“Just What I Am” by Kid Cudi was my favorite song when I was an early teen. It beat the iconic “Pursuit of Happiness”, the chill “Soundtrack 2 My Life”, and even the melancholic “Teleport 2 Me, Jamie.” When I say that I loved the song when I was around fourteen and fifteen, it isn’t to discredit the song’s immense presence in my later years nor Cudi’s massive influence at large. Rather, there was simply something about the song that called to me at that delicate age. It definitely wasn’t the lyrics about smoking, considering it would take me another four years to get high for the first time. And it definitely wasn’t about shopping or wearing leather pants, considering my shopping consisted of parsing through the colored tags at Goodwill. Nonetheless, I would listen to the pulsating beat of this song for hours on end, finding solace in the addictive post-chorus:
“I’m just what you made God, just what you made God.”
Of course, I wasn’t the only person that was hypnotized by the hum of the Cleveland artist. His influence in the music industry and in Hip-Hop specifically is profound. While crediting one artist with an entire shift in a genre can get tricky, Kid Cudi was certainly a catalyst for darker more emotionally evocative material in hop-hop. Giants like Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, and Travis Scott (all mutually influential artists to Cudi) have all paid homage to the innovative artist. Cudi did recently call West a dinosaur, but we’ll skip over that. Let’s get back to Travis.
“In my whole career, all I wanted was acceptance from Kid Cudi… ’cause this dude gave me the passion, the information, the insight on how to grow up and be who you want to be,” the (controversial) Astroworld artist explained in a 2016 interview to Rollingstone. Four years later, Scott would be able to actualize his dream with the highly successful song, “The Scotts,” a collaboration with Cudi whose real name is Scott Mescudi.
Like Travis Scott, many artists attribute Kid Cudi’s vulnerability to helping them find their place in the world. Dedicated fans will most likely point to Cudi’s ‘Man on the Moon’ album series as his universe’s origin point. One could say, ‘MOTM’ was the Big Bang in his ever unfolding galaxies. The album series has detailed his struggle with addiction, depression and suicidal urges since its first installment in 2009, Man on the Moon: End of Day.
There really isn’t much to say about this album besides that there is so much to say. Cudi published the album after the success of his debut mixtape ‘A Kid Named Cudi’ and after a feature in Kanye West’s 2008 album, 808s & Heartbreak. This debut album would of course come out with hits like “Solo Dolo (Nightmare)”, “Make Her Say”, and “Day N’ Nite” (the single from which the album builds around) that Cudi is still recognized for. But above all else, the album would cement Cudi’s place as a mentor for a younger generation of listeners who found solace in his introspective tracks.
A year later, Cudi came out with Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, and its title track, “Mr. Rager”. The title song introduced us to Kid Cudi’s alter ego, the dangerously seductive and party-loving Mr. Rager.
In the song, Cudi depicts a precarious flight into the reaches of Heaven, where the artist tows the line between life and death all for a quick high of adventure and escape. The figure of Mr. Rager symbolizes all of this for Mescudi. He is the allure of living the famous life: the drugs, the alcohol, the high of a fast-paced world. But, Cudi is not naïve to not recognize the dangers of flirting with death.
The accompanying music video shows the defenseless artist struggling against hordes of armed men before being stabbed and killed by the darker version of himself. As he bleeds to death, this more sinister counterpart hushes a dying Cudi as if to encourage him to accept his demise.
“Hey, Mr. Rager, Mr. Rager
Tell me where you’re going
Tell us where you’re headed”
In 2010, Scott Mescudi had seemingly arrived at his final destination: a grim, twisted form of Heaven.
