Kid Cudi was one of 9 freshman rappers to grace the cover of the XXL's future emcees issue. He was also hand picked by Kanye West and was instrumental in helping West craft 2008's 808s and Heartbreak. He is a weird cat and there is a faction of rap fans that cannot stand him. They do not like that he does not have a street story. he is not "hard" and some do not even consider him a rapper. His beats are too Euro, or too weird. He does too much singing or his delivery is not fast enough and his lyrics are not full of tongue twisters. These are the knocks against this kid. Eh, hip-hop should not be so easily defined and for that reason, Cudi intrigued me right off the bat. His lead single "Day n Night" was such a weird little track that I was immediately interested in what this kid would do for an album. Well, the album is out and now I know. I will go track by track, but before I do that I want to say that this is the most interesting debut album I have heard since Lupe Fiasco. Kid Cudi's album came out a week ago and I have listened to it nearly twenty times. That is how much I am interested in it. Oh and I have to say, I cannot find my liner notes on the computer for this album, and cannot find the production team on-line.
1. In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem) - The album's opener does not actually feature any rapping, just some singing. It is a free flowing, almost stream of consciousness style of song. There is not a lot of structure and the musicality lends itself to that. The beat is spacey and minimalist but provides the right kind of dreamlike atmosphere. The song sets off the story of the album, with Cudi asleep and dreaming and in his dreams "everything plays out exactly how I want them to/ everything turns out dope" It is kind of ominous because it makes me think his dreams are the only place where he is happy. His voice is super depressing and then the song ends and Common comes in with some dope narration I will reproduce here:
Long before we know ourselves,
Our paths are already set in stone.
Some may never figure out their purpose in life,
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
And some will.
There are a lot of us who are caught up in this hell we all live in,
Content with being blinded by rules and judgment.
We live in a world where it's more okay to follow than to lead.
In this world being a leader is trouble for the system we are all accustomed to.
Being a leader in this day and age is being a threat.
Not many people stood up against the system we all call life,
But toward the end of our first ten years into the millennium we heard a voice.
A voice who was speaking to us from the underground for some time.
A voice who spoke of vulnerabilities and other human emotions and issues never before heard so vividly and honest.
This is the story of a young man who not only believed in himself,
But his dreams too.
This is the story of The Man On The Moon.
It really sets the album up perfectly 5/5
2. Soundtrack 2 my life- The song opens with Cudi rapping "Got 99 problems and they all bitches." The title explains the song pretty well. This is Cudi letting us know about his life growing up and how he did not deal with them well. He ends the first verse by saying "But they all don't see/ the bit of sadness inside me." His second verse talks about the paranoia he feels since his father died when he was young. And it features his slickest word play on the album when he raps "The moon will illuminate my room and soon I'm consumed by my doom." It is a dope line, but it also shines a light on the sadness or depression. He tries drugs and says a happy ending would be slitting his wrists. People in rap do not talk about this stuff. The beat is perfectly suited as it is kind of harrowing and very dark. Cudi breathes life into it but it kind of stands up on its own and Cudi ends the final verse with the line "I am happy, that's just the saddest lie" and I realize this album is very different. 5/5
3. Simple As...- I love the 808s and the kick drums on this track. Cudi glides over the beat very well. He is in a sing-songy flow and it works for the song. He hits every beat where he needs to and he even makes the awful talking in the beat tolerable. This song ends chapter 1 in the story and almost feel optimistic because, well he is still dreaming. The song has a dreamy vibe and the nonsensical lyrics kind of add up to the dream. lyrics like "But how to be, I'm whackin cheese into the little kids/ So I curse like a sailor and I smoke weed" feel out of a dream because they are not immediately phrases that go together. Cudi has created a whole landscape of dreaming with the music, his sing-songy flow and now the nonsensical lyrics finish off that dream. However, the song ends with our narrator coming back in to tell us the dreams are about to turn into something bad. I am totally hooked!! 4.5/5
