It may very well be that Kid Cudi is a musical genius and may not have even realized it. He displays all his talents as a musician thru his latest work, "Man on the Moon: The End of Day".
Kid Cudi is not great at anything but good at a lot of things. I wouldn't say his vocal ability as a singer is great, though Jay-Z did utilize his vocal abilities on Blueprint 3. And Cudi won't wow you lyrically, but will keep you engaged to what he is talking about long enough to make a good record. Cudi's album, "Man on the Moon:The End of Day" has a cinematic theme, portraying our protagonist as Kid Cudi fighting "The Terrors" and reality. The listener is taken on a journey, narrated by Common, where Kid Cudi tries to battle the ills of reality of society with a little help from a psychedelic substance.
Track 1- In My Dreams
The Intro "In My Dreams" welcomes the listener to a new world-the world of Kid Cudi. The album begins in a somber tone with an intro that invites you into the dreams of Kid Cudi, thus the title. The track is melodic and slow, with a very basic beat that utilizes some orchestra elements. Cudi sings throughout the track, and though it is semi-monotonous you sense this album is going to have a dark undertone. However, you sense you are being hypnotized into a different state and Common hammers it home with spoken word. The track is well composed, well thought out and thorough.
Track 2-"Soundtrack 2 My Life"
"Soundtrack 2 My Life" is of a bit more upbeat tone, and begins to explain the intricacies of Scott Mescudi.
"I've got some issues that nobody can see/ And all of the emotions are pouring out of me/ I'm bring them to the light for you, it's only right/ This is the soundtrack 2 my life/"
Kid Cudi gets really personal in this record incorporating his childhood, his friends(or lack thereof), his life as an entertainer, the pitfalls of it and implies a sad connotation to it. Cudi seems like a loner, and revels in it. He is not asking for help. He is merely given the fact that he has some issues coping having gone through what he has in his life. He has haters, girl problems, money issues, and deals with substance abuse to some extent, but again accepts all his problems in stride-in fact they are all responsible to the soundtrack of his life. It is evident that Cudi was not well-liked as a youngster and still has people hating him now that he has become an entertainer. In this record, he wants a normal life, but knows that he can't get it because of his own choices. He doesn't complain, he just presents the story of his life in a song.
Track 3- "Simple As"
The album gets a big picker upper in "Simple As". The track itself incorporates a sample and is upbeat, and Cudi sets out to exemplify that he is trying to "eliminate the hate, spread the positive". I feel like this track would have been better off as a mixtape track, but Cudi uses this track as a means to an end. It transitions well in the album, providing a high before it gets into the darker part of the album. Cudi tries to explain that is simple to be normal, but couldn't settle for that. He always strives to be different. The best part of the track comes in when Common makes his interlude to the "Rise of the Night Terrors".
Track 4- "Solo Dolo" (Nightmare)
This track is EPIC. Slow and very dark, providing a loop in the backdrop and some very loopy and eerie sounds that represent the track of Cudi being "solo dolo". If you were to imagine what a nightmare sounds like, this song would fit that description.This song is the very epitome of being a loner. Cudi begins the song by stating that "he has nobody". This track seems to be what Cudi is striving for in this entire album. He is best by himself and in his lonesome. The track is a beautiful compilation of sounds taken straight from a horror scene and Cudi accompanies it with a great vocal composition. He is rapping is merely a spectacle of him relishing in his lonesome. He knows he should be more engaging of the people around him and isn't and chooses not to. The track seems to building and going somewhere but isn't. It merely is playing tricks with your mind. Cudi keeps you listening and positioned in the same spot throughout the entire track, as you suspect the track is coming upon something bigger but it doesn't. It is very slow, melodic, and anti-climatic, in true Kid Cudi fashion. It's for lack of a better word, brilliant. Musically sound and unparalleled creativity in the composition of this track.
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Track 5- "Heart of a Lion"
This track is a fan favorite. The track is more upbeat and after nearly lulling you to sleep our hero arises with a "Heart of a Lion".Kid Cudi shows his versatility in this track, both singing and rapping. And uses various ranges of his voice to provide accompaniment to his hooks. The bottom register seems to be a juxtaposition of the top register and helps you feel the battle going on within the mind of Kid Cudi. One is yelling, "No,no,no", while the other interjects, "Yea".This track features a light piano accompaniment and an upbeat bass line, and is a song that speaks of super heroic proportions. Again, Cudi brings orchestra elements in this track to provide the backdrop to the song that he will never be broken or beaten. It seems as if our hero has finally powered up and will remain triumphant.
