Two massive albums dropped on the night of Dec. 11, 2020. Though many may have gone straight to Taylor Swift’s “Evermore,” “Man on the Moon III: The Chosen” was the true gem.
Thirty-seven-year-old Cleveland native Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi, known as Kid Cudi, is simply a musical genius. Some of his songs are soulful and introspective, and yet others are starkly the opposite. It's very hard to characterize him as one thing. Kid Cudi seems a figure larger than life, and yet his humanity is so contagious.
His seventh solo studio album to date is the final installation of his commercially successful, critically acclaimed "Man on the Moon" trilogy.“Man on the Moon III: The Chosen” — MOTM3 in informal shorthand —follows a similar narrative as the previous two, twisting through the darkest corners of Cudi’s mind and vocalizing some of his most tortured demons.
The album tells the story of a familiar Kid Cudi — one who struggles with drugs, alcohol, depression and anxiety. Ultimately, he emerges from it all with yet another successful album detailing his highs and lows, his triumphs and defeats.
But this installment is audibly different. Echoing some of the imagery from the trilogy's second installment, “Man on the Moon II: The Legend Of Mr. Rager” (2010), MOTM3 is distinctly gritty and rough. With a heavier influence of trap music, including a clear connection to his No. 1 charting April 2020 collaboration with Travis Scott, “THE SCOTTS,” Kid Cudi has embraced much of the new styles of the hip-hop genre.
Following the short introduction that is “Beautiful Trip,” MOTM3 explodes into a dreamy but hard “Tequila Shots.” Characterized by lyrics like “See, it seems I’ll never learn / I won’t stop ‘til I crash and burn / Tell my mom I’m sorry,” the song explores Cudi’s struggle to reconcile what he calls on his past albums “Mr. Rager,” his darker party-minded subconscious, with his sense of responsibility for his actions and his desire to keep producing music. This narrative continues through the next track, “Another Day,” which acts almost as the aftermath of the drug-induced bender portrayed in “Tequila Shots.”
The next track “She Knows This” is just as hard and dance-worthy as “Tequila Shots,” and the beat drop in “Dive” hits every time. What starts in the usual mellow Kid Cudi style becomes an up-tempo song, indicating that this album will deviate rhythmically and stylistically from much of his earlier recordings. The similarly up-tempo“Damaged” and “Heaven on Earth”showcase Cudi’s raw rapping in an execution uncharacteristic of the more melodic first two installments in the Man on the Moon trilogy. This style of rapping appears in other parts of MOTM3. In “The Pale Moonlight,”Kid Cudi drops verses in a mix of his traditional lyrical crooning with the type of forceful rapping he exhibits in “Damaged,” while “Sad People”relies mostly on the hard-handed hi-hat patterns to elevate the tempo. “Show Out” is also notable for this same style change. Featured artists Skepta and Pop Smokedeliver their verses with the aforementioned raw edge, but Cudi manages to return the track during the bridge to his own smooth style in one of my favorite contrasts on the album.
“Sept. 16” and “4 da Kidz” are the best songs from MOTM3. A heartfelt love ballad in “Sept. 16,” and a song of devotion to his supporters, and, frankly, to himself in “4 da Kidz” help to balance some of the darker tracks and reveal the hint of hope that always manages to shine through Cudi’s music. Even when dealing with harsh topics and rhythms, Kid Cudi always manages to temper these more forceful elements back into a comforting style that his fans have come to love and cherish.
“Man on the Moon III: The Chosen” is intrinsically rooted in darkness, and yet somehow provides comfort at the same time. Cudi confronts his monsters and offers songs of love and support at once, building an album crafted not just around his changing sound, but his changing perspective on life. Over his career, he has created a space in rap music where the weird, lonely kid caught up in daydreams and nightmares could be heard. This is what has made him not simply the voice of a generation, but a truly multi-faceted one.
In the words of Kid Cudi himself, “This is just the right vibe, turn it loud if you need to / Stars in the sky, they will light your way through.” Turn it loud, and let yourself sink into the songs of “Man on the Moon III: The Chosen.”
