Kid Cudi
Indicud
Reviewed by Evan Kramer
“Mark my words, Indicud will be the greatest album ever made. Know that I’m not lying”, Cleveland rapper, Kid Cudi, tweeted on October 2nd, 2012.
Indicud was definitely one of the most anticipated hip-hop albums to release in 2013. After his alternative rock experiment, WZRD, Kid Cudi has “returned”, I suppose, to give us that Man On The Moon: The End of Day vibe.
I do not think Kid Cudi concentrates on being a super lyrical emcee with intricate wordplay. I think he focuses on messages, and vibes, which create a unique style for him.
Out of the eighteen songs, I was mainly focused on “Solo Dolo, Pt. II” featuring Kendrick Lamar because I understand what Lamar is lyrically capable of, and this is the first time he has ever collaborated with Kid Cudi. With features from A$AP Rocky, and one of my favorites from The Wu Tang Clan, RZA, the album had even higher expectations.
The first song, “Unfuckwittable”, kind of bored me. Some fans herald it as their favorite, but nothing about the song really grabbed me. I just didn’t get it. Fans of the track, “Just What I Am”, will probably also enjoy, “King Wizard”, “Lord of the Sad and Lonely”, “Mad Solar”. They all contain that extraterrestrial sci-fi sound that Cudi is known for. I believe “King Wizard” was much better than the rest and the chorus was rather catchy although, the chorus on “Just What I Am” began to annoy me after a while. If anything stood out the most, it was Kid Cudi’s flow on these tracks.
The production on “Solo Dolo Part II” felt too fast for me, and also felt really choppy. Kendrick Lamar and Kid Cudi sounded awkward on the choppy beat, and lyrically, Lamar didn’t blow me away.
Without a doubt, the catchiest song on the album was “Girls” featuring Too $hort, and I liked it a lot. I don’t think Too $hort had to be on this track. I just don’t see a point to it and his verse really irritated me. The song would have stood alone fine with Kid Cudi, and I would have appreciated a shorter length. In my opinion, having a catchy song linger for roughly four minutes isn’t a positive.
RZA’s second verse on “Beez” made me scream. I didn’t like anything about that song, and I was more hyped for it than “Solo Dolo Part II”. I was surprised that Kid Cudi had RZA on this project, and it was one of the driving forces that made me want to listen to this song. The instrumental probably would have sounded good for Kid Cudi, but he was mainly on the chorus, and I thought he should have incorporated a verse. The song is only three minutes. A verse from Cudi would have done no harm.
In my opinion, the production on “Brothers” was unrivaled by any other song. It was smooth, relaxing and wasn’t overworked. I am a fanatic for A$AP Rocky production, and this accurately resembled it. As for lyrics, King Chip probably dropped more “N” words than the film, Django Unchained. A$AP Rocky didn’t make or break the song, and his voice blended with the beat. He did what I expected from him. After forty-five seconds of another simple chorus, Kid Cudi arrived and his verse was my favorite.
As a highly anticipated album, Indicud didn’t blow my mind. This album had a lot of potential, but it was a disappointment because I assumed that it would shock me. If you didn’t understand this album with your first listen then give it another chance. There are only a few songs that I was not fond of, but I’m entertained by it’s uniqueness, and I think Kid Cudi did a solid job with it.
