Scott Mescudi, a lone wolf since his childhood in Ohio where he wasn’t considered normal, either. He wants to know his purpose in other people’s eyes, is he loved and accepted, or is he just another meaningless wall on which to write our grievances? To the people who say the latter, he has a message for you: his middle finger. His voice is significantly more wicked sounding than any of the other songs, with a step-by-step flow, perhaps to make the listener pay attention to each and every phrase. The staccato intro creates a scene of contemplating distress, with a clock-like “thinking” theme.
The real contrast to CuDi’s kaleidoscopic sexcapade is Solo Dolo (Nightmare). Sky Might Fall, the song right before that trippy ride tells us that CuDi craves an escape, but that which he longs for is resolved by the time the cascading chorus kicks in. The determination, patience and indifference to baseless judgment it takes to make it in the music industry is something we could all take a lesson from, whether we make our desires a reality or not. Of course, that’s easier for CuDi to say since he actually did make it, but if he didn’t try, he wouldn’t have. These are the things we should strive for, not the likely, safe scenario. CuDi isn’t referring to the kind of imagination that can produce fantastical visions, but the kind that sees into your ideal future and makes you want to go there. If your imagination can never be fulfilled, it’s merely a squandering of thoughts. But to us, there is a different significance. He speaks to both us and his female company about imagination, as he urges her to entertain the wild daydream the drugs are creating. It transitions from a rave-worthy pace to a calmer, quieter setting that allows CuDi to enunciate his rhymes in a more poetic manner, the words he really wants you to hear. His dream wanders into blissful territory on Enter Galactic (Love Connection), a song about the dizzying pleasures of having sex and philosophizing with a girl under the influence of magic mushrooms (especially a girl who’s never had such a mind-bending experience before). CuDi’s narrative remains conscious throughout, and isn’t tough to decipher as would be a real dream, but I think the point he was trying to make was that there are certain aspects of his life and career that he’d much rather just sleep through, or felt like he was sleeping through as they were happening. So what is he thinking? The album’s concept is that of a dream, beginning as he’s falling asleep, narrating through both nightmarish and pleasant thoughts, and ending as he wakes (and bakes).
It feels more personal than Rager, and paints a clearer picture of the artist himself and what he’s thinking. What differentiates CuDi from most rappers is that he understands the importance of melody and since he does all of his own hooks on this album, he had the freedom to mold each song to match his imaginative lyrical themes. The End of Day is motivational, yet simultaneously depressing, but in a good way, an artistic way…the kind of sad music you still want to listen to when you’re upset. While everyone else liked to dance and party to it, lyrically it was also a fan pleaser. Instead of trying to appeal to a wide, generic audience, his music spoke directly to the “lonely stoner” (who didn’t necessarily have to smoke weed). Young people loved him for his psychedelic tendencies but more importantly, he wasn’t rapping about things suburban kids don’t understand.
Rewind to ’08, with Day N Nite spinning everywhere and a feature on Kanye West’s 808’s and Heartbreak (to whose record label he was signed that year), it appeared Kid CuDi was going to be the next big thing. The maturing of his own music as he matured himself is something a lot of artists will say they aspire to, and judging by the sophisticated approach and somewhat cheeky lyrics of only his second album (Rager), it seems CuDi was able to do it effortlessly. When listening to this, his debut, you get the feeling that the person who recorded it was younger and excitable with more to say.
The lonely stoner theme is more prevalent on The End of Day while the lavish living and exposure to new and interesting styles seeps through the words and rhythms of Mr. Guest performers also added a distinct atmosphere to that record. The End of Day strongly emphasizes its production as well, but it’s all there to accentuate CuDi’s singing and rapping whereas its successor will sometimes let the instrumental go off on a tangent as his voice melts into the background. Rager sounds more like Kid CuDi and his magical mystery band, rather than Kid CuDi the solo dolo. Rager is lyrically mediocre, but that its “beats” are far more than something to rap over. Rager, suggests that Kid CuDi may be a little more interested in the melodious side of his genre rather than the actual rap itself.
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