Mixtape: Kid Cudi - A Kid Named Cudi (July 17, 2008)

Kid Cudi - A Kid Named Cudi

For the first mixtape review, we delve into the official Kid Cudi mixtape.

Kid Cudi is a 25 year old artist from Cleveland. He hasn't released an album yet, but has a mixtape (this one) and has dropped two singles, one of them features both Kanye West AND Common. This early in his career, you know that he's pretty good, or did he some favors for some pretty important people.

His most known song was his debut single "Day 'n' Nite", which dropped February 2008 and became a hit over the internet. It has had remixes featuring artists such as Jim Jones, Styles P, K'naan, Collie Buddz, and others.

After "Day 'n' Nite" was released, anticipation built up for his debut mixtape, which dropped July 17th, 2008. I got into it late in the game, downloading it November 15th (according to my iTunes). I listened to it that night, wasn't so sure. I pretty much only played the catchy-as-fuck "Day 'n' Nite" and tucked the mixtape away for another day.

Fast forward to April when a friend asks me for Cudi recomendations. I take a second listen to A Kid Named Cudi... and this time it clicked. I thouroughly enjoyed it and have listened to it several times since.

With Cudi's album dropping soon, I felt it was a good idea to take another listen to this mixtape in anticipation, and to do a review on it.

Here we go...

1. Intro
A simple hip-hop intro set in a movie theater with people talking as the movie begins... then we head into the mixtape.

2. Down & Out
Produced by OutKast
To begin, Cudi swipes the beat for "Chonkyfire" from OutKast's Aquemini to great results. The first time I listened to the mixtape, I must've not been paying attention as I completely missed the fact he was on the "Chonkyfire" beat. The second listen was a quick "WHAT THE FUCK?!" moment, followed by marking out as this example of beat-jacking is amazing.

3. Is There Any Love? (feat. Wale)
Produced by Emile
Fellow hip-hop up-and-comer Wale drops by (he has an album coming out soon, and a mixtape set to be reviewed sometime). The song is a bit slow, compared to the "Chonkyfire" beat jacking beforehand. I'd also say that Wale (pronounced Wah-lay and not Whale) actually shows up his host, delivering the best verse.

4. CuDi Get
Produced by J Dilla
Cudi hops on the beat for J Dilla's "Wild" off of the Ruff Draft EP. As such, Kid Cudi sounds pretty fucking good over a Dilla beat. If he hopped on one from Donuts, though...

5. Man on the Moon (The Anthem)
Produced by NOSAJTHING
I love this song. I really like when Cudi does songs like this and "Mr. Solo Dolo", both of which are fucking amazing. I've been playing this like crazy on my iPod lately.

6. The Prayer
Produced by Plain Pat
Based around the "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Prayer" (that would be the prayer mentioned in the title). I like how Cudi takes a shot at Flo-Rida and his song "Low" ("If I slip away, if I die today, the last thing you remember won't be about some Apple Bottom jeans with the boots with the fur"). That's kinda ballsy on your debut mixtape. Near the end of the track, you can detect the "Day N Nite" beat, allowing the mixtape to seemlessly transition into Cudi's biggest song to date...

7. Day N Nite
Produced by Dot Da Genius
Also known as my ringtone. This song is catchy as fuck. I'll listen to it once and it'll be stuck in my head for a couple days (and nights, nice pun, rite?).

8. Embrace the Martian
Produced by Crookers
Crookers, the Italian DJ duo that made a techno remix for "Day 'n' Nite", come by to provide Cudi the beat for a pretty good song.

9. Maui Wowie
Produced by Guerilla Tek & McKlezie
Cudi steals the beat for southern group Grind Mode's "I'm So High" and pens a song to his favorite strand of weed, Maui Wowie, which apparently is in Hawaii. I wouldn't know. It's pretty catchy, but fails in comparison when you place it up against previous songs such as "Down & Out" or "Man on the Moon (The Anthem)".

10. 50 Ways to Make a Record
Produced by Emile & Plain Pat
Cudi jacks Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and decides to pen it about making a record... instead of leaving a lover. It's slow and soft, but for some reason it kinda bores me. But then again, that could be fact I'm really fucking tired, but I wanna finish this review tonight.

11. Whenever
Produced by Andre 3000
Continuing the streak of beat-jacking, Cudi digs back into the south and pulls out Andre 3000's "Pink & Blue", off The Love Below, from the Speakerboxxx/The Love Below double album OutKast put out. Cudi's jacking produces good results

12. Pillow Talk
No idea who produces this. I don't care enough, I'm not a big fan of this.

13. Save My Soul (The CuDi Confession)
Produced by Danger Mouse
The beat-jacking continues! This time, Cudi takes Gnarls Barkley's "Save My Soul". This actually sounds pretty good. I appreciate the fact he kept Cee-Lo's chorus in his version.

14. T.G.I.F. (feat. Chip tha Ripper)
See track #12 for the producer. Chip tha Ripper would be another rapper from Cleveland, Ohio, who, according to Last.fm, has dropped plenty of mixtapes for you to enjoy, if you feel like checking him out. I don't, though, since he had a meh appearance. Overall, this song is pretty meh.

