CuDi's new album is satisfyingly complex
The album is a bright light in the dark world of hip-hop.
Published Sept. 18, 2009
It's not hard to believe a ton of hip-hop fans today are jaded with the state of the genre. There hasn't been a good hip-hop album since 2008 with Tha Carter III by Lil' Wayne and Untitled> by Nas.
The rap game has been in a transition period where new emcees are beginning to emerge and some of them are taking hip-hop to new heights. Although Wale, Drake and KiD CuDi are the most notable of the aforementioned emcees, KiD CuDi, born as Scott Mescudi, is the first to release a full-length album. Wale has his first record due this fall and Drake plans to release his debut album on Valentine's Day of 2010.
After releasing his first mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi in summer 2008, Kanye West immediately signed CuDi to his label, G.O.O.D. Music. This record deal, coupled with CuDi's guest spot on Kanye's latest album 808's and Heartbreaks really started to bring CuDi into the mainstream spotlight. He then began working on his heavily hyped debut album.
Usually with this much buildup, an album cannot begin to live up to expectations. But Man on the Moon: The End of Day absolutely lives up to the touting CuDi gave it for months. He takes us on a dreamy, drug-filled journey through his mind, with topics ranging from night terrors to scenarios of pure fantasy.
This album needs to be digested like a film and Common's narration throughout lends a helping hand. Broken up into five "acts," MotM begins by taking us to the start of CuDi's sleep cycle with "In My Dreams (Cudder Athem)" and is quickly followed by "Soundtrack 2 My Life," the first song in which we are introduced to CuDi's inner demons and emotions that are scattered throughout the entire record.
"I've got some issues that nobody can see/and all of these emotions are pouring out of me," Cudi sings. After talking about his father's death, shrooms and what it takes to make him truly satisfied, he finishes the song with a simple sentence. "I am happy. That's just the saddest lie."
Tracks called nightmares are intermixed throughout the album and generally convey CuDi's darker emotions.
Part two begins the night terror stage. "Soaring through paradise when I'm closing my eyes. I am Mr. Solo Dolo," CuDi repeats in "Solo Dolo." It's a phrase he's used many times before — and it's a phrase that nobody can quite figure out.
Things speed up during part three with CuDi's first single from the album, "Day n' Nite," but lyrically, the track is fairly similar to the other ideas already mentioned. "Day n' nite, the lonely stoner seems to free his mind at night," he says throughout the entire song. We knew CuDi was a lonely guy and this song reinforces that idea.
Another nightmare comes up later in the album with "Pursuit of Happiness," which features MGMT and Ratatat. "If I fall, if I die, know I lived it to the fullest," CuDi says. After he's done talking about night terrors and cold sweats, CuDi ends the album with "Up Up & Away (The Wake & Bake Song)." This song chronicles the morning after the nightmares and ends the album on a lighthearted note.