Most of you were introduced to the stylings of Kid Cudi (or KiD CuDi if awkward capitalization is your thing) through Kanye West’s “Welcome to Heartbreak” or through his performance with Travis Barker at the 2008 VMAs. Though the video for his first single, “Day N’ Nite”, has just recently been released, it has been floating around for over a year, with some remixes (Crooker’s and Jim Jones’, to name a few) gaining even more popularity than the original. Whatever your opinion on the Cleveland-based singer/rapper may be, there is no doubt that Cudi is riding a wave of new-age hip hop, reliant more on one-liners and synth-heavy instrumentals that has taken the industry by storm recently. What separates Cudi from Kanye, Weezy, or other rappers hopping on this bandwagon is that, while he is no Sam Cooke, the man doesn’t need an autotune to belt his verses. His comfortable flow, stylized lyricism (the repetition of the last word of some lines, the introspective qualities of the verses), and fashion sense afford Cudi the opportunity to become a mainstay in the budding genre of hip-pop. The video is a perfect example of Cudi’s ability to take a style that is seemingly heading out of fashion (thanks Kanye!) and reinvent it, using the drawings on top of the characters to illustrate the paranoia of the “lonely loner”. This reimagining of a tired trend breathes life into the song and Cudi’s career, one which seems destined to skyrocket upon the drop of his debut LP, Man on the Moon: The Guardians (out this summer).
Love,
Zack