But considering the Rule of Three, Kid Cudi would eventually embark on another trip to the celestial realm– this time ten years older and wiser. The finale to Kid Cudi’s galactic journey would take the form of the highly-acclaimed 2020 album, Man On The Moon III: The Chosen. With bangers like “Show Out” that featured Nigerian MC, Skepta and the late American hip hop artist Pop Smoke, and genre bending “Lovin’ Me” with indie rock musician Phoebe Bridgers, it is no surprise that the finale to his three-part series debuted at number two on US Billboard 200. Although it never ascended to platinum status like its two predecessors, ‘MOTM3 :The Chosen’ still rings out as a masterly crafted body of work. It also got Cudi his first gold album in seven years.
In the album, the negativity of Mr. Rager still clings heavily onto Cudi’s mental state, but we encounter a person more mentally equipped to handle their demons than prior albums. The final track, “Lord I Know”, comes off as a pep talk for a Cudi recommitted to fighting against the darkness in his life.
“I won’t be a victim of the devil, got the wrong dude (No)…
Baby, I’m a warrior, baby, I’m a warrior (Yeah)…
Start the show, blessings in my life”
Just seconds before the album ends, a young voice whispers, “To be continued.” It seems that Cudi’s adventures with Mr. Rager are not quite over.
On September 30,2022, Kid Cudi released his eighth studio album, Entergalactic, alongside an animated film by the same name. And once again, audiences and listeners are captivated by Mr. Rager’s devilish smile.
The movie follows street artist Jabari who has just moved into a ritzy apartment in the heart of Manhattan. He just scored a big break to work at Cosmic Comics to turn his street art, his signature Mr. Rager character, into an entire comic books series. While this increase in status and money comes with its perks, he also must face new bumps in the road.
On a professional note, Jabari struggles with the pressure of entering the corporate art world. He must now contend with the reality that he is no longer specifically a street artist. Instead, Jabari has to navigate his new identity as a representative of a much larger corporation and brand. Because of this, fears of being a sellout plague Jabari. “Who am I as an artist,” is a question that the protagonist contemplates throughout the movie– and possibly one that Cudi himself has had to answer since climbing up the ladder in the music industry.
In his personal life, Jabari also has problems to contend with. Think, a hot ex who randomly pops up just as things professionally are going up. Also, did I mention an extremely attractive neighbor who just might be the perfect match to this adventuring loving protagonist?
Like any recent animated movie, Entergalactic benefits from the latest technology that allows its artists to makes its NYC scenery radiate. The movie doesn’t shy away from color, it leans into it. One could say that the colors ine each scene are just as important to showing the the movie’s emotions and personalities as the facial expressions on each character. Ultimately, the colors of the clothes, the city’s skyline and the backdrop all have a significant impact on the way audiences connect to the characters.
Just by looking at these pictures, one can see the prominence of certain colors: purples, pinks, and blues. As a mastermind in storytelling, Cudi has always been particular about how he shares his story– both lyrically and artistically. Therefore, it seems no coincidence, that the colors so heavily featured in Entergalactic are the same ones Cudi used in the album covers of the ‘Man on the Moon’ series.
Considering that ‘Man On the Moon’ follows Cudi’s personal battles it isn’t a stretch to state that this latest project could also be seen as the next step within his auto-biographical work. Where the difference lies, however, is that Cudi is no longer raging against his nemesis, Mr. Rager. Instead, this former antagonist is now almost a compass for Cudi’s character, Jabari– a reminder of all both where he has come from and where he is going. It seems that Cudi has finally come to peace with the light and darkness in his life.
Maybe that explains Jabari’s bright red sweatshirt with the word ‘Closure’ on it. In a recent interview with VIBE, Mescudi (Kid Cudi) talked about wanting to close the chapter on his Kid Cudi years. Although he isn’t opposed to doing music again day, what matters to Mescudi right now is diversifying his ambitions. He has just begun writing a memoir and even plans on debuting the first collection of his fashion line, Members of the RAGE, at the 2023 Paris Fashion week.
In terms of Cudi’s latest creation, Entergalactic is a sign of an artist and a person who is actively searching for closure, love and healing. Will the man on the moon finally reach his destination?
Maybe so, Maybe not.
Where in the world 
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