"You can fly and nobody can touch you...nobody." The first words to be said on cudi's third solo album pretty much sum's up Indicud as a whole. This dude right here is flying over the competition and nobody is touching this guy as far as the creative side of music.
After a near 3-minute instrumental intro that sounds like background music to an intergallactic space war on acid we get into the first song
Unfuckwittable. It sees Cudi brining back that melodic raps that made him famous on day n nite oh so many years ago. Even now in 2013 with a shew of imitadors ranging from Future, French Montana, and former G.O.O.D Music label mates Kanye West & Big Sean he still sounds as original as ever and shows why he is still one of the best rapper/singers in the game. I also neeed to note on how clean the album moves from one song to another, Unfuckwittable is a perfect transition from the intro because both beats have an outer space/ very drugged out kind of feel but yet they sound completely different in their own way. Easily one of the best songs on the album even if your a fan of cudi singing or not.
The next song on the album
Just What I Am which is a weed song and features long time collaborater and friend King Chip. Chip easily steals the song with his first verse spitting witty punchlines like "neighboors knocking on the doe/asking us to turn it down/I said aint no music on/she said naw that weed is loud." Cudi's verse is cool but also very personal, it kinda seems to me before he wrote his verse he wanted to just get everything off his chest that was bothering him all that time he has been away, confessing the troubles of raising a daughter and his keeping his sanity. I understand, sometimes we just need to vent once in a while, amazing song though.
One of my favorite songs on the album is
Young Lady, which is obviously very rock influenced and it would seem like the song would be more suited to be on a WZRD project. This song has cudi playing the guitar and it has heavily improved since WZRD and his old live performances. On Young Lady Cudi's lo-fi guitar riffs feel more professional than on his previous work and he's even doing a little bit of shoegazing on here, very dope and a sign for the good as we move along with the album.
On
King Wizard we have cudi going back to rapping again and he even brings out the vocalizer for the third verse to give the auto-tune a more raw effect. I love that part of the song, it really feels like it could be part of an 80's pop song or something made from Depeche Mode in their prime. Were only five songs in and I can already see the advancement in his production and his music direction as a whole.
The song
Immortal sounds like a 2013 version of his song Mr. Rager, and it shows the improvements cudi made to his singing voice though its still mediocre at best and he is still flat as ever, that shouldnt take away from how clean he sounds now. he used to mumble sometimes when he sang now i can hear him perfectly understanding every word he sings, and the last minute of the track is absolute gold. One of the best songs on the album.
WAIT HOL' UP, THIS SHIT RIGHT HERE NIGGA, THIS SHIT RIGHT HERE NIGGA, THIS THAT CRYSTAL-CONACUDELITE NGGA. Haha not really but the obvious standout track that everybody loves is
Solo Dolo II. There's been alot of people (me included) who been patiently waiting for Cudi to come back to his awesome rapping form and in good reason. And im not tryna downplay his singing voice but its just when you can rap as good as Cudi can we hate to see it get surpressed like how it did for the past couple years. He even holds his ground and stays bar for bar with Kendrick Lamar on the song who's basically as famous as Batman nowadays and usually kills people on their own track at will. This will be every hip hop head's favorite song on the album because it has that 90's RZA production on it, and we'll get into RZA more as we go along with the album.
Before i get into this song I need to note that Cudi is the man for putting the legend Too $hort on his album for the song
Girls. This song sounds like it was made for the summer time and will probably kill your local radio station with requests from hipster girls everywhere. It kinda has that Teleport 2 me Jamie vibe and the whole song is really catchy and fun then Too $hort has just the right amount of explicity for this song not to be a bubblegum faggot ass radio song. Aint there isnt anything worse than seeing one of your favorite artists make a bubblegum faggot ass radio song.
Half way through the album and where at another instrumental song that falls more into the EDM category than anything. The beat is makes you want to move and do stupid shit outside in the street, and with an awesome title like
New York City Rage Fest it really makes me wonder why I've never been to a New York City Rage Fest before. Oh yea i fogot i dont live in New York I live in Toronto...Urgh my life sucks.
The song
Red Eye has Cudi playing the role of songwriter with the three sister sibling band Haim featured on the song. Even though Cudi has only backgroung vocals right from the get-go you can tell it was written by him. The style of the singing, the melodies, the flow has Cudi written all over it. Production wise its one of the better beats, plus it was co-produced by Hit-Boy who produced that one song for Kanye West and Jay-Z about France or something.
