Watch Cudder perform the catchy anthem off his sophomore hit album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. It’s definitely one of his best performances to date; I’ve never seen him so happy and full of joy before and its totally infectious through his crooning chorus. (Yep, that’s collaborator Dot Da Genius on the keys.)
[Via DatNewCudi]
Kid Cudi’s sophomore record Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager had a terrific first week in sales. It sold 176,298 copies in just seven days! Feel free to compare this to sales from last years debut; MOTM: The End of Day sold 104,000 copies. Cudder’s heading in the right direction, that’s for sure. And here’s a awesome stat for yah: 26,000 copies were preordered on iTunes, making this album one of the fastest selling records for Universal Music before it even released! Speaking of iTunes, 55,000 copies of the album were purchased on iTunes on day one. Quite impressive, young Mescudi. If you haven’t got your paws on this runaway hit, only lord knows what you’re waiting for.
[Via DatNewCudi]
Bunch of Kid Cudi news, so it’s roundup time. First up is news that actor Shia LaBeouf (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Transformers) is set to direct a short film based on Cudi’s Man on the Moon II track “Maniac.” Cage and St. Vincent are featured on the joint, and according to Rap-Up.com Cage is friends with LaBeouf and asked for his assistence to helm the video. LaBeouf had previously directed Cage’s music video “I Never Knew You” back in 2008. While you’re waiting for this video to drop, jump after the break to watch Cudi perform “Maniac” with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. There you’ll also find photographic proof that the Cudi/LaBeuf collab is actually going down.
Speaking of collabs, Cudi has publically announced that he is forming a rock band with close friend and producer Dot Da Genius. They are calling themselves ‘Wizard.’ When Cudi picked up the guitar for the very first time he became fascinated with the instrument and surprised himself by how quickly he picked up on playing chords. He says that three songs for the album have been completed, and he’ll continue to record more songs on the tour bus as he and Dot make “college runs.”
Last, but certainly not least.. To celebrate the release of his sophomore album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, Cudi has teamed up with Bape again to sell a BAPE x Kid Cudi Rager t-shirt. The tee will sell in black and white variants and like always will be limited in quantity. If you want one plan on camping outside the Soho Bape store in NYC on November 9, the same day the album hits stores. And who knows, maybe Cudi will swing by and make an appearence.
[Via Rap-Up, here & here; DatNewCudi] Continue reading Cudder roundup: Short film “Maniac” short film, LNWJF perfomance, ‘Wizard’ collab w/ Dot Da Genius, Bape t-shirt
Cudder is continuing the cinematic theme with the release of his sophomore album. Just like he did with the first Man on the Moon album, Kid Cudi has put together a short trailer to promote his music (that is organized by scene, mind you). There really isn’t much to it, unfortunately. There’s some shreaking and nicely cut shots, and now we know where those posters originate from. Look after the break for 3 “deluxe” trailers; they are 30 second spots from the DVD documentary “Journey of Mr. Rager” Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager drops November 9. Preorder now.
[Via DatNewCudi] Continue reading Trailer: Kid Cudi — MOTM2: The Legend of Mr. Rager
G.O.O.D. Friday, ya’ll. This past week’s joint features Jay-Z, Charlie Wilson, Kid Cudi, and newcomers Pete Rock and the late, great Curtis Mayfield (his 1970s hit “The Makings Of You” gets sampled). Also sampled is Syl Johnson’s “Different Strokes”. Preview and download below. Again, the cover art does contain nudity so hop after the break if you want the uncensored image.
Download: Kanye West – “The Joy” (Featuring Pete Rock, Jay-Z, Charlie Wilson, Curtis Mayfield & Kid Cudi)
[audio: Kanye West – The Joy.mp3][Via KWBlog]
Cudder’s sophomore slam is nearly here. Want a peek at the 17 song ‘scenelist’ for Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager? Force your eyeballs slightly downwards.