15. CuDi Spazzin'
Produced by The Neptunes
Cudi hops on N.E.R.D.'s "Spaz" to awesome results. I've said that before, haven't I? I think I have.

16. Cleveland is the Reason
Produced by Dot da Genius
Dot da Genius, the producer of "Day N Nite" drops back for a decent song. That's all I got.

17. Heaven at Nite
Produced by Ratatat
The final song. Blah, blah, it sounds good.

Conclusion: You should go find a link for this. Somewhere, there's a download for A Kid Named Cudi, and it shouldn't be hard to find. You should also cop Man on the Moon: The End of Day, dropping September 15th. I'm gonna, and you should too.

Track Reviews #1: Crooked I, Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Royce da 5'9", & 2Pac

Introducing the first of several "gimmick" posts, I'll have, I'm introducing Track Reviews. Yes, I know. Very creative name, right? Basically, what I'll be doing here is reviewing random tracks that came out in the past week/24 hours. This one is based around the tracks that came out today, since a lot of shit dropped. We have two Crooked I tracks, the first Jay-Z single, a Kid Cudi joint, a Royce joint, and fifteen unreleased Pac tracks (I only have two).

Let's go in...

Crooked I - 8-11
Crooked jumps on 50 Cent's "Ok, You're Right" (produced by Dr. Dre). At the beginning, Crooked talks about installing a studio on the tour bus to release a track every week (Hip Hop Weekly: Part 2?). As Slaughterhouse fans know, the title is obviously a reference to the Slaughterhouse debut (an album I'm gonna cop and one you need to). In the middle of the song, the beat stops and all you hear is a siren, while Crooked references the short-lived Slaughterhouse/Inspectah Deck feud that went on for a minute. The beat starts back up and Crook goes back in. A really good track, got me looking forward to Slaughterhouse's debut and to the possible Hip Hop Weekly 2.

Crooked I - 8-11 (Pt. 2)
So, I had just finished up the first edition of Track Reviews when I decided to hop on NahRight to make sure I got everything. Turns out, I didn't. 14 more unreleased Pac joints are out there, plus Crooked I released a second 8-11, this time over a local producer called Qwest. One thing I noticed immediately was "The House of the Rising Sun" sample which is pretty prevelent through the whole song. The beat's more mellow than "Ok, You're Right," which is actually better. I think part 2 is better than the original. "I just sit and watch the internet ride rapper's dicks, giving 'em five stars, I kill 'em in five bars." Best line. Once again, Slaughterhouse drops August 11th. Cop it.

Jay-Z - Run This Town (feat. Rihanna & Kanye West)
Produced by Kanye, this is the first REAL single from The Blueprint 3, replacing "Off That" with Drake. This is one I've been waiting for, a Jay/Kanye collabo on a Jay album (not counting "The Bounce," which sucked). Rihanna's on the hook and sounds good. This along with "D.O.A." really has me looking forward to The Blueprint 3. I've heard Kanye and Rihanna refered to as Jay's little bro and little sis respectively and I actually agree with that. I've also heard a lot of people claiming Kanye was better than Jay on this song. I'd say that's true, but Jay wasn't bad himself. The Blueprint 3 drops September 11th.

Kid Cudi - Call Me Moon Man
An unreleased Cudi joint, one that I'm not exactly sure is going to be on Man on the Moon, but that won't stop by from looking forward to it. September's looking good, Raekwon, Kid Cudi, Jay-Z, Megadeth, Dethklok (yes, I'm gonna be reviewing metal. Yayz?) This joint's like Mr. Solo Dolo and Day 'N' Nite, it's not your typical hip-hop song, but it's great. September 15th.

Royce da 5'9" - 8-11
Royce joins Crooked in releasing a track dedicated to hype up the Slaughterhouse debut. I have no idea what beat Royce is on, or even if he's on one, since the beginning features a woman singing "8-11... all must fall." Royce is my favorite out of Slaughterhouse, looking forward to the Street Hop album he's putting out this year (6 Premier joints). I actually prefer this to Crook's joint.

2Pac - Changed Man (feat. Big Syke & Nate Dogg)
I have no idea where this song is from or if it's unreleased as I picked it up when Ivan from Hip Hop Is Read linked me to it on Twitter. Anyway, I still don't like Big Syke. Never have, never will. Nate Dogg on the other hand, he's awesome. Tops everyone in the hook department. 2Pac sounds good, which he always did.

2Pac - If There's a Cure (I Don't Want It) (feat. Snoop Dogg)
I also got this from Ivan on Twitter. I prefer it to Changed Man. Whenever Snoop and Pac are on the same track, you know it's gonna be good (e.g., 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted). And, also, according to NahRight, 14 other unreleased Pac tracks leaked today (which I can't get, since it's on zshare).

There we go. If anything noteworthy drops tonight (like Joe and Joell's version of 8-11... maybe...?) I'll update it. Next review probably coming later tonight... depends, I'm on a roll at the moment.