Artist Profile: Kid Cudi

How did Kid Cudi go from a kid in Cleveland to having over a $5,000,000 net worth and revolutionize rap at the same time? Well, the obvious answer would be working day and night.

“Day N Night”: Most people would just think of this song as something you would hear on the radio on top 40 but this song goes much deeper than it seems on the surface. This song is actually about how his Uncle kicked him out of the house in 2006. Kid Cudi had a bit of animosity with his Uncle, unfortunately, his uncle passed away before he could make amends. This was one of the songs that revolutionized rap at the time, featuring a slower 808 with bells in the background picking up the tempo as well as utilizing ad-libs as a main part of the song.

“Pursuit Of Happiness”: In this song Kid Cudi speaks about his pursuit of happiness in an alternate universe that is his mind. I can relate to this because I feel the same way sometimes writing down lyrics is the only way I can express myself to tell people how I feel without having to confront them about it. This song also revolutionized rap by switching between beats and using very different sounds than traditional rap.

“ Mr. Rager”: Most people know this as just another one of Kid Cudi’s popular songs which is true, but if you dig deeper into the song you understand where he’s coming from. In the chorus he says “Woah now, hey Mr. Rager, Mr. Rager Tell me where you’re going, tell us where you’re headed (I’m off on a adventure) Mr. Rager Tell me some of your stories, tell us of your travels Hey, Mr. Rager, Mr. Rager Tell me where you’re going, tell us where you’re headed (I’m on my way to heaven) Mr. Rager Can we tag along? Can we take the journey?” To me, this verse is talking about suicide and a situation where a friend is trying to reach out but it’s too late. I can relate to this because sometimes I have friends that are going through depression and I try to help but sometimes I feel like there’s nothing I can do. 

“Show Out” is Kid Cudi’s first drill song where he brings in two of the biggest artists from the drill community Pop Smoke and Skepta. Kid Cudi did great on this song for being his first real drill song, he matched that fast flow as the other drill rappers but still added his twist to it by adding ad-libs in just the right places and slowing it down when it needed to be. My favorite verse on the song is “Look in the mirror, see who you are” I relate to this a lot because sometimes I look at myself in the mirror and I ask myself who I’m trying to be, I feel like this is a good question to ask yourself because most people struggle with identity and spend their whole life trying to figure it out and can never just be themself.