Review Summary: "Welcome to the enema"
The past few years have seen our self proclaimed “big brother” go through some tough times. Mentally, the man on the moon seemed to have taken off elsewhere. He developed an addiction to drugs (not that he hadn’t had one before, the
Man on the Moon: Legend of Mr. Rager album was practically dedicated to his addiction to cocaine), thus as a result had fallen into the depths of depression, for which he checked himself into a rehab center – though not before conjuring up some controversy via twitter. Musically, his works suffered. Kid Cudi always had a knack for trying new things. While Kid Cudi had always seemed to like experimenting (there’s a drug joke in there somewhere), the past few years of said experimentation had led to some awful releases; from the mediocre but salvageable
Indicud, to the unmitigated trash heap of used needles that was
Speeding Bullet 2 Heaven. To say this was make or break for the troubled artist is an understatement.
Luckily,
Passion starts off strong.
Frequency, though a bit long, has Cudi humming and somewhat rapping - more repeating a few lines often - over an airy beat. It’s an earworm, and if there’s one thing Cudi has always excelled at it's writing catchy hooks. There’s two things from the opener to take into account for the rest of the album: first, the humming and moaning. It will appear on every song, and though it’s done tastefully on this album, it may not be for everyone. Second, is the production. There isn’t a weak, or bad beat on
Passion. Cudi had the help of a multitude of producers, including the infallible Pharrell Williams. The production is easily the greatest strength of
Passion.
Outside of the outstanding production, there are a few rather great, if not completely surprising guest spots. Imagine if, in 2015, a random stranger had walked up to you and told you a track by Kid Cudi featuring Willow Smith (of hair whipping fame) was pretty damn good, you would have probably laughed them off the planet. Yet here we are.
Rose Golden proves even the oddest of artist collaborations can work wonders. Willow provides backing vocals to Kid Cudi’s gruff, tumbling voice and harmonizes beautifully. By far, the best features go to Andre 3000, credited here as Andre Benjamin. If there’s one thing 2016 should be remembered for, above all else, let it be remembered as the year of the flawless Andre 3000 feature. The man seemingly cannot fail.
By Design is the definitive highlight of the album. Andre makes a second appearance on
The Guide and proceeds to awe listeners once more.
There are some tracks that will either be loved, or hated. It seems there is no middle ground for these.
Releaser is immense. It’s heavy, suffocating even. Dark, sinister, yet beautiful. Cudi delivers more humming, moaning and some surprise French, but where this would have failed spectacularly in years passed, here it works. It’s truly haunting. In
Wounds, he exclaims “I did everything right didn’t I? So why aren’t I whole?”. He makes you sympathize with him rather than come across as a teenager throwing a tantrum.
Passion isn’t without faults either. Some songs, such as the aforementioned
Frequency go on for too long. This is an album that’s pushing 90 minutes. While there’s not a bad track here, there are tracks that will be getting skipped more often than played, a situation that could be avoided by a little trimming. It’s hard to fault
Passion for it’s length too much, as the sound varies so much that it feels more exhilarating ride through Cudi’s conscious and less an excursion through a monotonous haze.
What’s next for Kid Cudi is uncertain, but after
Passion, Pain, and Demon Slayin’ there’s hope yet.
