I suppose this was bound to happen to Kid Cudi at some point. He was bound to make a piece of music that was so personal and so self-referential that even I couldn’t fully fux with him musically. Cudi’s second album starts off feeling like a continuation of the slept on classic ‘Man On The Moon: The End Of Day’. But by the end of the follow up disk I feel like Cudi is more in the dusk of his musical inclinations than at the dawn.
Kid Cudi never really escapes the melancholy of the Euro dub downtempo sound that he explores throughout this disk. Yet he still has bright moments on this disk and I still find myself singing along at points, but I miss the adrenaline shots and the whimsy contained in MotM1. ‘Man On The Moon2’ is so serious and brooding at times that I think it might be a chore now for Cudi to enter the recording booth for his solo projects. What helps Kid Cudi to still deliver is the reality which centers his sound.
Kid Cudi is filled with soul music and you would have to be a robot not to feel his need to connect to the listener. There are two features on the album with Mary J. Blige that I will play continuously. These tracks best represent the album’s production for me. The music beds on these songs is spartan, to describe them at best. The real music is Cudi and Mary J. pouring out their souls to hit their notes. Think of 808s with all the heartbreak and none of the autotune.
Kid Cudi featuring Mary J.Blige – ‘Don’t Play This Song’
Kid Cudi featuring Mary J.Blige – ‘These Worries’
The song that defines this album is the title track ‘Mr.Rager’. This is my favorite joint on the album as well. This is what makes Cudi so dope to me as a rapper dude in 2010+ Hip-Hop. The song is anthemic and inspiring. It isn’t for the clubs or the corner. It’s for the spaceship and the next stop is the Andromeda galaxy. If Hip-Hop is going to fulfill its destiny and save the planet Earth it will need a Kid Cudi to add his universal imagination to the soundscape.
If you don’t believe that Hip-Hop can transport you to another galaxy, to another time and place, why do you listen to the shit? To confirm that colored peoples can stand in front of a bodega? I have the luxury to already know this reality [/sarcasm]. I live that everyday. I wonder what Black peoples live like on alternate Earths in distant galaxies. So does Kid Cudi and that is why I fux with dude [ll].
Kid Cudi – ‘Mr.Rager’
*This drop goes out to DJ Franchise from Know The Ledge for taking out the time and scrilla to copp a Star Wars Boba Fett hoody and ship it to me on the strength. Just like so many of the true believers that keep the lights on at DP.com
