In the dead of the night, I have these dreams. What’ll happen to me? Will I burn out? - Kid Cudi

And every time I close my eyes, see her face, see I'm in trouble...

Raging "On the Moon" with Kid Cudi

In my mere 21 years of life, I have seen a fair share of live concerts, and all of which have been unique experiences. My first time attending a live concert was when I was only nine years old; My childhood best friend and I had scored tickets to see the teen heartthrobs of the time, the Jonas Brothers. In 2010, this was a big deal. This past spring, I cried tears of joy when I finally heard Kevin Parker of the music group Tame Impala perform his legendary guitar solo from his hit song “Let it Happen,” live in Brooklyn, New York. Last August, I had a father-daughter bonding moment in the crowd of a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert when they performed our shared favorite song from the band, “Snow (Hey Oh).” But, out of the 20+ live performances I’ve been privileged enough to see over the course of my life, no concert has gotten close to delivering the out-of-body experience that I felt when attending Kid Cudi’s To the Moon tour on September 12th of this year. 

Kid Cudi has remained one of my favorite musicians since I was in middle school and I first watched the music video for his debut single “Day ‘N’ Nite” on YouTube. Kid Cudi was unlike any other musician that I knew of at the time. Something about his ability to convey gloominess and personal connection in his lyrics through a combination of singing and rapping was very fascinating to me and still is. There is a sense of relatability that his music provides. When I sit down, close my eyes, and truly listen to his albums beginning to end with zero distractions, I feel understood and reassured. His music is comforting and touches me in a way that no other artist has. For that reason, I knew I was in for a ride when I purchased two tickets for floor seats to his 2022 world tour.

⟟ Barclays Center, taken 9/12/22

Aside from being an obvious appreciator of good music, Kid Cudi is also a lover of colorful psychedelic visual art, and graphic design. With that, it did not come as a surprise that the concert visuals were nothing short of mesmerizing. Laser light beams shot across the entire venue in the same orange, pink, and purple color shades that are seen on his album cover art for his most recent album, Man On the Moon III. Each song performance had a corresponding light show and visual backdrop. There is so much added value to incorporating visuals in concert settings; Murat Önhon explains this phenomenon further in his article, “Live Music: Where Visuals and Sounds Meet,” in which he discusses how the visual aspect of a performance (light shows, pyrotechnic visuals, props, etc.) is essentially the creation of a world for the audience by placing the soundtrack into a setting, and I couldn't agree more. Kid Cudi’s intention with his To the Moon Tour was to do just that. He brought everyone in the audience with him to his conceptual “moon” world, which is based on a narrative that he's been pursuing since his first album release, Man on the Moon I. 

Kid Cudi Concert Visuals, taken 9/12/2022

In correspondence with the added visuals, Kid Cudi’s performance was everything I could've ever asked for. I’m not sure if it was because of the closest proximity I had to the stage, or if it was a combination of feeling starstruck and the added adrenaline of being in a concert pit, but the rush of serotonin that filled my body when Cudi performed “Pursuit of Happiness” goes unmatched. I was blown away by his energetic stage presence. Cudi was jumping, dancing, and interacting with the front-row audience members throughout the entire 2-hour concert. His energetic presence was magnetic, the crowd was jumping up and down in unison with Cudi. Toes were stepped on, drinks were spilled, but no one minded. Cudi's performance of tracks like “Tequila Shots” provided a blissful, psychedelic hip-hop feel, and his more vulnerable songs like “The Void” and “love.” felt like an emotional display of affection from him to his audience. 

Kid Cudi Performing "Pursuit of Happiness," taken 9/12/22

Overall, Cudi put on a truly phenomenal show, and I am so glad I was able to be a part of the crowd. There were many moments when Cudi did not hesitate to express his love for New York, even going on to perform in a New York Rangers jersey for the entirety of the night. That said, I am certain that night was not the last time I’ll get to rage with Mr. Rager himself. 

