Look Up In The Sky For A Kid Named Cudi

Growing up in the blog era of hip-hop, I found myself spoiled with incredible art. Artists like Casey Veggies, Pac Div, Wale, Dom Kennedy, Chip Tha Ripper, Asher Roth, Rockie Fresh & many others paved the way for a kid like myself to dream big & chase it. One of the leaders of the blog era had to be Kid Cudi, who welcomed all dreamers and believers into his world with his debut mixtape titled “A Kid Named Cudi”. It’s crazy even writing this because I thought I would never have a chance to write about this project in my own blog years later, but here we are. Kid Cudi is much more than just an artist; I’m not even sure he’s human since his talent is far beyond reach. From the fashion to his boastfulness, Kid Cudi has made a successful career where he’s accomplished so much for himself in the years he’s been doing this; he continues to lead in everything that he does, and it’s always incredible to see him still rocking all these years. 17-records that changed my life; not one track was dull or came close to it, Kid Cudi knew what he was doing to turn doubters into believers on this album, and he did it one planet at a time as he took us off in his soundscape with this mixtape that has moved generations and will continue to do so as we move forward into the future.

I remember embarking on the project like it was yesterday, spending my time as a teenager on Datpiff, 2dopeboyz & NahRight, hoping to be the kid at school with the newest artist on hand. I came across “A Kid Named Cudi” by my cousin Albert who happened to be the only family member at the time with a computer and always offered me the time to use it to look up new music when I visited my grandparent’s house. One day, he was in the process of downloading it when I just arrived since it appeared at the top of Datpiff’s suggested list, but he hadn’t heard it yet. I was a little mischievous by checking it out before him since he had to go to work & we always had this feud of trying to find artists before each other (He found Cole first, I found Kendrick). The mixtape started with an intro of Cudi going to the movies with talks about there being too much butter on the popcorn, which showed the fun side of him, then proceeded to go on to the first track, “Down & Out,” which, if you're a hip-hop connoisseur like myself you know he rapped over OutKast’s “Chonkyfire.” It wasn’t too bizarre to hear artists over other artist's production at the time since Lil Wayne had been notorious for that and still is. Still, I remember being pulled in by Cudi’s humming & the way he starts the record,

“This is my story, this is my song. If you feel it, motherfucker, you can't go wrong,”

and man, I felt it immediately. Kid Cudi had this explosive energy right out the gate, and it followed over to numerous tracks off the tape. A case in point is the Wale-featured track “Is There Any Love,” which is the drum-kicking, fire-starting hit produced by Emile, who you’ll hear mentioned multiple times throughout the tape, and there’s a reason for it. This track is the epitome of a feel-good record; I remember thinking this joint is a timeless record that you can hear at any point in time and be blown away; fast forward years later, and seeing it plugged in the movie “30 Seconds or Less” had myself & other jumping out of my seat in theaters like “yoooo” which had me come back to the mixtape in my twenties feeling like a teenager again. However, enough blasts from the past, I still got the rest of the album to speak about, and man, it’s going to get pretty lengthy. Years later, it tripped me out knowing that “CuDi Get” was produced by J Dilla. I remember being fascinated with the record where the verse

“Shit, one wish when I'm deceased. Bury me in 501's and 10 Deep And please keep the Bapes on the feet So I can watch the devil ice-grill me”

