Review of Kid Cudi's "Indicud"

Reviewer's Grade: 6/10

In the crush of new DJ Khaled tracks and Funkmaster Flex mixtapes, it’s possible that Scott Mescudi’s new CD—his third studio album—got lost in the shuffle (or more realistically, the “skip” button).

Until he entirely breaks away from the Man on the Moon series, Kid Cudi will be linked to that sound: the calm strum of the guitar, the hypnotic beat of the drum, the existential lyrics. Basically he defined new-age stoner rap. What he lacked in club banging or hype beats he made up for with a lack of desire to conform the norm.

Indicud, his latest effort, marks a landmark change in Kid Cudi as an artist. And like that freshman 40 you put on in college (who knew Hot Pockets were so delicious?), it’s not a good look.

Before the album even dropped Cudi fans knew this album was going to be different. That’s just Cudi. He’s always different. Then “The Way I Am” (Feat. King Chip) was released as a single, and fans got their first taste. It was the familiar mixed with the foreign. The beat was faster, up-tempo even, but the lyrics and message were essentially the same. Basically, “let’s sit on the couch and smoke some of this here weed.”

If that’s what you want from Cudi that’s fine. It’s what I want from Cudi. It’s not what he gave us.

To compare this album to the Man on the Moon series isn’t exactly fair. You really can’t. It’s a different sound. It’s like Cudi took what he learned from his rock career, threw it in a bowl with what he knew about rap and whisked until it became fluff.

The emotionally damaged Cudi from Man on the Moon is gone. Instead Cudi uses his cult-like popularity to experiment. We are spoon fed songs with Too $hort, Haim and A$AP Rocky and are told this is his new sound. It’s not totally rock; it’s not totally rap. It’s both and it’s neither at the same time.

When you reach “Red Eye” (Feat. Haim) you start to wonder where the Man on the Moon went. The dreamy sound is there. But the sound is louder. I close my eyes and I’m no longer listening to it on my couch, spaced out with the munchies. I’m in a crowded theater. There’s glow sticks and tie-dye. And drugs I don’t want.

By the time you reach “Afterwards (Bring Yo Friends),” the grace period is over. Cudi took your money and gave you something very un-Cudi. “Brothers” sounds like a Wiz Khalifa song, and the beat to “Burn Baby Burn” is classic Nikki Minaj. Neither of those is a good thing.

Indicud is really two albums jammed into one 18-song endurance contest. There’s the rock Cudi who wants to prove that he can rap even while he evolves, and there is the lonely poet. The poet is mostly repressed, and by the end we realize we didn’t listen to a rap album. We listened to a jam band.

That’s what we get here: a jam band

And that’s fine if you want to forget Man on the Moon. I don’t. I want to believe that he is still in there somewhere, fighting the good fight, trying to find a way back out.

For those looking for the old Kid Cudi this album will likely be a disappointment. Don’t be fooled by his name on the album, Kid Cudi is not here.

Recommended Tracks:

3) “The Way I Am” (Feat. King Chip): One of two songs that sound like old Cudi. Pour some liquor out.

5) “King Wizard”: The other.

12) “Beez” (Feat. RZA): RZA’s verses are classic (if not a little modernized) RZA. Song is forgettable. Come for the RZA verses.

17) “Afterwards (Bring Yo Friends)” (Feat. Michael Bolton, King Chip): I’m a huge sucker for Michael Bolton. At 9+ minutes the song is an investment—and it’s one of the more “jam-iest” of the jam band songs—but I just can’t get enough of Bolton. Every time I hear his voice I think of this.