Kid Cudi departs from excellence with 3rd album
Sarah Carracher
News Senior Staff Writer
Kid Cudi’s much-anticipated third studio album, “Indicud,” was released a week early on April 16 after — to Cudi’s chagrin — the whole album was leaked online on April 9. “Indicud,” which includes many tracks produced solely by Cudi, has an increasingly experimental and even darker vibe than his previous albums.
Kid Cudi’s last album to be associated with Kanye West’s GOOD Music production company opens with “The Resurrection of Scott Mescudi,” a nearly three minute instrumental which closes with a childlike voice: “Once you realize you can do anything, you’re free…You could fly.” To say the least, it’s a departure from the engaging and catchy opening tracks of “Man on the Moon” and “Man on the Moon II.”
The album has its gems: “Just What I Am” was the album’s first single, released in Oct. 2012. The song addresses God and religion — and, perhaps obligatorily, marijuana. It is reminiscent of Cudi’s past albums but with a more experimental hook. “Young Lady,” “King Wizard,” and “Immortal” also remind the listener of Kid Cudi’s continually evolving perspective, but with a new take. The inevitable nostalgia that accompanies listening to certain tracks on “Indicud” is encouraged by frequent samples of older Cudi songs.
However, after the first half of the album, any cohesiveness among the songs evaporates. Whereas on previous albums every track seemed to anticipate the next, “Indicud” is unpredictable, and not in a good way. Though some of the tracks on the latter half of the album are solid, they simply do not fit together. Frequent featuring of other artists overshadows Cudi and they seem out of place — even awkward — on some tracks.
In a few songs, Cudi seems to have adopted a role similar to David Guetta, writing and mixing songs for others to sing. For example, “Red Eye,” which features Haim, is almost entirely dominated by the soft rock girl group. Though “Red Eye” is catchy and likeable, Kid Cudi’s voice isn’t distinguishable until the very end of the song. Though these tracks starring other artists aren’t bad, they lack Cudi’s sound and contribute greatly to the fragmented style of the second half of the album.
Furthermore, Cudi’s lyrics, typically engaging and meaningful, become increasingly lackluster and cliché as the album goes on. “Girls,” the album’s third single, not only objectifies women in an offensive manner atypical of Kid Cudi, but ends by rapper Too $hort classily exclaiming, “Bitch!”
The second half of the album is dominated by distasteful lyrics, awkward tracks and a general lack of continuity. A few songs manage to have either quality lyrics or a semblance of Cudi’s easily-recognizable sound — these two characteristics, however, fail to combine and create a memorable, worthwhile, and truly Cudi-esque track on the second half of the album.
Though much of the album is disappointing to a dedicated Kid Cudi fan, the multiple quality tracks on the album make it worth checking out. The second half falls below expectations, and its tracks may be appreciated from another perspective — they simply lack the qualities that listeners have come to expect from Kid Cudi.