4. Mr. Solo Dolo(Nightmare)- Oh this beat is off the hook amazing. I love the haunting strings and the reverb on his voice when he says "Mr. Solo Dolo." I love how the beat builds slowly and keeps the ominous feel, but then pulls back when it needs to. The beat has all these weird little creepy sounds that keep me on edge even after 20 listens. I love how Cudi's flow is like a forced whisper, like if he speaks too loudly the monsters of his night terrors will find him. But the night terrors, or the hook, are loud and creepy and go like "Why must it feel so wrong when I try and do right, do right" His paranoia is so present here and it is so interesting and intense to listen to. Rappers never talk about night terrors. Lyrically it is not special, but it is exactly what it needs to be for the song. He has crafted a musical nightmare and his final lyrics are just haunting:
I don't need nobody
This is what you feel all the sounds of insanity
Hopin what I hear loops itself to finish me
No I won't be afraid
Oh man, this kid is certainly using his music to work out issues and I feel privileged to go along for the journey. 5/5
5. Heart of a lion (Cudder theme music)- In the midst of his nightmares, Cudi is trying to pump himself up, but even his optimistic songs are fraught with ominous beats, paranoid choruses and a downer flow. I love it! The beat is a mix between triumphant marching and spacey loner flying. Cudi maintains a level head and he is rapping through the song and is right in cadence with the beat. It is more impressive than people are giving him credit for. The beat does get kind of cheesy when the chorus comes in, but it is not so distracting. He does end the song with a nice courageous verse, which lets me think that maybe the night terrors are over and that he defeated them. he is talking to someone, but we do not know who when he ends the final verse with "Hiding deep within I told you no I'll never let you drag me down to hell no." What is hiding within him? Who is dragging him down? Where does his paranoia come from? 4/5
6. My World (Featuring Billy Craven)- Cudi sounds straight up weeded in this song. he is all smoked out and tired of fighting his demons. The beat is on some deep dark rap shit, with some marching going on, but Cudi is obviously too tired to really march out on it. I like his lazy flow juxtaposed with the march style of the beat. It makes the beat feel lazy and then on the hook, the beat does get lazy and drawn out. Cudi has put the beat into submission and brought it to his smoked out level. Cudi is not as concerned with rhyming as he is with creating an ambience and it works. His words do not always make a rhyme, but I get what he is doing. His voice feels void of all emotions on the song. His nightmares have just made him feel soulless. It is hauntingly gorgeous and sad at the same time. This is definitely a song to think on. 5/5
7. Day n nite- The big single that everyone can hum and with great reason. it is fucking catchy. The beat is perfectly suited for the "lonely stoner." It is a nightmare song, but it does not always feel so dark. I mean, lyrically it is dark and the chorus is super sad when he goes on and on about the lonely stoner. But musically the song just hits. I can hear rappers tearing into the beat, but not Cudi, Cudi is crafting something more than a lyrical exercise. he is more interested in the story of his lonely life and we are better for it. Any punchline rapper can go over a beat, but Cudi makes the beat his. He owns the beat with his story and his voice and his slow flow and repeated words. All of this combined give me the picture of a guy all alone trying hard to find his place. 4/5
8. Sky Might Fall- Of course, the title itself is incredibly paranoid and this track falls right into that. The beat has these drum sounds that hit in weird patterns, the organs come in all over the place in the background and Cudi finds himself rapping about grey skies, being lost, searching for more and wanting to leave Earth. The themes of the song are indicative of the themes of the album, but in this song he is almost angry about it. Gone is the depressed voice, replaced by a more aggressive growl and an elongated syllable pronunciation. It is an effective change right in the middle of the album. Is Cudi's paranoia giving way to anger? He says he does not care if the sky falls, does that mean he is just over all of it and he is sick of not feeling peace? It is possible. 5/5
9. Enter Galactic(Love Connection 1)- This is without question the weakest song on the album. The beat is far too cheesy and far too Euro Pop trashy. The chorus wears thin on my patience every listen, but the redeeming fact of the song is where it fits in the story. Is this the turning point in Cudi's life? He raps, sings and then speaks on the track. it is a kind of all over the place song that fits into an album of paranoia and this may be the turning point when he says " I like it when you talk because your voice is angels" and then when the song ends our narrator comes on again to lead us into the next section of this journey and he says:
Soon after falling into a deep but psychedelic state to escape the prison of our reality a hero becomes trapped in his own peaceful place which immediately becomes his sanctuary, a place filled with his wildest dreams, this is his new home.
As a song it gets a 2/5 but in the story, it is a 4/5.
