ve heard in a while. I really got lost in the wandering splatter of magic that happens in "Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)". The song sweeps you right up into it’s almost lullaby-vibe. Band MGMT and Ratatat get involved and add their respective vibes to the song. This is another one of those songs that I feel that I should have heard before now. I WILL say that it sorta reminds me of the Kotton Mouth King’s “Tangerine Dream”. I didn’t expect to be referencing KmK today, but regardless… I dug this song a lot. The album wraps up with it’s final “act” of two tracks. The first up is "Hyyerr". It’s a slow track that’s all soulful. It’s not a bad song, but it comes and goes without really pulling me in. The album closes up with "Up Up & Away”. I’m fairly sure I’ve heard this one before. The guitar strums and music behind it gives Cudi a totally different vibe than the rest of the album. Lyrically it’s good and I DO like the music, but it just took me out of the vibe that the rest of the album just set up for me. Strange. This was a damn good debut album. I appreciate the man’s creativity and chances he’s taking with his art. I’m all about the vibe he’s putting out there. It’s not perfect. I won’t get too gushy on it. There were some tracks I loves, some tracks I dug, some I thought were interesting, and then some forgettable stuff. If this 15 track album was cut down to like 12, I’d have been just as into it if not more. I’ve always heard he was awesome, but this kind of proves it. I’m really interested in hearing the next two albums. It’ll be hard to hit the peaks of this one.
Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager
(2010 – 62 minutes) - After an impressive debut, the sophomore drop starts off with "Scott Mescudi vs. the World". Off the bat, eyebrows get raised when I see it features Cee Lo Green. Which, if you’re an Outkast fan, you know could mean good things to come. Cee Lo is one of those perfect “featuring” performers. The song sounds familiar. The production is top notch on my cheap headphones. It’s just not grabbing me. I can clearly hear it’s well done, but the hook is weak. "Revofev" drones though. I got lost in the music and really didn’t get into the narrative until it was almost too late. We jump into a new portion of the album with a track with Miss Mary J. Blige called "Don't Play This Song". It’s a trippy track that takes your ears in at least a million different directions. It sways you back and forth through a swirl of ranty rhymes and melodious tenders from the voice of voices that is Miss Blige. Great shit. This builds right up into the groove of "We Aite (Wake Your Mind Up)" that has a hint of Reznor-like industrial anticipation as it slowly builds towards to the next track…"Marijuana". Obviously, a love song. This song is almost hilarious because it’s a straight up love song talking about the love of weed. It’s almost explicit in his passion. It’s obvious that Kid Cudi is in love with his bud. God bless this man. The smooth ass guitar solo is the icing on the cake of this song. Tremendous. We go right into "Mojo So Dope". It has a strange sample that thuds into the awes of the loop. Cudi pops in with the break beat and goes on a tangent about how his mojo being so dope. The mid tempo party popper "Ashin' Kusher" is potentially my favorite track on this album so far. It hits the marks and takes things in a weird trippy cool area. I don’t get how this wasn’t a big single. It’s catchy as shit and cool. The pseudo-rock out of "Erase Me" is admittedly kind of awesome. It’s a crazy take on a break up song. Kanye drops in with a verse that proves how effortlessly sharp he is and can be. Nice track. The next one though builds up like it’s going to be the best thing EVER. Seriously the hype intro on "Wild'n Cuz I'm Young" lifts you up, but it breaks into some weird cyber-chant-voodoo sounding shit. At this point, you’re all in so you’re just taken on the trip. This song feels like the best parts of Nyquil. This tranquil-cyber trip vibe carries on with "The Mood". The production on these tracks is stellar. Tripped out hip hop like this comes and goes, but the quality is undeniable. We jump to a new vibe on the album with "Maniac". It’s a sprinkley drop of melody over some creative chaos. It gets you pumped up, but never takes you out of the glazed out daze the album has you in by this point. "Mr. Rager" is a song about partying. It’s not a crazy party popper, but just a casual build up song that goes on the process of the party people and what’s in their heads. It’s a cool sounding song, but it never really goes anywhere fast enough to engage you. Mary J. Blige RETURNS! This one on "These Worries". It has a daunting rise, a hit of green, and the groove hits. There is a swampy swoon that pulls you through this song and through the great vocals of Blige. She’s almost hidden in the layers of what’s going on in this song. It’s almost too much. "The End" is a funky groove. It’s a track about paranoia, stress, and dealing with the random hassles of street life and how people get into bad situations they promise to never do again. The final act of the album kicks off with "All Along". It’s a down tempo song with a nice musical accompaniment. It’s one of the most pleasant songs I’ve heard on the album. We jump into the spirally strange twirl of the tune of “Ghost!". I like the melody because it’s so weird and interesting and the vocal delivery is different you want to keep listening, but I don’t necessarily know if I like it or just want to see where it’s going. The album closes out with "Trapped in My Mind". The opening loops are tight as we get staticy delivery from Cudi before the beat breaks into a something a bit more trip-hop directed. The song feels distant and sorta just patters along until it fizzles out. This album was not bad at all. Was it as good as the debut? No. Did it have to be? No. It was a different vibe. That first album was more of a party popper and this one felt more like an introspective look at the party people and kind of like the private pre-gamer. First album is a club popper, the second album is a house party soundtrack. Not the movie, an actual house party.