Track 6- "My World" (feat. Billy Cravens)
I personally think this is the best track on the record. Kid Cudi puts it all on the line again. He talks about his progression from a loser to the big time, and how he foresaw it happening the entire time. He told people it would happen even when they doubted. The track is very simplistic, and Kid Cudi isn't trying heavy on punchlines or wordplay. He is monotonous in his approach and talks about how he worked dead end jobs, and kept hustling until he got his desired goal. People thought he was crazy and doubted him but Cudi pursued on.
"I was heavy, heavy, heavy on my grizzle/ And none of y'all really cared about me"
Kid Cudi is self-made for the most part and attributes his success to his steady belief in himself to be success. Again Cudi sings with reckless abandon, disregarding critics and the fact that he is not a trained singer. However, the listener is forced to appreciate it because it flows and makes sense in the record. And you can sense that it is overall genuine. People can relate to Cudder because there are a lot of people that feel like they are a loner, and engage in extracurricular smoking.
Track 7-"Day N'Nite"
This is Kid Cudi's first single from the album, "The Man on the Moon: The End of Day" and this is the song that introduced Cudi to the mainstream market. It has an upbeat melodic feeling that everyone can move to, but oddly enough, the track is about a loner that finds solace in smoking. Kid Cudi stays true to the theme but disguises it with an upbeat track.It is funny, because my five yr old nephew knows every word to this song, but doesn't even know what it's about. Again Cudi is a creative genius,making a somber song sound as if it was a sing-a-long for a Barney episode. It's so easy to pick up on, that kids can even understand it and sing along, without even realizing the content.
Track 8-"Sky Might Fall"
"Sky Might Fall" is a mixtape track co-written by Kanye West his predecessor and mentor and also the person who signed him to G.O.O.D.Music after working in the BAPE Store in Cleveland. The song is pretty straightforward. Cudi simply does not care.
"The sky might fall/ But I'm not worried at all"
Cudi is not worried about tomorrow, but is making the most of today-a mantra we all can subscribe to. Kanye's influence is evident in Cudi's rhyming style but the record is good even after the mileage on mixtapes and otherwise heavy influencing from outside sources. The creative process still at work.
Track 9- "Enter Galactic"
"Enter Galactic" is probably Kid Cudi's first and only love song on the album, asking his significant other to go on a journey with him and yes, you guessed it, this journey happens to be marijuana-induced. Cudi takes you on an upbeat trip into the outer world. The track bounces with energy and a catchy, melodic hook that anyone can appreciate. The song resonates of a runway feel, and can be categorized as pop on a musical spectrum. Kid Cudi does say some powerful things in this track where you may not expect it, but you almost can't take him seriously with the beat, and the over the top punch lines. At some points he doesn't even rhyme- something only Kid Cudi can pull off in this track.
" It is easy to imagine/ But easier to just do/ Because if you can't do what you imagine/ Than what is imagination to you?"
However, this is trumped by referring a woman's reproductive organs to be wet like a towelette. Not very smoove Rico Suave?
Again Common comes into the picture and gives us the backdrop for the next track as our hero gets caught in his own psychedelic state. He gets "trapped in his own sanctuary". The listener follows on in the story at the mercy of Kid Cudi.
Track 10- Alive (feat. Ratatat)
"Alive" is again another great composition where the electric guitar is featured and a plethora of sounds that makes you feel as if you are in the middle of a tornado. Kid Cudi having now experienced love hopes that his significant other can handle his ways. This song can be interpreted to have sexual implications, but it doesn't make any allusions to sex. Actually it doesn't allude to any female accompaniment. The sounds in this track come from everywhere and anywhere hitting you in the face from all angles. Kid Cudi operates in the night. He is guided by the light,and this track is another example of why Kid Cudi cannot be boxed into any particular genre. This track identifies with semblances of rock, hip hop, trance, and others. Kid Cudi proves again why he is a musical chameleon and why his music appeals to so many different demographics.
