Oh my beloved Kid Cudi.
The artist that got me through high school with “Man On The Moon I & II,” and then through my freshman year of college with “Indicud.” The artist I loved so much for so long. His first mixtape and the three albums that followed were golden — in my eyes he could do no wrong. He was Kanye’s prodigy and crafted anthems for kids who were looking for rap with a little more substance.
Kid Cudi was the poster boy for rap that appealed to the kids who wanted something that they could relate to, something that gangster rap couldn’t do. He was the original misunderstood rapper with a nice flow that helped boost the rap genre into more psychedelic and emotional undertones. But now Kid Cudi has gone off the deep end, and not in a good way.
His new album “Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven” sounds like a Nirvana album, only way worse. I could barely finish the album. It’s just a lot of distorted guitar, Kid Cudi’s voice — which isn’t pleasant without auto-tune — and Beavis and Butthead skits that just confuse the hell out of the audience.
“Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven” is a dumb name that gives me a bad impression before even listening to it. He opens up with the song “Edge of the Earth/Post Mortem Boredom,” which gives you a sense of what the album will consist of — dissonant guitar riffs and lyrics about substances and depression.
After the first song, I was forced to skip every other song on the album before it finished for the sake of my own sanity. No really, I haven’t heard music this bad in such a long time. I can’t decide which was the worst song on the 18-track album.
The only song that was somewhat bearable was “Fairy Tale Remains” and I don’t even have a distinct reason why. Maybe it was because Cudi wasn’t using auto-tune or playing brash chords on his electric guitar that I could play better using my feet.
The title song said “I’m all smiles” over and over again as if Cudi was trying to convince the audience and himself that other people’s opinions don’t matter to him. To make an album this bad you have to be totally cut off from what people say about your music and so into yourself that you have given up trying to impress anyone. Kid Cudi is apparently trying to prove a point in saying that he’s going to do what he wants, like it or not. The choice was really easy for me — I don’t like it.
My message to Kid Cudi: I love you, but I love the old you. You used to make me so happy with your music and your message, but now you’re hurting my ears, and I don’t like your message. For someone who is so involved with your fans that you tweet religiously and say that you only make music for them, you sure are not treating them very well. Kid Cudi, what did I do to make you hate me enough to actually release this album and expect me to listen to it? Whatever it is, I’m sorry, just please go back to rapping.
For the few Kid Cudi fans he has left, there is still a small glimmer of hope: “Man On The Moon III.” Oh wait — Kid Cudi told fans that it will sound nothing like the previous two, which means Kid Cudi will continue to prove to us that he’s a creative genius, something he only believes. I can’t decide what’s worse — this album or the fact that I know there will be someone out that there that will claim this is musical genius. It will probably be the same kind of person that claimed “Yeezus” was genius.
I would rather go through the Hunger Games, Tri-wizard tournament and take an exam on Christmas morning than listen to this album again.
Jack Riewe is an English senior and assistant city editor for The Battalion.
