I wouldn’t call myself the biggest Kid Cudi fan but he definitely has some tracks that I love. I still need to give his Man on the Moon III: The Chosen album that dropped last year a thorough spin through and maybe this blog will inspire me to sit down and play the album from front to back. Cudi to me is an artist who never cared about staying within the lines of being a “rapper” and he pushed boundaries his verses, his singing, his beat selections, and his collaborations with non-rap artists like Ratatat and MGMT. He was just totally different than everything out at that time. Hailing from Cleverland, OH, you could hear the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony influence in his work but he mainly looked up to 90’s hip hop legends like The Pharcyde and A Tribe Called Quest. I first heard of Scott Mescudi back in 2008 with his A Kid Named Cudi mixtape. It was a song called “The Prayer” that first caught my attention but it was “Day ‘n’ Nite” that blew him up and later got him signed to Kanye’s label GOOD Music. Here is “The Prayer” if you haven’t heard it.
Kid Cudi with Kanye was a good pairing and like many, I was excited to hear his debut album. And it did not disappoint. Man on the Moon: The End of Day dropped in 2019 and while it was “Day ‘n’ Nite” that got him worldwide acclaim, it was songs like “Soundtrack 2 My Life,” “Cudi Zone,” “Hyyerr,” and the uplifting “Up Up and Away” that stayed in steady rotation for me. But it was the openness in his lyrics on “Soundtrack 2 My Life” which really made me see how special Kid Cudi was.
He was speaking to me with that track and I know I’m not alone on that. These lyrics specifically were what caught me. “But they all didn’t see, the little big of sadness of me…. Scotty.” And then the chorus comes in and Scott Mescudi is truly baring his soul. I believe this to be one of the songs that inspired the whole Emo Rap movement in the late 2010’s. Cudi is a legend to all of those young rappers for his personal lyrical content and willingness to peel away the typical rapper braggadocio swagger and instead just be a normal human being who lives with deep rooted issues like the rest of us.
Prior to Cudi’s debut album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day, he worked closely with Kanye for Kanye’s album, 808s & Heartbreak. 808s & Heartbreak was a 360 degree turn from all of Kanye’s prior work with its experimental electronic sounds and auto-tune vocals. The lyrical content on the album was largely driven by tragedy with the sudden death of Kanye’s mother Donda in 2007 which left him heartbroken and alone. The following year, Kanye and his fiancée broke off their engagement which further drove Kanye to an isolated place. Cudi inspired Kanye with his A Kid Named Cudi mixtape and Kanye took all of his pain and channeled it into the innovative 808s & Heartbreak album. Cudi was credited for co-writing “Heartless,” “Welcome to Heartbreak,” “Paranoid,” and “Robocop” and you can hear his influence throughout the entire genre-bending album.
Cudi dropped Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager in 2010 and it picked up on the momentum he had carried from 808s & Heartbreak and his debut album. Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager was an experimental album just like its predecessor and it was apparent that you couldn’t call Cudi just a rapper. He was so much more than that with his sing-song verses and crooning over eerie psychedelic production that was not what standard hip hop was known for. The themes in his lyrics were dark and largely dealt with anxiety and depression. Cudi’s mental health was always on display with his writing where he likely found some therapy in expressions his true emotions. Cudi helped a generation of young kids cope with depression with his vulnerability in bringing up topics like suicide in his lyrics. Most rappers rapped about their platinum chains, flashy cars, and hoes while Cudi was speaking about everything going on with him psychologically. Cudi was different. Cudi was dope.
Over the years, Cudi has always had some songs to remind me of how dope he is. Lyrical Lemonade gave a great rundown of their Top 50 Cudi tracks last year which is a good list for any of you looking to dive deeper. His interview with Zane Lowe late last year was a good introspective look at his career and the buildup to his latest Man on the Moon III: The Chosen album. His Ted Talk at his high school was another really good piece of content if you have the time. As I put the finishing touches on this story at 5am while my wife and baby are asleep, I have to close out the blog by giving a nod to my favorite Cudi song of all time. And it’s just not fair to only label it a Cudi song because King Chip’s opening verse on it is so damn dope. This beat + both Chip’s verse and Cudi’s verse are gold to me. The video is icing on the cake. By the way, Cudi produced the beat and directed the video as well. Scott Mescudi is one talented dude. Props to Kid Cudi on being a truly unique artist and inspiring so many fans around the world!