I purchased Kid Cudi's Man On The Moon: End of Day on Friday night after work but I haven't had a chance to listen to the whole CD right through to the very end without any distractions. Today, however, was the perfect setting as I was in my car.
Picture this: What started out as a warm day, the storms have just stopped and the clouds are seeping through, I'm on my way to pick up my mum from work before we head to the hospital to visit my Aunt.
Listening to Kid Cudi's debut album, it set the perfect tone for the mood I was in and so now, I'm going to break down each track, giving you a review of his album and giving you a very personal insight as to how I felt as each track came on.
1. In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem): This song seems to set the first scene for Cudi's dream. It is like an interlude - a prelude - to set the listener up to what they're in for. Common's narration gives us the literal meaning of what is to come as the tone sets the mood:
'Some may never figure out their purpose in life and some will. There is a lot of us that are caught up in this hell that we all live in, content with being blinded by rules and judgement. We live in a world where it is more okay to follow than to lead. In this world, being a leader is trouble for the system we are all accustomed to. Being a leader in this day and age is being a threat...'
2. Soundtrack 2 My Life: There is so much honesty and sincerity in Cudi's voice in this song, especially during the second half of the song. The lyrics of the hook describes exactly how I feel most days - when you've got issues and demons growing inside you but you don't want anyone to know for fear of their reaction. Upon listening to this track, I felt tears coming on.. especially when I heard this one line: 'I am happy. That's just the saddest lie.' That line broke me.
3. Simple As... : With a hook that's fun and catchy, this song is actually one that is reflective of his current life, singing about what he should be twittering next (although now he has now deleted his Twitter account due to too many haters tweeting him shit) which is kind of a contradiction to what he sings here: 'I will live through a song, I'll be strong to the haters' .
Common's narration comes back in and introduces the nightmare stage of Cudi's continuing dream...
4. Mr. Solo Dolo (Nightmare): First time I heard this track, it was an unmastered version but even then it sent shivers down my spine... Hearing the mastered track driving in the car, the tone of the track set me into a dark mood as well. Cudi's voice is so eery on this track but the lyrics and mood set volumes for me. Definitely a standout track for me and one of my favourites. 'Why must I feel so wrong when I try and do right?... Why must it feel so right when I know that it's wrong?'
5. Heart of a Lion: The continuing of a nightmare, a Kid crying out for help. A Kid that needs saving. A Kid that speaks out the same way I've always wanted to. But this Kid imagines himself going (and meeting his haters in) Hell coz of all the shit that he has had to go through and the way he's been treated. That was me. Still is. This Kid however is listening to his mother's advice and 'at the end of the day [I'm] walking with the heart of a lion'.
6. My World: A song dedicated to those who didn't think he could make it. A song for the haters if you will. A song that made me think about all of those who followed the same path and saw me differently because I decided to break out of the usual stereotype and follow my own path... Especially in highschool, you get 'told' that you should continue the 'correct' path and continue on with your studies. I tried but dropped out and that's when the judgement on my life began. That was the point and those were the people that lead me to wear the disguise I still wear sometimes today. This track definitely had me thinking about that, almost leaving me angry, when I remembered I used to think that maybe they were right about me.
'As I grew to be a teen, I disguised myself. Had the lowest self-esteem.'
7. Day n Nite: Released over two years ago but still a big hit internationally today, it made sense for Cudi to weave this track into the album as his nightmare continues on although this track is a bit of a mix between feelings. A sad track if you really break down the lyrics: 'Madness to magnet keeps attracting me. I try to run but see I'm not that fast. I think I'm first but surely finish last (last).'
8. Sky Might Fall: Just as this track was starting, little droplets of rain came down on to my car window. The sun was disappearing slowly setting a very beautiful picture of the sun setting as I kept driving on. The message throughout this song and especially within the hook explains that even when things are all spiralling downhill, Cudi will not be giving up, giving us all a little bit of sense of hope that we should be doing the same - 'The sky might fall but I'm not worried at all'.
9. Enter Galactic (Love Connection Part I): A bit of a love song where we find Cudi singing, whispering and speaking his thoughts all throughout. 'If you can't do what you imagine, then what is imagination to you?' Common's narration comes back in setting us to the scene for which Cudi finds himself in his 'sanctuary'.
