Hip Hop from the Man on the Moon: Kid Cudi
June 13, 2009 by MusicThread
Filed under Featured, Hip Hop, Stories
By: Jabari Oliver
Somewhere in a galaxy far away, where Cavaliers are king, there is a Maui Wowie volcano that is ripe to blow. Although the moniker leaves the impression of a lad in a man’s world, the swag presents readiness to continue taking the world by storm….from the moon.
Meet the man on the moon, Scott Mescudi better known as Kid Cudi (pronounced CUT-ty, with a short ‘u’). He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in its small middle class suburbs of Shaker Heights. Now a native of Brooklyn, NY, the 25 year old Cudi released his first mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi, in July 2008 as a free download sponsored by New York streetwear company 10 Deep leading to an introduction and signing to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint, and in turn, to Cudi’s co-writing of four tracks on the platinum Kanye West album 808s & Heartbreak, including the Top 5 single, “Heartless” and stepping out in a featured vocal on “Welcome to Heartbreak.”
Kid Cudi’s ingenious, spaced-out wit and sparse but addictive electronic arrangement of “Day ’N’ Nite” has already made the song a Top 5 download on iTunes making it No. 4 on the Top Songs list, and No. 3 on the Rap/Hip-Hop song list, while at the same time, debuting in Billboard’s Hot Digital Tracks chart at No. 6, at the threshold of gold certification with over 450,000 digital singles sold while holding the number 10 spot on the Hot Ringmasters chart. “Day ’N’ Nite” is a bulleted No. 7 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart and is Greatest Gainer in sales on that list. On national radio, the track is Top 5 in the Rhythmic-Crossover format, Top 25 on Mainstream Top 40 and Top 15 on urban formats, where it is among the week’s top 5 Greatest Gainers in spins. Alternative stations are also following in a building multi-format surge. Online, the song has driven almost 5 million page views on MySpace.com, and several posted tracks have generated nearly 30 million individual song streams. “Day ’N’ Nite” is also building an immediate worldwide story, with radio and sales breakouts in Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and especially Belgium, where the track is already Top 5, and the U.K., where the club mix of the track by Crookers entered the national singles chart at No. 2. “Kid Cudi is that rare artist who exists without boundaries of genre,” said Universal Motown Senior Vice President, International Kirk Harding, who last summer initiated the talks between Universal Motown, Cudi and his management team that led to his signing. “You don’t meet many like Cudi, with that breadth of musical spectrum,” he added. “That’s how we identified his international potential long ago.” Universal Motown President Sylvia Rhone explains that “Kid Cudi is at the vanguard of a game-changing new generation of artists. He crosses musical boundaries with an appeal that goes beyond genre, format, race, language, and culture. Cudi lives easily in the hip-hop, indie rock, pop, and R&B worlds – a diversity that shows in his innovative music and his all-embracing persona. He is a born storyteller who brings a positive, life-affirming message to his brilliant lyrical flow and compelling music. There are no clichés in what Cudi does. He is a breath of fresh air – a dynamic and important new voice, not only in the next phase of hip-hop, but as a groundbreaking trendsetter who represents the future. I am thrilled to welcome Kid Cudi into the Universal Motown family.”
The buzz from Cudi’s world renowned single and mixtape has opened many doors for the young artist. Since his debut in 2008 he has appeared on Snoop Dogg’s talk show “Dogg after Dark”, BET’s 106 and Park with Kanye West, mtvU’s 2009 spring break special, and on “Last Call with Carson Daly.” He was also featured in the music video for the Solange Knowles’ song “T.O.N.Y.” and has produced an exclusive single, along with go-to-producer Emile, called “Switchin Lanes” for the video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles as a part of its “South Central Premium Upgrade” Downloadable Content (DLC). As a measure of Kid Cudi’s success since his initial debut from 10.Deep’s website, on May 18th 2009 10.Deep announced that they were releasing a special edition Kid Cudi “Up There” t-shirt that would be available for sale along with free hard copies of “A Kid Named Cudi” mixtape in their webstore. On May 20, 2009 at 12:00 PM EST, shortly after the shirt went up for sale the server crashed due to heavy traffic of fans wanting to buy the t-shirt and the mixtape.
Kid Cudi’s space age, intergalactic musical style places him in a spectrum with today’s best newcomers. He challenges the ears and brains of the masses to follow a new brand of music, fashion, and attitude. Embracing the revolution of free downloads and exclusive underground clothing lines, Cudi has created a solar wind throughout the music industry that has swept across the world….from the moon. Kid Cudi is set to release his first major released album “Man On The Moon: The Guardian” August 25, 2009. Stay tuned space cadets.
www.myspace.com/kidcudi
Check out Kid Cudi’s newly leaked song “Mr. Solo Dolo.”
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