Kid Cudi I’m not going to rap forever. In a recent interview, the 38-year-old doubts his chances of making it past his 40s (“My name is Kid Cudi,” he said). Esquire). While he’s not the first rapper to tease his retirement without success, Cudi has spent the last few years like an artist plotting an exit strategy, diversifying his portfolio with a string of acting, writing and directing projects. I was. He has had some success. Earlier this year, he played a charismatic supporting role in his Ti West horror hit. Xwith its prequel pearl It was produced by Cudi’s production company Mad Solar.
Cudi’s latest record, Enter Galactic, the product of the same ambition to conquer film and television, is a visual album released alongside the animated Netflix film of the same name. ‘s Jessica Williams plays Cudi as an aspiring cartoonist. It’s ironic that a project born out of her Cudi desire to move away from recording contains some of her most purely enjoyable music of the decade.
Enter Galactic It follows 2020’s, his most backwards album to date. Moon Man III: Chosen Onelatest sequel 2009 debut He has cast his entire career as a celebration. Like many of his Cudi records before it, Man on the Moon III I was lethargic to the point of misery, and for the first time I was watched by an exhausted muse. With deep, melancholy musings and cosmic contemplation, it was another hollow statement from a rapper who doesn’t make great art but wears the mantle of a great artist.
one of the most pleasant surprises about Enter Galactic, and beyond that unflattering but absolutely gorgeous production is that Cudi is finally writing outside of himself. and bring a little light to his boring world. In “New Mode” he points a new direction. On “Angel” and “Ignite the Love,” he sounds convincingly preoccupied. one of his two R&B fans ty dollar sign Collaboration, “Can’t Shake Her” 6LACKThe most effortless task.
Cudi remains a clumsy lyricist, and only his most dedicated rap forum evangelist could mistake his raw prose for profundity. “This life goes on, yeah/ Living my truth is all I know,” he raps on “Livin’ My Truth.”But at least he’s becoming a more economical writer, and when he gets out of the way of his own music, the results can be great. Luther Vandross The ballad “Maybe So” might be the most elegant song he’s ever recorded.
If a Kid Cudi record were to be stripped of all indulgence and excess, would it even be a Kid Cudi record? Enter Galactic is a rare addition to Cudi’s discography, a small statement from a rapper who takes pride in big, aimless things. No wobble. do not be angry. It stays kind of cozy. It’s easy for Cudi to work hard to deny himself.