10. Alive: The sprinkling of rain has stopped by now and the dark clouds have rolled through. The night sky is turning black and I'm looking for the moon to make its way through especially as I listen to the lyrics of this track: 'Everytime the moon shines, I come alive'. That's me. I'm such a night owl. When the sky is dark and everyone is asleep, I come out of my shell and I start writing. I go to my happy place. I get into my zone...
11. Cudi Zone: The title says it all really. Cudi spits about all things positive. At least he puts a positive spin on all the bad things that has happened in the past. He's in his zone and that's when he feels at his best. 'When I'm zoned, I'm feeling alright, I'm feeling alright. I forget about it all.' That's how I feel when I'm in my zone. When I'm writing. I block out all the outside noise and distractions (even people) and I just do what I need to do - write.
12. Make Her Say: A fun but dirty song that pokes (no pun intended) fun at Lady Gaga's hit, 'Poker Face'. A track that started out as a random experimental freestyle between Cudi and "older brother" Kanye West, turned out to be a hit with fans alike and with Common added into the mix, it brings the listener into what Cudi deems as his fantasy. Is it wrong that I'm female but I like this dirty dirty song? LoL
13. Pursuit of Happiness: Ratatat's production on this track featuring new indie electro Aussie act MGMT, has the dream taking a turn back into a nightmarish stage as Cudi goes on a search for his pursuit of happiness. 'I'll be fine once I get it. I'll be good.' With an apparent influence of electro elements, somehow it seems to work with Cudi's representation of fresh hip hop elements.
14. Hyerr: This track introducers fellow Cleveland rapper, Chip the Ripper, whilst the two describe the feeling, the day, as they light up their blunts and smoke up and the dream like state they get into. Having never done anything like lighting up joints and smoking up, (despite my friends' pressure sometimes to do it) I can't exactly relate to this track but the combination of Cudi and Chip the Ripper together is something I've come to know and love especially with past tracks like 'T.G.I.F (Thank God I'm Fresh)' and 'Ask About Me'. For those who have never heard of Chip, I already knew that the two coming together for a track on this album would be a winning combination, so even though I don't know the feeling of getting high, I have nothing negative to say about this track. The more I listen to it, the more I like it.
15. Up, Up and Away: The final scene of this movie. The song that sets the credits rolling in as the movie comes to an end. 'I'll be up up up and away. They gon' judge me anyway so whatever'. I had picked up my mum by this stage and we were on the way to hospital. This track came on and my mum chose this moment to bring me down. My own mother is my worst judge. She chose that moment to remind me of my achievements, or lack of. It's like of all the things I've done in life, nothing has pleased her. Nothing has made her proud. ....She's gonna judge me anyway.. so whatever.
Common's voice comes back in to tell us that this movie has come to an end but to also give us the sense that the journey of the Man on the Moon has not yet reached his destination.
There's also a bonus track of the Crooker's remix of Day n Nite which still gets played in the clubs in present time. Went out a couple weeks and I got so excited when I heard it in the club. :0)
Kid Cudi has without a doubt become one of my favourite male artists. With his beats, his freestyles, his lyrics and the deeper meaning of the messages within those messages, sometimes I feel like he's stepped into my past and is spitting about the same shit that I went through. It's crazy to find an artist that is so true and sincere in his songs that it touches people and makes them relate in a way you never thought possible.
With this album, Cudi didn't disappoint. Although I had already half of the songs streamed online within the past year or so, they were the unmastered versions. To hear the final mastered and mixed versions of the songs on this album and seeing how they all flowed together to tell the story that Cudi wanted to tell just made it all for the better.
I'm glad I didn't download the leaked version of his debut and waited to purchase the CD. My friends downloaded it and gave me mixed reviews of what they thought. I'm glad I waited to listen to it on my own terms. I'm glad I didn't listen to it with their thoughts and judgement in my mind. I'm glad that I let the lyrics create their own interpretation and helped me relate to all the shit that Cudi must have gone through..
Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: End of Day = 5/5
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By the way, we received a call a few hours ago that my Aunt didn't make it. 90 minutes after I had left the hospital and gotten home. 10pm is when we received the call. Ten minutes after she passed, the phone rang.
Don't think I'll be sleeping tonight but this review has helped me pass the time until morning comes and the sun is rising. Unfortunately for me I have to go into work tomorrow. I could call in sick but I think I'll do better with a distraction. In saying that though, I don't think I'll be strong enough to attend class or the alternative of the Girl's Night at the Movies... :(
I'm just going to lie here now and wait for the sun to rise and seep through my window blinds.
All cried out (at least for the night),
chauie