became my MySpace bio for years. Hell, I even convinced my family I needed 501 jeans & 10 deep tees for my junior year at high school, the bapes were out of the question, but still, I was fresh. “Man On The Moon,” “The Prayer,” “Day N Nite,” & “Embrace The Martian” kept me up on restless nights, thinking that one day I’m going to be up in the stars. A moon man’s dream to be up in the sky without a care in the world. Cudi expressed that this planet isn’t built for people like us; there’s much more to see in the world. The place we call home is only temporary & across the moons & stars is where we’re meant to be. I can easily say these records molded me to become who I am since they spoke to me in such a wondrous way. This also sparked the crooning effect we would now hear from Cudi. He’s known to be a harmonious soul, and I think with these four records, we started seeing the start of his journey begin taking off drastically. The production by Plain Pat, Nosaj Thing by way of his record “Aquarium” & Dot Da Genius we’re so prestigious like I couldn’t fantom the sounds when I came across them originally, still to this day it reaches a feeling for me. Like many teenagers, I got to dabble with recreational drugs marking myself a stoner, so when the feverous single “Maui Wowie” would appear, I sing to the heaven “Let’s Get Lifted!!!!” impersonating my best John Legend. It’s one of my favorite joints to sing along to then and now. Now I’ve never thought of becoming an artist because I had talents elsewhere, like my knowledge of music and my love for writing & yeah, I attempted to write lyrics at one point but never got far, as you can see but “50 Ways To Make A Record” put you in a mindstate of an artist struggling to make it happen. I’m sure by now, there are more than 50 ways as we see a new rapper every day appearing like fresh grass, by either clout chasing or causing harm to themselves for a quick shine of the limelight. No matter the way, it’s always going to be a great moment in the track to hear Paul Simon & Cudi sing us out to the record. “Whenever” & “Pillow Talk” were two tracks that spoke about love; whether in a comical manner or not, they were heartfelt; it also gave us a first look into Cudi’s immaculate charm that would show more throughout his career. “Save My Soul” was always my letter to haters & women who never wanted to give me the time of day,

“We all make mistakes, yes, No worries, I kill a bitch with success. While she at home stressed out eating ice cream, I'm at the Grammys living out a nice dream”.

It made the feeling relatable; even though I was 16 or 17 and Cudi was in his twenties, I still perceived it as my “don’t take shit from no one” joint. It was also great seeing a song that Gnarles Barkley made so powerful continue to get stronger by letting Cudi add some of his own flavors to it, it’s not easy to do, and Cudi was doing it at the starting stages of her career. At the same time as being introduced to Cudi, I was also starting to get hipped to Chip Tha Ripper (now King Chip). Immediately afterward, I downloaded his “Money & “Can’t Stop Me” tapes which, if you are familiar with the Midwest emcee, then you know how important those projects were to hip-hop. This single would be the start of getting familiar with the Cleveland duo, which you know by now are still great collaborators to this day. “Cudi Spazzin’” is an insane record when you think about it. From going off instantaneously to slowly settling down the jets when the bridge hit before unleashing them again on wax is classic Cudi.

The last two records are special to me; being from a city like San Antonio, I always wanted to sing an ode to my hometown and let them know I became who I am because of where I stayed; Cudi did that with “Cleveland Is The Reason.” He speaks about the love he has for his city while also praising those that did it before him and wanted to contribute that same hard work to put his city the way they did. Cleveland got Cudi’s back just like how he has Cleveland’s back, a story of a true champion indeed. I remember coming across “Heaven At Nite” sitting outside my parent’s house, hoping I could see the same things Cudi talked about in the record. I even tried closing my eyes while sipping some lean (sorry, Mom) but still nothing. One day sitting outside, just finished graduating from high school, I starred in the sky, and there it was, my heaven at nite. I saw my future flash before my eyes, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I just wanted to live life carelessly; my dreams, as you can tell, are a little far-fetched, but that’s what I loved about this album; it made it possible, and it gave me hope. Cudi talked about how a simple run-in with Ye changed his life which then grew to be the monumental artist we have now. At the time, it was something that made him chase his dreams, and he did. I wanted that, and we as listeners have the guide on doing it with A Kid Named Cudi.

I know I just spilled my soul about a mixtape that was released like 14 years ago but so fucking what? That’s the beauty of music. While contemplating even to write this, I saw many people upset that Cudi changed the art cover of that project to something different but guess what? We grow. He said that he never liked the cover, which was bizarre at first to hear because I liked it & always thought it went well with the message of the tape but no matter what, the same feeling that made you fall in love with this artist is still in here. Don’t take not appreciating the album art to not enjoying the project; as I mentioned, we all grow, and he felt this cover should have been this, and I got to respect the artistry. I’m going to take it, either way, so get off your high horse and enter back into the world that introduced us to Kid Cudi as you take your trip to the moon to learn about the start of his story.

Thank you, Scott Mescudi.