Nerd Worthy: Kid Cudi's Man on the Moon

For some strange never discussed reason, (climate change), the weather in Chicago was really really nice on Sunday. So instead of staying in trying to beat Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 before it was due back to the video store, (FAIL), I got on my bike and just road around the city exploring. You may ask yourself what makes this news nerd worthy, and I’ll say stop being impatient you ingrate, I’m getting to that. While pumping the pedals I usually like to provide myself with a soundtrack, and I decided to listen to something I had only listened to twice and decided I didn’t like. Sometimes it takes a few listens for me to like a CD, oddly the albums I love the most are the albums I hated at first. I remember writing an angry unmailed letter to a record company executive after purchasing 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Trying, 3 days later it’s the only CD I’d listen to. Taking my past into account, I always try to listen to things 4 or 5 times before officially labeling them bad. I hadn’t done this yet with Kid Cudi’s Man on The Moon.

My last experience with it I stopped listening half way through because I was both disappointed at the lack of rapping and I was falling asleep. Kid Cudi misrepresented himself with his choice of singles. We all know he does the singing thing because of all the hooks he’s done for himself and other people this past year, but in all of his songs used to promote Man on The Moon he spit some pretty ferocious bars. Then he managed to record a record with Common and Kanye West without being over shadowed. I’m one of those people that fast forwards through posse songs until I get to the part where the person I like raps/sings, and with this song I never have to do that because Cudi’s lines are just as good as those that come after him. Due to this I began to see Cudi as a rapper, and naturally expected him to make a rap album and despite flagrant use of the Nword, he didn't. 90% of Man on The Moon is Cuddi singing about his insecurities, drug use and girls, but not in an R&B crooning sort of way. It’s tough to describe, comparisons can be made to Kanye’s 808’s & Heartbreaks and that’s really about it, But don’t go expecting bass heavy melody’s. Cudi takes a much more chill approach. If your in the right mood you find yourself singing along or repeating the hooks but when that mood passes so does your enjoyment of the tunes. During my bike ride I loved everything I heard because I no longer expected a rap album. However, as soon as I got off my bike and started in on a new activity I became dissatisfied with what was entering my ears. It just didn't fit, the mood was gone.

To wrap this up I’ll just say a few quick things. Man on The Moon is a good album. I personally need to be feeling particularly emo or sitting in a post modern art gallery in order to fully enjoy it. Cudi’s album as a whole appeals to people that hate the stereotypes of rap but his singles perpetuate them, it’s an odd choice but It tricked me into trying something I otherwise wouldn’t, so I can’t complain. The music is nerd worthy, as I can picture myself enjoying it in the background of numerous activities that I’m too cool to admit I enjoy like reading a graphic novel, showering or tweaking the xhtml and CSS on other peoples blogs. I realize the album came out months ago but considering it hasn’t even gone gold yet, I doubt you have it and if you do I’m sure you ignored it because it wasn’t what you expected. Drop your expectations and give Cudi a chance. And now to undo everything I just wrote about, I’m featuring my favorite song from the album, which is about getting booty.....