Kid Cudi - Entergalactic ALBUM REVIEW

Aside from his amazing career, the biggest thing I took away from Kid Cudi’s A Man Named Scott documentary was that he said that he is done making sad music. Over his very long career, Kid Cudi has been known for making some of the best depressing music of all time that has impacted generations of people who have gone through periods of depression, anxiety, and loneliness with music that talked about his own mental struggles, helping break down the stigmas of toxic masculinity of the time and normalizing mental health conversations that were not being had at the time he started. His last album, 2020′s Man On The Moon III: The Chosen showed Cudi zoning in on those same topics but from a more hopeless lens that made it seem like his most positive album compared to Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven and Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’. Musically, he rapped significantly more on that album and started to show how he has been influenced by the younger generation of rappers he helped shape. Before MOTM3 was announced, Kid Cudi had hinted at an album that also served as a soundtrack to an animated Netflix series of the same name, which is this new album, Entergalactic which is inspired by his song Enter Galactic (Love Connection) from his first album. After listening to the album and watching the Netflix special, the inspiration from the song is very clear as the song is a love song and the new album and series are quite romantic. The show is about Cudi’s character falling in love with his neighbor in a building he just moved into while also aspiring to become a successful artist. Though the plot may be very simple and predictable, it’s a sweet love story with incredible animation and an impressive cast that is perfectly complimented by its love song-filled soundtrack. Because this is Wyatt vs. Music and not Wyatt vs. TV, this review is strictly about the album but because the album is meant to compliment the show, there is going to be overlap. The content of the music is not surprising given the plot and Kid Cudi has also made many amazing love songs before. I like how it starts with New Mode and how Kid Cudi is finally ready to be more positive and hopeful in his music and he doubles down on that with the album’s following track, Do What I Want which is an enjoyable song about being free to move how he wants and have fun with his friends. The next 4 songs are all about falling in love, whether it’s singing about the feeling of love at first sight (Angel) or about wanting to commit to a relationship with a love interest (Willing To Trust). Ty Dolla $ign, who also stars in the show sounds amazing on Willing To Trust and also sounds good on Can’t Shake Her. He’s always been a feature killer and he sounds best over this kind of production. While there is little variety on this album in terms of content, it doesn’t totally kill the album considering the entire album is made to go along with a show that is about one story. However, there still are some more upbeat songs that are less romantic, including the more rap-heavy Can’t Believe It with 2 Chainz and the festival-ready Burrow with Don Toliver, Steve Aoki, and Dot Da Genius which could’ve sounded comfortable on Man On The Moon III. Can’t Believe It especially sounds great in the tracklist as it breaks up the pace of the album nicely so the listener doesn’t get too tired of the sound, which wasn’t a problem for me but I also like a little variety. That song also has one of the more interesting beats as the thing that holds the replay value of this album back is the variety in production. I think the production is good and that it works great for the soundtrack aspect but it simply could’ve been stronger. I think Kid Cudi sounds great, whether he is rapping, singing, or humming. I liked Entergalactic on first listen but watching the show on Netflix made me really like the album a lot more as it really brings you into a visually-appealing world that brings out real emotions in animated characters which isn’t easy to do. After this album and most recent tour that Kid Cudi has been on, he has said that he wants to stop making albums, which is disappointing but understandable. If this is his last album which I am almost 100% sure it won’t be, it’s far from his best work but it is a strong way to go out because it was such an ambitious way to package an album and animated series together but both are very good so it doesn’t feel as sad. 

Fav Tracks: Do What I Want, Angel, Willing To Trust, Can’t Believe It, Livin My Truth, She’s Lookin For Me

Ｍａｎ　ｏｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｍｏｏｎ 🌕

The ultimate dweeb...

hey mr. rager 🥺🥺🥺🥺

Kid Cudi in 2006

"We gon' get one of the mansions on the hills n' shit"

Never give up your dreams for someone who doesn't believe in your vision 📈📈

Sometimes you listen to a song so often not because of the melody but because it referring to your life situation and you going through the same shit. Sometimes you love a rapper because they saved you with their music, their stories... they help you to move on. Sometimes you stay awake all night looking for answers because you don't know where to ask for answers from. This is for you who are still trying, never giving up always fighting. I respect you, we are fam

Listening to Man On The Moon III🤯

Union LA Noir 4’s CPFM MOTM 3