Track 11- Cudi Zone
Great song. All I can say is "In my mind, it sounds like wooooo!" This is the mind of an artist. Kid Cudi expresses his feelings of being under the influence. In his "zone" he feels alright, and all the problems are gone. The track again is upbeat, and follows Kid Cudi into the beyond. Cudi sings the hook, and accompanies that with rapping that disses his critics and those that do not like his style. He forgets about it all and does what he likes. The sounds of this song has a bridge that is very futuristic and you don't know where everything is coming from, only for Kid Cudi to come back in and bridge it all together. Kid Cudi puts everything together. His voice completes the song. Without it, the song lacks a certain embodying element that identifies with true Kid Cudi fashion.
Track 12-"Make Her Say" (feat. Common and Kanye West)
Kid Cudi rarely uses features and especially features of the stature of Kanye West and Common, but this track seems to miss the mark with the rest of the album. It has a real pop tune to it, and does not fit in with the entirety of the album. All of a sudden you transfer from the loner, to the playboy lover, making light of sex,and a Katy Perry sample. It is apparent that Kid Cudi needed this song to appeal to the masses again, and this song helps build Cudi's credibility as a major artist by bringing along some top tier talent along for the ride. I can understand the need for this track on the album but I do feel it disrupts the flow of the album, and doesn't resonate with who/what Kid Cudi stands for as an artist in this album. The record itself is very fun nonetheless.
Track 13- "Pursuit of Happyness"
Again, Cudi comes out of the woodworks with a song we can relate to and brings Ratatat along for the ride yet again. The song is heavy on the piano, brings in the electric guitar in stretches to accompany the piano, and incorporates a choir and a
free flowing drum pattern that simply falls in line with the rest of the accompaniment however it fits. However, this record is the feel good song of the fall. Cudi produces a track that embodies the struggle, and mentions how he is on the pursuit of happiness, and how he'll be fine once he gets it. A great record, with futuristic elements an engaging choir melody, and a bridge that features light singing and a heavy electric guitar that brings the song to life. If you can't sing along to this you aren't alive. For anyone that may be experiencing a hard time, this song will not only lift your spirits but give you a new outlook on life. Hell it has become my motto for 2009 and beyond. The ending trails off with Cudi sounding like he had a rough night of drinking and smoking, but the damage has already been done. We are all on the pursuit of happiness and sometimes we need a little something to get us there. In Kid Cudi's case, it seems to be alcohol and weed. However, just like the movie, this song is encouraging, insightful, and otherwise a positive, feel good, picker upper.
Track 14- "Hyyerr" (feat Chip the Ripper)
This song is a perfect follow up to "Pursuit of Happyness". An ode to all the smokers, Cudi brings along Cleveland comrade Chip the Ripper to make a record with a classic track, that feels nice and slow. This song reminds you that though Kid Cudi can't be classified into a specific genre he still has blues and funk roots, and has a southern influence. This song is nice and slow with a heavy baseline, and has southernplayacadillistic written all over it. The song rides well, feels well, and gives even dope boys something to ride to as well. Or at least gangsters that partake in marijuana consumption.
Track 15- "Up up and away"
Kid Cudi brings in guitars everywhere to provide a nearly fitting conclusion to a somber album. After a pretty decrepit album, the last track on the album is chipper and upbeat. It is a slap in the face to the critics again and saying how he doesn't care about what critics say so whatever. I mean, they're gonna judge him anyway so why worry about what they think? It is evident that Kid Cudi is going to be who is regardless of what people think of him. He'll be up up and away. Common provides the outro ending by stating that is never the end, and that this record is only a continuation of more greatness to come from our hero Kid Cudi.
Overall, I would advise listener to not go into Kid Cudi's project expecting anything because you won't get anything you expected. Whether you're a fan of hip hop or rock, it is a hodgepodge of everything and the music itself is unclassifiable. Cudi bridges the gap of all genres. It is a feat that only Kid Cudi can accomplish leaving critics scratching their head as to what to say about his music. It is a challenge to try and understand Cudi's musical influences or identify his sound to someone else's merely because Kid Cudi is genuinely unique in what he does which is hard to say about many artists these days. Cudi offers an entirely new perspective that is missing in music today.
"The Man on the Moon:The End of Day" is a masterpiece in my estimation and unlike anything I have heard up to this point in my life, and for that I give Kid Cudi four stars, two thumbs up and a congratulations on a job well done. This project will be talked about for a long time, and it will be interesting to see how he rebounds from this album with Cudder Music, his latest project, already in the works, and a series of promising videos yet to be displayed from this album.
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