10. Alive (Featuring Ratatat)- In this song. the dream state of the next song is gone and replaced with Cudi taking on the form of his nightmares, I think. The beat hits harder than any other beat on the album. It is an intricate sound scape for Cudi to rap about being a creature of the night. I think he is a werewolf on the track, or at least a creature that is alive at night. He is rapping about a girl he hopes can save him, "a sexy lady who is pure." He wants her to save him from his curse. I believe he is asking for the girl from the song above that he made a connection with. If that dream state finds him at peace, this nightmare finds him restless, cunning and unsure. He needs that dream to save him. He raps in the third verse but sings in the first two and this ability to switch up makes things fresh. his singing voice is light and high pitched, but his rapping voice is lower pitched and scary, so those two work well off each other. 5/5
11.Cudi Zone- In a Timbaland sounding beat (It could be him) Cudi raps Soaring, Is this allowed?/ I sure bet my daddy proud,/ A little nigga with a shaky smile,/ On top of the dreams is where I'm found" and so goes Cudi Zone. Cudi is back in the dream land where things go well, where he is able to find peace. When he is in his mind, he feels safe. In the "Cudi Zone" there is rest and he feels alright. It is a contradiction to the night terrors, but this is after the terrors. This after finding love. I do feel that lyrics fail him most on this song because the song is trying to be very lyrical. The beat cow-tows to the words and Cudi raps more on this track than any other and his rapping does let me down, a bit. However, I do not think of Cudi as a rapper, he is a storyteller and in the story, this song works. 4/5
12. Make her Say (Featuring Kanye West and Common)- Cudi chops up Lady GaGa's "Poker Face" to create a blow job anthem. Juvenile, sure, but fun as hell, yes! The beat is nice. The bass is a little too distorted for my taste, but the sample is worked in perfectly and does not get too annoying. Lyrically the song is offensive with lines like "When It's Said And Done She Spit It Up And Swallow" and Kanye dropping "Getting Brain In The Library Cause I Love Knowledge/When You Used Your Medulla Oblongata" and Common getting the best and most disrespectful line "But They Say You Be On The Conscious Tip/ Get Your Head Right And Get Up On This Conscious Dick." However, I cannot help but love it. I love the vibe, the flows, the deliveries and when the song is winding down, I love the dj scratches! I know I should have some self righteous indignation about the misogyny, but hell, the song is dope. 4.5/5
13. Pursuit of Happiness(Featuring MGMT and Ratatat)- The beat on this song is so complex, exquisite and varied that I cannot help but love it. Cudi has created a masterpiece on this song. I love how the chorus goes over a more chunky section of the beat and how sing songy is and then for the verses the beat backs off and Cudi does his singing things over it. Then he sings/raps this verse that is just horrifyingly stark and honest :
Tell me what you know about dreamin (dreamin), You ain't really know bout nothin (nothin), tell me what you know about the night terrors every night, 5am cold sweats, waking up to the sky, Tell me what you know about dreams (dreams), tell me what you know about night terrors nothin, you don't really care about the trials of tomorrow, rather lay awake in the bed full of sorrow.
I cannot find any fault with this song. It is remarkable, really. I can listen to it over and over and never get tired of it. The beat, the sing-songy hook and Cudi's voice catch you, but you stick around for the honesty, desperation and suicidal thoughts we have not seen in rap music since Notorious B.I.G rapped his own suicidal thoughts on Ready to Die. Cudi will never be the rapper B.I.G was, but he understands that honesty is the right way to go. 5/5
14. Hyyerr (featuring Chip the rapper)- This song does feel a little old because of the soul sample, but I like it. it has a smoothed out R&B feel to it until Cudi starts doing his hybrid rap/singing thing. Marijuana is a common topic in rap music, but this kind of feels different. Cudi has given into his addictions and into the things that take him away from his terrors, but it does not sound celebratory. The hazy beat, the garbled hook and Cudi's own drugged out voice give this song a tone that is not happy. Cudi does not appear to enjoy the weed and the alcohol but he thinks he needs it to get away from his troubles. He is not glamorizing his drug use. The song before went to a suicidal place and in order to stay away from that place, Cudi relies on his drugs, on the things that haze his memory. In the story, it makes perfect sense. 4/5
15. Up, Up and Away (The Wake and Bake song)- The album ends with Cudi waking up to face reality as his first verse goes "I flow some round in my bedroom turn around see myself in the mirror I guess I'm cool." Cudi made it through a night of nightmares, night terrors and dreams. He comes out the other end a little stronger. The beat is built around a guitar and has a Gym Class Heroes sound to it, kind of Earthy and natural. Cudi is certainly in his most optimistic voice and flow on the song and it is a nice close to the album. I have just listened to a man give his entire life and soul to me on record and I am rewarded with a song about moving on from the night and that he will not be brought down by haters or anyone else for that matter. Then to rap it up, our Narrator comes back on to close this chapter:
The end is never the end. A new challenge awaits. A test no man could be prepared for. A new hell he must conquer and destroy. A new level of growth he must confront himself. The machine in the ghost within. This is the journey of the man on the moon.
Man on the Moon is a concept album where every song fits just right. I never questioned why certain songs were placed in or why this happened or that happened. Cudi has crafted a stellar debut album worthy of being listened to and dissected over and over again. He is only moderately talented as a rapper and as a singer, but as an artist, he is spectacular. Thank you Kid Cudi for letting me take this journey with you and for opening up your life. I cannot wait to hear the next adventure!
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