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Fighter: Kid Cudi

Trainer (Gym): Scott Mescudi, Dennis Cummings (G.O.O.D. Music, Wicked Awesome Records, Republic Records)

Cut Men: Scott Mescudi, Hit-Boy

Weight Class: Young Star, Rap Vanguard

Notable Fire: Just What I Am (Feat. King Chip), Mad Solar, Immortal

Notable Trash: Afterwards (Bring Yo Friends) (Feat. King Chip & Michael Bolton)

Tale of the Tape: The beautiful part of listening to any album is understanding “the struggle”, which can be defined in many different ways. A common “struggle” in hip-hop for new artists is cutting through the clutter of the club, the radio and the mixtape circuit and successfully finding a voice and eventually a niche. For more established MCs, the puzzle becomes more daunting.

“How does this project allow me to stay relevant?”

“Will the label allow me go the direction I want to go in creatively?”

“Do I even need a label at all?”

And, of course…

“Should I stick with my core audience and go with what got me here, or do I need to branch out, experiment and show the people a new side of me?”

“The struggle” of Kid Cudi appears to be a bit different. At the root of his third solo album, Indicud, and each of his previous two albums in fact, is his unstoppable love and appreciation of his fans— the people that really, truly rock with him and all of his personal demons.

However, Cudder’s brand of hip-hop is so unique, the challenge becomes “does he cater to his fans exclusively, even if it’s at the expense of the overall product?”

As the above tweet suggests, Scott Mescudi is unflinchingly loyal to his fans — perhaps to a fault even — which isn’t too hard to understand. Cudi won’t hesitate to remind you he’s from Cleveland, Ohio, and that is a common flaw in most Clevelanders.

Sidebar: This coming from one Clevelander to another.

On the surface, this may not sound like such a bad thing, which is mostly true. Being loyal to those who supported you is a key lesson in life. Cudi has taken this philosophy to new heights— solar heights, even.

With this album, Cudi bet on himself and then doubled-down on that bet. Starting with his sudden departure from Yeezy’s G.O.O.D. Music camp and the launch of his own label Wicked Awesome Records, he eventually took the LeBron James “1-man-band” approach with this record. Cudi (with his trademark unconventional flow) wrote the rhymes. Cudi sang the hooks. Cudi did the beats. Cudi executive produced the album. Cudi chose the cover art and is directing the music videos. And this album was not overrun with features either.

Sidebar: The framed fire concept for the cover art is very appropriate. Cudi is emotional, temperamental and explosive (when he wants to be). He is also extremely artistic and thoughtful as a musician. Both of these elements are well conveyed on this album.

Mr. Solo Dolo has crafted a lane all his own. His mesh of rap, rock and weed smoke has produced enough crossover appeal that he’s now getting that Mountain Dew money. But there were moments on Indicud where the Cudi-overload got the best of itself.

While Cudder showed off his occasionally and mistakenly-questioned lyrical dexterity on “Burn Baby Burn”, “Lord Of The Sad And Lonely” and “Cold Blooded” towards the end of the album, each song featured glaring deficiencies. Weak production, lazy choruses; take your pick.

This trio of songs was followed by “Afterwards (Bring Yo Friends)“, a God-awful nine minute snoozefest of a song that featured King Chip and Michael Bolton. While the moxie it took to step outside the box is respected, this record was simply a swing-and-a-miss. To put it another way, it landed about as much as Robert Guerrero did on Floyd Mayweather.

Sidebar: And that’s not a knock on Michael Bolton. This particular song just wasn’t entertaining. On another note, I pray this collaboration was recorded in one session. I can’t help but wonder what the conversation between Chip and Michael Bolton sounded like.

None of this did enough to overshadow Indicud‘s many bright spots. The lead single “Just What I Am” displayed everything that makes Cudi worth hearing. An enthralling beat, a catchy hook and the man himself, opening us up to his world of awkward behavior and drug abuse (this, on a relatively light-hearted record). Mr. Rager concludes his verse with the memorable rhyme, “When it rains, it pours/Whiskey bottles on the sinks & floors/Everyday to find sane’s a chore/Amidst a dream with no exit doors.” This is Kid Cudi at his best.

Kid Cudi ain’t winning any new fans with Indicud; he might prefer it that way.

Cudi repeatedly takes aim at his critics on this album as well. His venom hits home throughout, but shines on his track entitled “Mad Solar”, as he points out that his haters indeed don’t know him, and that he’s now evolving to levels much higher than ever before (pun possibly intended). The self-proclaimed “Lost black sheep of G.O.O.D. Music” also briefly address that situation, seemingly suggesting that Kanye’s crew strictly viewed him as a Nate Dogg/T-Pain type— only good for singing on hooks. He definitively disproves this misnomer with a slew of solid songs that display all of his talents, including “King Wizard“, “Brothers” featuring King Chip and A$AP Rocky and “Solo Dolo Part II”.

It is a bit ironic, though, that on a song entitled “Solo Dolo Part II“, Cudi isn’t solo or dolo. The song actually features Kendrick Lamar. This track is a microcosm for Kid Cudi’s state right now. He’s much more at peace than he’s been in recent years and he’s coming to grips with who it is he wants to be as an artist and a person.

The original “Mr. Solo Dolo” off his debut album Man On The Moon: The End Of Day, consisted of Cudi — and Cudi alone — exploring his own feelings of loneliness and depression. The opening lyrics to the song are “Listen good, I don’t have, no-bod-y”. Conversely, the opening lyrics to this sequel are “I don’t need, I don’t need, no-bod-y”.

Another display of Cudi’s new found empowerment was on “Immortal“, where he sings about now having super powers. This was a classic case of “less is more”, as Cudi did not author many lyrics for this song (in terms of the number words), yet the poetry within this song was quite impactful.

Fight Night: Winner By Unanimous Decision

Overall, this was an enjoyable hour and 10 minutes of music— a type of music that simply could not be replicated by anyone else in hip-hop. It’s great to see Cudder in a better place mentally, emotionally and creatively. Indicud is an extremely authentic — if not a tad self-indulgent — record. And while Cudi has seemingly struck a comfortable balance with his “struggle” on this album (the general sound and feel of the album wasn’t much different than his first two solo joints), Indicud remains a chore at times to listen to from beginning to end.

Still, Cudi did not make this record those who aren’t normally entertained by all of his musical experiments that push the limits of what hip-hop is “supposed to sound like”. The loyalty he has to his core audience is reciprocated like few other artist-fan relationships in hip-hop today. The title Indicud is in reference to a particular strain of marijuana, however it is also appropriate because this record was, in essence, independent-Cudi. Much of the inner workings that go into making a major album were stripped away on this project and this work was an accurate reflection of not only where Kid Cudi is in his life, but who Kid Cudi is as a human being.

Is it flawed? Yes. Is it different? Absolutely. Is it unusual (and perhaps misunderstood) at times? Sure. Ultimately, is it dope?

Yes.