For
Mad Solar Cudi premiered an acapella version of this song on Jimmy Kimmel. I was looking forward to this song and I dont wanna say that sing song was a disapointment, but it just didnt live up to the standards that I put on it. Its still a very good song but its one of the more weaker songs on the album.
The next song is
Beez featuring the legendary wu-tang member RZA. When I first heard this song I had a visual of Cudi walking up a mountain to see his Grandmaster, RZA who has a dojo right by a cherry tree on top of the highest mountaon in anciet China to learn the ways of the mystic ninja rapper. Then we he gets there its all good he's being taught by his grandmaster than like 50 Shogun ninjas come out of nowhere and are about to attack the dojo then Cudi has to defend the dojo and his master but thats when RZA gets up picks up his bamboo rod, drops his robe, looks back at Cudi and said stand back young Grasshoppa, I got this. He starts bouncing from wall to wall fucking these ninjas up on some old school lyrical shit hitting them with ninja star punchlines and a elegant sword play flow and Cudi and the rest of RZA's disciples are watching in amazement as the old grangmaster is straight killing all these new ninja rappers. Long story short...Don't fuck with Grandmaster RZA. Ever.
The next song was probably the most anticipated track by everybody who waiting on the album when they saw the tracklist for the first time.
Brothers features A$AP Rocky & King Chip and it doesnt disapoint but it isnt over the top "oh my god this is the banger right here" type feel that I thought it would have. Chips verse is cool he does his thing on here nothing special just a solid verse. A$AP's verse is the better one out of all the three going back and forth from his New York flow to his fast-paced Cleveland inspired Bone Thugz flow that he always uses. With all that Cleveland inflence its no wonder why Cudi wanted Rocky on the album as Cudi himself being a Cleveland native. Cudi's verse is solid as well but it's pretty obvious that Rocky kills him on his own shit.
All hail
Burn Baby Burn the lonely stoner is officially back. I have no idea why we love our favorite artists when there on drugs but when Cudi said he stopped smoking weed a little part in me died inside, but its good to know now that he's back to his old stoner days blowing smoke in all the haters faces. Oh yea I forgot...he fucking snaps on this shit, like back when he was doing freestyles with Asher Roth on DJ Enuff's radio show. I love to see rappers just snap on a song without formatting it to a traditional album song with a a hook and bridge and all that. He's back on his shit though.
Lord Of The Sad And Lonely is a rap song that addresses the whole emo hashtag that has been with Cudi ever since the early stages of this road to stardom. Instead of complaining about it like usually would do he embraces it uses it to connect to his fans who are goin through problems and "feel like shit on a daily." Its good to know that he's not doing any more bitching about pointless shit anymore.
On the next song
Cold Blooded I had to laugh a little bit because Cudi trying to tell me he's a Cold Blooded Nigga makes me chuckle a little bit. Let's not forget this is the same dude who complainded and started bitching that he wasnt used for Cruel Summer the way he wanted to, or that Trinidad James is getting more radio play then him, and we could even go years back to when he was mad at Wale for sneak dissing him on that GQ spread that was done on the two with Drake. Even with all that this is one of the better rap songs on the album so ill give him that but c'mon my nigga we dont forget all those twiter rants.
The Second last song on the album is an 8-minute EDM sounding track called
Afterwards (Bring Yo Friends) that has minimal vocals featuring Michael Bolton (wow), and again King Chip. The beat goes through alot of changes with the last one being the better of the three with Cudi's production at the forefront of this song and is easily musically; the most interesting sound on the album.The way this song sounds I can see myself totally getting fucked up off some drugs at a hipster party while passing out in a asian girl's lap while this song is playing in the background. perfect scenario for a perfect song.
We finish the album the way we started off with a spaced out outro instrumental called
Flight Of The Moon Man. I should note that Cudi produced every song on the album except girls (which was co-produced by 88-keys) and Red Eye (which was co-produced by Hit-Boy) which shows his advancement in his musical diversity and how much he stepped everything up since WZRD. The irony here is that its when Cudi leaves G.O.O.D Music is when he puts out the best work he's ever done in his career. But G.O.O.D Music or not with Indicud; Kid Cudi solidified himself as one the best artists in the game right now, something that he couldnt do over at G.O.O.D,Which is why he probably wanted to leave the label in the first place.
RATING: 9.5/10
Artist: Kid Cudi
Release date: April 16th 2013