Act 1: The World I Am Ruling
1. Scott Mescudi Vs The World feat. Cee-Lo (Producted by Emile)
2. REVOFEV (Producted by Plain Pat)
ACT 2: A Stronger Trip
3. Don’t Play This Song feat. Mary J. Blige (Producted by Emile)
4. We Aite (Wake Your Mind Up) (Producted by Emile)
5. Marijuana (Producted by Dot Da Genius)
6. Mojo So Dope (Producted by Emile)
Act 3; Party On
7. Ashin’ Kusher (Producted by Chuck English)
8. Erase Me feat. Kanye West (Producted by Jim Jonsin)
9. Wild’n Cuz Im Young (Producted by Plain Pat)
10. The Mood (Producted by Emile)
Act 4: The Transformation
11. MANIAC feat. Cage & St. Vincent (Producted by Anthony Killhoffer)
12. Mr. Rager (Producted by Emile)
13. These Worries feat. Mary J. Blige (Producted by Emile)
14. The End feat. GLC, Chip Tha Ripper & Nicole Wray (Produced by Blended Babies)
Act 5: You Live & You Learn
15. All Along (Producted by Emile)
16. GHOST! (Producted by Emile)
17. Trapped In My Mind (Producted by Dot Da Genius)
As you can see, Cudi organized the tracklist here the same way he did for the original MOTM; it flows more like a “scenelist” where the tracks are bunched into individial scenes and they bleed into each other very much like a movie. Cudi managed to scoop up some impressive featured artists; there’s Cee-Lo, Mary J. Blige, Kanye West, Cage, St. Vincent, GLC, Chip Tha Ripper, and Nicole Wray. Dot Da Genius, Emile, and Plain Pat return as producers along with new recruits Jim Jonsin, Chuck English, Anthony Killhoffer, and Blended Babies.
You’ve already seen the album cover for the regular and deluxe versions, so how about we detail how they differentiate. The regular version comes complete with all 17 tracks; the final song “Maybe” is an iTunes bonus track (produced by Dot Da Genius and Rami Beatz). The deluxe versions comes with all 17 songs plus the “Erase Me” music video and a 30 minute documentary titled “Journey of Mr. Rager.” If you want that bonus track, preorder MOTM2 in iTunes: standard / deluxe. And if you preorder today, you will instantly receive a copy of single #3 that is “Mr. Rager.” Prefer a physical copy? Amazon’s got you covered: standard / deluxe.
Curious about the movie poster hanging above? Continue reading Kid Cudi drops third single, reveals MOTM2 tracklist + posters
And here it is! Definitely not as racy and bizarre as Kanye West’s George Condo piece, but it doesn’t have to be. There’s the signature dark overtone Cudder brings to the table with his music, and in the torn image he’s sitting on a stool in front of a picture of a colorful night sky looking at an empty shot glass. Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager drops November 9. Get psyched.
Update: Look after the break for the deluxe edition album cover. It’s basically the same image except that the picture of the night sky is slightly tweaked. The deluxe edition packs the CD and a DVD featuring a half-hour documentary by Jason Goldwatch/DECON and three music videos (Erase Me, Soundtrack 2 My Life, Cudderisback).
[Via DatNewCudi, here & here] Continue reading Kid Cudi selects MOTM2 album cover [Update: deluxe edition]
The first official single off Kid Cudi’s sophomore album is “Erase Me” and embedded above is the brand spankin’ new music video for it. In it Cudder channels his inner Jimi Hendrix and is joined on stage by featured guest Kanye West (donning the gold crown from his epic SNL performance) and none other than Christopher Mintz-Plasse (aka McLovin from Superbad). Go on, enjoy. Available for download at iTunes. Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager drops November 9.
