google.com

Kid Cudi- Indicud album cover.

Kid Cudi has been one of the more prominent hip-hop artists of the past 5 years, but recently has fallen off the map through a series of interesting career choices. The release of WZRD was the marking of a new style for Cudi, and this decision bombed among the general public. His movement from the biggest up and comer after the release of Man on the Moon to dejected artists was a signal of his evolution as an artist, but how would he react to these developments? The simple answer is that he once again shot for the moon, and came up with a high degree of success in this ambitious goal.

Since the release of MOTM, Kid Cudi has moved slowly away from his rap roots of his earlier work into a transitional rap-singing hybrid that somewhat resembles Drake. While his style certainly has elements taken from MOTM 2 and WZRD, it seems with age Cudi has fleshed out this style. His ability to take over a song from a singing perspective, such as the song Immortal, shows his growth in this aspect of his repertoire. While he never really shows his ability to rap at a spectacular level, this aspect is not nearly as important as in previous releases. His progression as an artist away from strictly rapping is readily apparent, and because of this development this does not really manifest itself as a problem in the album.

This is not to say that there are not issues with the album. During some periods of the album it began to drag on, and the pacing leaves something to be desired. Along with this, the inclusion of Michal Bolton on the album was yet another interesting creative decision. While the song does not fall on its face, and fits ascetically with the rest of the album, it was just a bold choice that did not fail nor work particularly well. While several of the songs manage to mesh themselves together, the album really does not have any songs that stick out as being of real bad quality.

From a production standpoint, Kid Cudi did a great job when putting forward both the sampling and instrumentals. While not perfect, his production values have clearly gone up significantly in the past few years, and this result is put front and center. There are multiple tracks that display high production values, my personal favorites being Girls, Young Ladies, and Just What I Am.

I came into this album with the great hope that Cudi would return to his roots, as Man on the Moon is one of my favorite albums, and almost single handedly changed the way I looked at modern rap. Looking back, I realize that this was an extremely nostalgic thought, and that progression is the basis for all artists. No one wants to make the same music year after year (pop music excluded), and this is where Cudi manages to succeed on Indicud. He does look to his successes and the failures of his past, but moves forward to different things. Whether they are better or worse is a matter of taste, but one thing is for sure—the quality is still there in large doses for those who are looking.