Review Summary: We can all agree: it should have been an EP.
Scott Mescudi is one creative and overambitious mo'fo'. I'm not sure if this guy has slept since the release of Day N Nite back in 2008. You can find him clinching big acting roles these days, buffing up on his guitar playing, and constantly reminding the world how "hip-hop is art, mane" on social networking. God bless him for his approach. Kid Cudi definitely gets a lot of flack for his homegrown "I'm finna do dis mahself" appeal but this is the very reason I support him on his hit-and-miss excursions. Above everything else, he's a flawed human first. You have to love him as a person to learn to appreciate his weirdness in his music.
This album is entirely unorthodox. It belongs on a shelf of indie/electronic/rock albums rather than hip hop at most times. I definitely dig the cinematic feel to it all. Crisp and innovative production from the WZRD duo is droning throughout the short experience. It begins with liftoff: the spaceship of the spaciest and mooniest rapper sets sail across the sea of stars. The music is as entrancing and sci-fi as psychedelic can get, and a large portion of the album is instrumental. Some of the soundscapes can stand on their own merit. Copernicus Landing is a head trip best listened to with giant sub-woofers, so the pulsing bass can melt you through the wormhole. In the swirling cosmic madness of In My Dreams 2015, robo-Cudi sings the melody to the opener to his famous 2009 debut album, which is an obvious tease to the old fans. Don't worry, I believe Cudi will return to his old ways soon.
At other times, it feels like his instrumentals are missing layers, climaxes, hell, maybe...even some rapping(?!?) Return of the Moon Man has a theatrical and doomy superhero vibe, but it did not need to drone on for the length it did without any real buildup. It's instantly clear that this album is not necessarily for the blunt smokers but the LSD suckers. It's really a ride-or-die situation.
He raps on one tune, the centerpiece: Too Bad I Have To Destroy You Now. It's a flow and a beat only he can make. By the end of the six-minute plus track you feel like you drifted off into a deep corner of space. The song before it, the R&B space sex odyssey that is Balmain Jeans is among of Kid Cudi's best work, perfecting the swirling production with a gentle and crooning out-of-this-world melody with Raphael's passionate higher notes. It's a spacegasm to say the least, especially when the piano starts rolling in halfway through. "Lord, help me..." There's not too much guitar in this album though, surprisingly. Cudi's guitar playing has gotten exceptionally better from the 2012 turd-infested album that was WZRD. Going To The Ceremony is a definite underrated cut, featuring Cudi's strongest pop/rock melody he's ever written. Hey, he even knows a few chords now!
The only REAL stinkers on this album are Internal Bleeding and the title track. Yes, I don't mind the dull lull of Troubled Boy. Internal Bleeding is definitely a sign that this would have worked better as a more focused EP, because this one can easily be tossed and never listened to again. The beat never drops, and Cudi never spits a verse. Instead, we get some of the most ear grating and wailing vocal performance of a lifetime.
"hhhhhhHHHHRRRRAAAAAAIGHGGHLM!"
He almost swallows the damn microphone before the song ends. There is room for so much more than what he actually puts down. That's the biggest complaint with this new album, and even his flow on 2013's Indicud: the terrible wailing. Satellite Flight could have been a good song with a solid hook if he actually rapped in between the choruses.
"I tell ya there's no way we can loooOOOOOse!"
You start mooing, and I start cringing man. But despite these flaws, this turns out to be a very unique and imaginative album, especially for the current genre of hip-hop. It's not designed for ears of mainstream hip-hop. It's for the strange; the real lonely stoners. If you can see past the 'misses', you can definitely feel the genius of the 'hits'. There's a world of potential for Cudder, and I can't wait to see where his zany brain leads us all next.
"Don't tell me they got you on some weirdo rap sh*t, n***a."