Thanks to a gang of hackers and bloggers Kanye West has decided not to release a new G.O.O.D. Friday track this week. On Wednesday an unfinished track off Ye’s upcoming album called “Lost in the World” leaked onto the Internet. Shortly after it made waves ’round the ‘Net Kanye shared the news via his Twitter account. “Due to blogs leaking unfinished songs from my actual album I’ve decided to pass of Good Fridays this week”, he tweeted. “It’s messed up that one hacker can mess everything up for everyone… I love to take a year to finish my songs and deliver them … to you guys in there most completed form… It would have seemed like since I give free music every week even the lowest form of human being would respect that enough not to leak unfinished songs from my real album…” I gotta side with Yeezy here. He’s been gracious enough to spend extra hours in the studio to deliver weekly hits for us; the least we can do is not leak songs that haven’t be certified as completed.
But there may still be hope! Late last night (10/1) Kanye tweeted, “For the real hip hop fans… even though I had to shift all my energy to mixing my album do to leaks. I’m trying to still deliver a new Good Friday song 2nt… Let’s pray!!!” Friday has come and gone and there’s no new G.O.O.D. Friday song to be found. Let’s keep on praying, huh?
Update: Around 4am Saturday morning Kanye posted single art for a new track called “Christian Dior Denim Flow”. It features Kid Cudi, Pusha T, John Legend, and Ryan Leslie. He tweeted, “Christian Dior Denim Flow GOOD FRIDAY… fuuuuck I need some sleep.” So is this the G.O.O.D. Friday song of the week? It appears to be that way, but there’s no download link…yet. Single art is pasted above.
Update 2: Kanye delivers! “Christian Dior Denim Flow” is here. Preview and download below.
[audio: Kanye West – Christian Dior Denim Flow.mp3][Via @kanyewest; KWBlog]
In the October issue of Complex Magazine Kid Cudi opens up to his fans by journeying back to his not-so-distant dark past. Beyond opening up about his heavy drug use, his night in jail, and the big reveal that he has a daughter, Cudder talks about his competition (or lack thereof), the meaning behind the tracks “REVOFEV”, “Wylin’ ‘Cause I’m Young”, “Erase Me”, and “Mr. Rager”, and the encompassing theme behind his upcoming second studio album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (11/9).
On why he opted to create another dark album, instead of making a fun collab: “When I started making records like “Erase Me.” I wanted this album to be fun, but the dark sh– was my life at that time. I was fighting not to write that sh–. It got frustrating writing a collab album—I just lost interest, and it became more of a task, rather than something I wanted to do. That’s not how it’s supposed to feel. The day it becomes work, you need to retire.”
On MOTM2: “I want my sh– to be like you’re reading a novel, not a Dr. Seuss book. I felt like the last album was too short. This one is a little bit longer, it’s 18 tracks and counting. It’s just ten times better on all levels. The story’s deeper, darker, with no holding back. It’s beautiful, man. It’s an emotional album.”
Head over to Complex to read the explicit three page interview. Look in the gallery below for some stills from the photoshoot and after the break to find a behind-the-scenes video.
[Via DatNewCudi; Complex]
September 14 came and went without big record releases from the likes of Kanye West and his G.O.O.D. Music label crew. So where do the album releases stand now? Kanye’s hotly anticipated album (still yet-to-be-titled) will drop November 16. The two singles out now are “Power” & “Runaway.” Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager will release a week earlier on November 9. The lone single from Cudder’s album is “Erase Me.” The Roots-produced John Legend record Wake Up! is due on September 21; listen to the first single “Wake Up Everybody” (Featuring Common and Melanie Fiona) for a taste. Consequence’s ConsTV, Tony Williams’ King or The Fool, and Big Sean’s Finally Famous are unfortunately stamped with TBD. In the interim, however, you can download Big Sean’s latest mixtape Finally Famous Vol. 3: BIG. And finally, rapper GLC’s Love, Life & Loyalty is expected to release this fall. In related G.O.O.D. Music news, Pusha T of the Clipse has formally announced his integration with the label.