BY KEITH EVANS
I gave up on hiphop a long time ago. I had put it away in my metaphoric attic
like a shoebox full of Topps trading cards or your first set of starter anal
beads. I was done. Sure, there were a select few of constants that I always
held on to. My all time favorite emcee, Jay-Z. My all time favorite hiphop duo,
Outkast. Eminem was a general staple. Kanye West had become more than just
"rap" to me, so he always stuck around.
Ever since the weird "southern" uprising of mainstream radio hop, I just took it
all for what it was worth. Music to go out, party, and get trashed to. Gone
were the days of constant album anticipation. That whole "backpack" era I
enjoyed so much was gone. Sure, the lyrical was still visible in spots. I still
regret not being able to fully dive into Lupe Fiasco like I should've, but let's
face it, by that time, the whole genre was ruined for me.
During this past year, I've gotten quite reacquainted with hiphop. Like the ex
girlfriend who moves back into town. You're leary of her motives. I'll be damned
if she ain't just a little bit more attractive than she used to be though. Her
whole style is on some mature, work oriented shit now. Not that same round the
way girl you remember, but she still has that adorable smile, those dimples, and
though not as thick as she used to be, this new "pilate" body has got her ass
looking very plump and appealing. All those "non urban" things you partook in,
and she use to talk shit about,...she's into now. She's frequented both coasts,
even Europe. She's got some life experience under her belt. An interesting
balance of her old self and her new sense, sans her bullshit that made you guys
break up in the first place. Like Common might say "damn, I still love H.E.R."
Kanye's career has obviously made the genre musically superior and interstingly
entertaining all at once. Jay-Z is still Jay-Z, on his "grown man shit". Even
Eminem just recently grew the fuck up. A lot of artists have embraced, what I
will label, the "otherside of music". More on that later. And refreshingly
enough, there are a decent batch of new upstarts that could possibly have
substantial influence instead of just "getting their money and runnin". One
these "upstarts" is Kid Cudi.
The first I heard of Kid Cudi, like most, was the Day N Night single. It was
catchy, but it had that stigma around it that made it a possible candidate for
one hit wonder status. Cudi was a member of that Drake/Wale/Cudi class. They
all kind of "debuted" around the same time. Drake, obviously the commercially
successful of the group. Wale was the new style, lyrical D.C. cat (which I'm
starting to speculate as of late), and Cudi was kind of the weird Tribe Called
Quest/Skate Board P hybrid. Under the Kanye branch of the family tree, Cudi's
first album was pretty decent. Nothing spectacular, but minimally solid in
accordance with today's standards. The highlight for me was the Yeezy remixed
Poker Face track for the appropriately titled Poke Her Face.
While Kanye was running roughshod through the media like a pissed off,
victimized tornado, his G.O.O.D. Music label was also trying to narket another
potentially deadly album, Kid Cudi's Man On The Moon 2: The Legend of Mr. Rager.
I had the extreme pleasure of listening to this album while under the influence
of marijuana. I also took time to listen to it under the influence of sobriety.
Same effect. I loved it.
Kid Cudi's flow is not too standard, yet not so "bumpkinly" irritating that it
turns you off. His delivery, as different as it is, is almost basic to the
point where you'd think to yourself "why did nobody rap in that rhythm before?".
What compliments this innovatively simple rhyme scheme are the ridiculously
trippy sound scapes. Think Darkside Of The Moon trippy, with a lot more bass.
Ironically enough there is a track entitled Don't Play This Song, which urges
people not to play said song under the influence. Good advice if you're a bit
of a freak under these conditions. If you are an experienced trippy drug user,
I suggest ecstacy for this album. It isn't just exquisitely mixed around and
sense heightening for the sake of being so. His lyrics actually are doing that
thing that rappers used to do, when albums had concepts and themes? Yeah, when
it used to all actually say something. Not to say that there's nobody else that
"says something", infact, "saying something" is actually coming back in style.
His features are pretty limited, as far as today's standards go. The cameos
made are pretty appropriate; Cee-Lo Green, Mr. West himself, and some obvious
friends/hanger ons. The guest spot that impressed me the most was Mary J.
Blige. Twice. I'm no huge fan of MJB. Real Love's probably my favorite track
from the interim Queen of R&B Soul. Be that as it may, she's pretty high up on
the echelon of the music industry. For her to make an appearance of two tracks
(the aforementioned Don't Play This Song and These Worries), both of which are
drug related, in a documentation of the struggle with abuse kind of way. Nice
touch.
Please don't sleep on Kid Cudi. This album is extremely and uniquely solid as
hell. My only fear is that he's one of those artists that ends up not catching
the monetary success his genius deserves. Hiphop could only get I'm told that
he isn't too bad of an actor neither (How To Make It In America on HBO). My
excitement for Kid Cudi now is a far stretch from when I watched him hop his
skinny jean rockin' ass onto the stage of a Jay-Z concert. This material is
definitely fresh and connecting. I suggest if you have a friend or family
member who is really into good hiphop, buy them the Kid Cudi Man On The Moon 2:
Legend of Mr. Rager. That would be the sonically reasonable choice.
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