Sunday, September 20, 2009
Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: the End of Day (album mini mix)
Opinion is pretty split on the Kid Cudi album which came out officially last Tuesday but has been actively debated since it leaked a couple weeks before that. I'm kind of on the fence still but leaning towards coming down on the not-digging-it so much side of the debate. Let me elaborate:
At first I thought dude was gonna be a one-hit wonder period, but then I heard a couple other tracks that made me think maybe he was on to something after all. When I finally heard the album though, I was disappointed 'cos he ended up delivering the kind of subpar album I feared he would all along.
To start though, let me be clear and say that I applaud Cudi for trying to do something different - his album is further proof (along with Drake), that despite me not loving it, Kanye has proven himself again to be the most influential artist in hip hop right now, period with his 808's and Heartbreak album. The influence of that album is all over Cudi's but he has taken things a step further by trying to tie the album together with a conceptual 'theme', Acts and a voicover narrative (courtesy of Common) which makes Man on the Moon comes off sounding like an Ogeden Nut Gone Flake for the hip hop era. Unfortunately, I think the concept falls kind of flat. He sings when he really can't (like Kanye) and his rapping is horrendous in parts (cf. "My World").
A couple other things also bothered me about the album. I get that Cudi had a very specific vision for what this album was gonna sound like, but how do you leave off the two remixes ("Day N Nite" Crookers remix and Jim Jones version) which are probably the main reason 90% of the people who even know and give a f-ck about you? And you're open enough to work with Ratatat (twice!) and MGMT on your album and pop/electro producer David Guetta on his album but don't go back and try to do any tracks with the Crookers who gave you your biggest hit. WTF?? Who let that travesty happen??
Haven't heard Cudi's album yet though and wonder if I know what the f-ck I'm talking about? Check out this album mini mix by Surrender Marcy! and tell me what you think:
Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: the End of Day [album mini mix mp3 link: stream | download - direct mp3 link, right click and save as]
Agree with my assessment or not (and think others got it more right)? Holla in the comments. I get the feeling I may have been wildly over-optimistic in my sales prediction for Cudi in the end. We'll know Wednesday for sure though...
Online:
Surrender Marcy! - myspace | vimeo | soundcloud
Labels: Kid Cudi, Surrender Marcy
