Kid Cudi's career has been largely characterized by depression, addiction and death. From his 2009 hit, "Soundtrack 2 My Life", to his open letter discussing suicidal urges in 2016, Cudi has always been open about his sadness, which exudes through many of his albums.
But in 2013, Cudi took a different direction with his album, Indicud, which he called "musical anarchy". It's aggressive, sample-heavy, entirely self-produced, yet somewhat...happy. Cudi put together the album after quitting anti-depressants, claiming his mind felt freer than it had in years, and he wanted to take advantage of his good moods. He had also recently learned how to produce, and put his beat and sampling skills to the test.
Our track today from Indicud is "Young Lady", which Cudi somewhat randomly wrote about Emma Watson. The track reimagined Father John Misty's "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings", which he had heard playing in a vintage boutique in Hollywood. He then invited Misty to the studio to lay down some new backing vocals, and in classic Cudi fashion, trip out.
While Misty's voice melts into the beat, Cudi's stands out, his clear, monotone singing contrasting the hazy beat. He sings slowly, almost a step behind the beat itself – it's jarring, it's fun, and it's uniquely Cudi cool, which he explains is about authenticity: "It’s not hard to grasp. Cool is just being fucking authentic. Being yourself, being straight up. Legit—and have some type of fucking taste."
Listen to "Young Lady" and let us know what you think!
You can learn more about Kid Cudi here:
About the curator - Cormac McGee
Cormac McGee is a DJ, artist manager and concert promoter based in Toronto, Canada. He’s played in front of crowds from 10 – 1,000 people and has run concerts with some of today’s top hip hop artists, including Drake, Future, Mac Miller, 6lack, Ab-Soul and more. He also runs the Music Den at Ryerson University, a business incubator for entrepreneurs in the music industry.
Latest Posts
Grey Luh – Berhana
19 February 2019
While he was in college in New York, Amain Berhane split his time between three things: class, work and music. Rarely did the three intersect. In the daylight Berhane would go to class and work one of his many part time jobs. At night, he would transform into Berhana (a slight spelling alteration of his last name to make it read how it actually sounded), writing sultry R&B…
Chances – Kaytranada ft Shay Lia
6 February 2019
This week we’re celebrating the fact that we’ve left January in the rearview mirror with the groovy, summer-roller disco jam “Chances”, and hoping it will inspire mother nature to bring the heat back to Canada…
Can’t Believe The Way We Flow – James Blake
22 January 2019
I’ve wanted to fit James Blake into this playlist for a while now. But when I thought about how people might be listening to this playlist (in the car, at work, chilling at home, etc), much of Blake’s catalogue didn’t seem appropriate. It’s not that his subject matter or style didn’t fit the playlist (his obsession with heartbreak actually made him perfect for it), but it’s how he composes his tracks…