Indicud
(2013 – 71 minutes) - The third and most recent Kid Cudi album starts off with "The Resurrection of Scott Mescudi". It’s pretty much an industrial track. It sounds like something Trent Reznor would be proud of. Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of it. Next up we have "Unfuckwittable". It warps into a brooding doom-hop track. Cudi distantly rips the vocals out from a guttural place. This sounds a bit like the Saul Williams stuff. Like a lot. I liked that too, but this sounds like it could have been on the same album or an outtake. It’s only comparable though, its own thing once it all unfolds. Trippy as fuck. We go into "Just What I Am", a song that I’d describe as slacker anthem. It’s not an arena rocker, but it’s a song that captivates the senses. The spaced out robot chanting “I need to smoke” in its distorted glory sounds like something we all hear in the back of our heads at some point in the day. Some people ignore it and some don’t. Safe to say “Cudi don’t.” Father John Misty appears on "Young Lady" and nothing too awesome happens. I seriously couldn’t tell you anything about the song two minutes after it goes off. Bummer. "King Wizard" brings some life back to into my ears. It’s a booming tempo with a steady beat and catchy as shit chorus. The production on this track is especially nice. "Immortal" is next. It lost me again. It was a fun head nodder, but I don’t think it’ll be in my head at all come an hour from now. I know I had my issues with the first one, but "Solo Dolo, Part II" isn’t the same. This time we get Kendrick Lamar and a flat-out, point-blank,straight-up killer. This track is a bitch slap of awesomeness. The beat and rapid fire smoothness makes it a song that raises the heart pressure up and takes you on a mouth drying odyssey. Up next is a track I was excited to get to, "Girls" featuring Too Short! Yes, THAT Too Short! It’s not the popper I was hoping for. It’s still got a bit of a darker dub vibe going on. Short does his thing. He comes and drops his vulgar gold, but the song just doesn’t do it for me. I love the title of "New York City Rage Fest", a tune that is more of a surprise than anything. It’s a short beat-driven instrumental snippet that gets a good drum solo going on top of a really engaging production. By the end of it, you realize you’re dancing to it. Nice trick. Well played, Cudi. Well played. I wasn’t into "Red Eye", but I bet others are. It was too “top 40 radio” for my liking. It felt forced. The way female vocalists are being featured in rap songs is becoming cliché and unfair to the awesome vocalists like Haim. She can do so much more. "Mad Solar" is a sonic drip. It’s produced like a champion. The layers of interesting samples, beats, and tones really complement each other. RZA killed it on "Beez"! Holy shit. The beat comes in like a smooth ass sniper as RZA drops one of the best verses in a long ass time. The dude spouts off gems like “I will eat a zombie!” then I figured we’d move on, but no. He comes back on with it and keeps the bar lifted. Solid stuff. "Brothers" brought my energy back up and got me moving around. King Chip and A$AP Rocky do their thing and add some nice flavor to the mix. "Burn Baby Burn" stands out. It’s an interesting song. Another one of those “I’m not sure if it’s awesome, but I want to hear where this is going” songs. It doesn’t go anywhere too awesome, but it was surely worth the three minute listen. "Lord of the Sad and Lonely" goes into a cyber-reggae snap out. It’s almost too much to take in because it all just comes at you with blunt trauma. That would have been a good track title, “Blunt Trauma”. Next up is "Cold Blooded", the party popper I was waiting for. It’s got an darker tone going on, but there is a distant party track hidden in there. The lyrics pop off with a bad ass track about being cold blooded and basically just not giving a shit. I don’t think I could dislike this song if I tried. You just can’t resist the strut of this jam. One of the strangest songs I’ve heard in a long time has to have the over nine minute long "Afterwards (Bring Yo Friends)". The song features King Chip and Michael Bolton. Yep, THAT Michael Bolton. The song is a moody electronic trip where Bolton comes in what songs like samples. It’s just a trip to hear someone say “Pump it up” in a song where Michael Bolton is pouring out his soul. This song is an epic journey. It takes you through many little places and never really bores you. I don’t know if I’d go out of my way to listen to it again, but it was pretty fun for the one time. The album wraps up with "The Flight of the Moon Man". It sounds like a horror movie at start. It has an eerie and dark tone and doesn’t leave that sentiment. It feels like a track you’d hear when like someone if being transformed into a monster. It’s a really cool throwback instrumental to close it out. This album was a different vibe. It didn’t have the same weed vibe. It felt a little more tripped out and cosmetic for my liking. I appreciate the chances and growth he made though. I’ll check this album out again in the future, but for the most part felt like it built up a lot of cool aspects that never paid off. That said, solid art.
THE VERDICT
(2009 – ) - Kid Cudi is a ground breaking artist. In today’s hip hop landscape he’s blazing trails and mountains of marijuana. He’s not just a normal braggadocios or flamboyant rapper. He brings freshness to the table. You can tell what the guy is up to. He smokes, listens to music that gets in his bones, and he just has a chilled out and peaceful vibe. He’s not someone to fuck with, but still someone anyone would want to party with. I was thoroughly impressed with the dude. His writing was creative and I LOVE the production. He takes hip hop into a more industrial dub area that most rappers sleep on or if they approach they start putting on some kind of weird pseudo-goth thing. Cudi is Cudi. The first album was outstanding and a great pop off. It got people listening and put him out there, but as you listen to the next two albums you really get to see inside the guy’s head. The first album had the most energy, the second LP was more tripped out and subdued, and the most recent/third drop was from what seems a darker and more frusturated place. There is something of value in all of this. He’s not making as catchy releases as the first album on the latter two, but who said he has to? I am going to relisten to these albums at least a few more times and wait for what the dude does next. I’m officially on board the Cudi train.
What is YOUR favorite Kid Cudi album?
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