When people think of early 2010s music, Kid Cudi may come to mind. Due to his work with Kanye West on hits such as “808’s and Heartbreak” and “Make Her Say,” he was already a known artist before “Man on the Moon: The End of Day,” his debut album. Eleven years later, Scott Mescudi comes out with the third rendition of the Man on the Moon series: “The Chosen.”
While the album has similarities to the previous two, such as sampling from songs/movies and “emo” type lyrics, the sound of his newest album has a very different vibe, being more parallel to his days with Travis Scott than those of Kanye West.
In my review, I’ve grouped together the songs in four categories, so you can see what I think are the best and the worst of Cudi’s long awaited album.
Best:
“Lovin’ Me” (Feat. Pheobe Bridgers) is one of the most beautiful songs on the album. When I first listened to it, I was not quite sure on how to feel about it, but after a few more listens, I became enchanted with the empowering lyrics and amazing melodies (along with Bridgers’ eloquent voice).
“Lord I know” is an amazing closer to the trilogy and really encapsulates all three trilogies. The lyrics, like some of the other songs featured on this album, have a more positive outlook and truly feels like a good ending to this trilogy, as most of the past songs have been about his struggles with mental health and even drugs. Not only this, the actual music has a similar sound to his past albums while still keeping it fresh.
“The Void” is the perfect song for a long car ride late at night. His hums are addicting to listen to, along with well thought lyrics on his struggle with depression.
Good:
“Tequila Shots” falls under this category; while it’s not my favorite song, it is an amazing start to the album. I believe it is a good transition from the past two albums, making it feel like there was not a nine year gap.
“She Knows” is up there for one of my favorite songs. I Like the Scott Pilgrin sample at the beginning and the more party centered lyrics, which is a nice change from the more mental health themed lyrics. I found the rapping to be almost addictive as well.
“Sad People” is nothing super special, a nice chill rap song that maintains Cudi’s original sound.
“Heaven on Earth”
“Solo Dolo, Pt III”
“Rockstar Knights” I think Trippie Redd added depth to the song and brought Cudi out of his comfort zone.
“The Pale Moonlight”
“Damaged”
4 da Kidz
“Elsies Baby Boy” is a song about his relationship with his mother, which you do not see too often in music. The music reminded me of a softer version of his usual sound, a very nice but small depature from the rest of the album.
Meh:
“Show Out” with Skepta and Pop Smoke just does not sound like Kid Cudi to me. While I would not immediately skip it, some parts, such as Skepta’s, I just did not particularly like.
While I appreciate the references to Mr. Rager in “Another Day,” this song just seems a bit more bland to me than most of the others. While I believe it is a step above stale rap, I just do not believe the lyrics or sound is as “jaw dropping” as most of his others.
“Dive” is not bad but has that bland rap feel I have seen multiple timeson the album.
Overall Thoughts:
While this album is a good listen with little to no skips, I don’t believe it is as good as “The End of Day” and “The Legend of Mr. Rager” as most songs just do not retain that ‘Kid Cudi’ sound he became so popular for. He adapted to more modern rap after working with people such as Trippie Redd and Travis Scott.
I think people who enjoy artists like them will enjoy this album and they will be able to hear Cudi’s well written lyrics (which I feel not many people do nowadays.) Even if you do prefer Cudi’s past two albums, I still recommend giving this a listen, as there are some very enjoyable songs on it. Honestly though, sound wise this was an overall ‘meh’ way to end the series — not as impactful as people were expecting, but still not bad.
Want to hear more from Kid Cudi? The Warrior has put together a few more songs of his that deserve a listen: Check us out on Spotify!