Kid Cudi / INDICUD / Wicked Awesome, Republic (2013)
Kid Cudi’s debut single “Day N Nite” really confused me when I first heard it in 2009. At first I was absolutely hesitant to even admit that I thought it sounded okay (i was still very against Hip-Hop at this point). But the more I watched the music video the more I became incredibly intrigued. This was a mainstream dude who wasn’t talking about money, champagne, or yachts. He was talking about paranoia and loneliness. And I give Scott so much credit now that he chose that as his debut single. Which INDICUD reinforces: Scott is unpredictable.
Okay so I’m completely in love with “Day N Nite” and I need to hear more. I download his debut album and I listened to it constantly. Every song had really lush production and Cudi sounded fantastic over it. The next year he dropped one of my all time favorite Hip-Hop records: Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. Early last year he released a “rock” album with frequent collaborator Dot da Genius called WZRD. Aside from three songs I loved, the album was trash.
So for a long time after WZRD I was seriously wondering what Scott was going to do. He had so many possible projects floating around for a while. He was going to drop a mixtape, make another WZRD album, collaborate with King Chip, and release MOTM3. But none of these came to fruition. He tweeted one random day in 2012 that his new album would be a double disc album and it was going to be titled “Indicud”. I was so goddamn excited for new material from one of my favorite artists working today.
The first track to drop was the fantastic “Just What I Am”, featuring King Chip. The beat was great, Chip was good, and Scott killed the hook and his verse. Next, he released “King Wizard”. Which i loved just as much. Then, he put out “Immortal”. That song blew me away and was the best out of the three. I couldn’t fucking wait for this album to come out. But, the anticipation sort of died. No release date yet, no track listing, and no cover art. Out of nowhere all of this information came at me. The cover featured an explosion in a rose-gold frame. And the track listing scared me. There was no MGMT, Ratatat, Diplo, Kanye, Pusha T, or Common collabs. Which Scott ensured. Instead we’re gonna get three (?!?!) King Chip features, Too $hort, and fucking Michael Bolton. But, we’re also gonna get cameos from Kendrick, A$AP Rocky, RZA, and Haim. So i was equally terrified as I was excited.
Okay thats enough back story lets talk about the goddamn album. I am really impressed with Scott on this one. But, as a huge fan, I am super disappointed. Lemme explain.
I think that Scott deciding to produce the whole record by himself was a bold choice. His production is very spacey, synth heavy, and thumpy. The album is bookended and cut in half by instrumentals. Which I thought were pulled off very well. I love how “The Resurrection of Scott Mescudi” transitions into “Unfuckwittable”. It sets this very dark tone and makes “Unfuckwittable” a very menacing track. “Immortal” main melody comes from pretty reversed guitar chords and victorious horn hits. “Solo Dolo Pt. II” and “Mad Solar” both feature catchy-dancey-fast-bass drum kicks.
I was equally impressed with some of the guests. Haim, whom I loved already, added so much beauty to “Red Eye”. They complemented Scott’s vocals perfectly. Kendrick comes through on “Solo Dolo Pt. II” and drops the hook and an attention grabbing verse. I actually feel like Scott snapped on this one:
“You pussy motherfuckers get the Will Smith smack. And I am not a fronter, better look up the facts.”
After one of the album’s many highlights: “Beez”, I sort of lose interest. “Brothers” sounds like a success on paper but it just didn’t work. The beat was lazy and the MCs were too. Scott mumbles the whole way through “Burn Baby Burn” and ‘Lord of the Sad and Lonely”. However, the biggest misstep of this entire record is the NINE MINUTE LONG MICHAEL BOLTON FEATURED: “Afterwards”. I am still just scratching my head wondering…”why?” Anyway.
The reason I said I was disappointed as a fan was for one reason. Its not Man on the Moon II. Which is a really selfish reason but it is always hitting my brain every time I listen to INDICUD. The introspectiveness, varied production, consistent features, and overall fantastic storytelling and songwriting is not present here. It is just really hard to not get a proper follow up this time around. But i really do applaud for Scott for doing what he wants to do and experiment with his art. All in all, I really dig this album. It has a bunch of fantastic songs.
But. Its not Man on the Moon III.