Tag Archives: Kid Cudi

Single: Wale – “Focused” (Featuring Kid Cudi)

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Wale has teamed up with Kid Cudi a second time for the rapper’s newest single “Focused.” It’s a cut off Wale’s followup album to 2008’s Attention Deficit called Ambition. And if you’re wondering, the last time the two worked together was on Cudder’s track “Is There Any Love” from his popular mixtape A Kid Named Cudi (2008). Cudi opens “Focused” and returns throughout on chorus duty. The track has a good vibe, so take a listen below and download it for keeps if you like. [Update: get the track at iTunes today.] Ambition drops in November.

[audio: Wale – Focused.mp3]

[Via DatNewCudi]

Kid Cudi presents Conan O’Brien his Surface to Air jacket

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A kid named Cudi stopped by Conan last night not to perform but to chat. After showing off his squeaky clean Nike “Back to the Future” Mags (he bought five of them!), Cudder gave Coco the sleek leather jacket he designed with Surface to Air. Watch the funny happen up top.

Kid Cudi pieces together his life of fame in latest Complex cover story

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Rapper Kid Cudi finds himself on the cover of Complex Magazine for the third time in so many years. In this latest cover story interview with Complex editor-in-chief Noah Callahan-Bever, Cudi opens up about his murky past consisting of drinking and smoking, how things have changed for the better managing a sober lifestyle, and the inspiration behind playing guitar and forming the Wizard album. You can read the interview in full right here; below I’ve copied a couple of standout moments.

When asked about why he spend so much time with fellow rapper Kanye West: “I was at another place, another dark place. Me and my girl had broken up. I wasn’t fully healed yet. And being around Kanye and music was my escape. He’s a sober guy, he has a drink every once in a while, but seeing how he throws himself into the studio when he’s stressing about something, I totally admire that. Being around that was therapy for me.”

When asked to look two years into the future: “I’m always going to be working on something because I have too many ideas. Every day I come up with some wild fucking idea, some type of scheme. I feel like I have a purpose and if I don’t create then I’m letting myself down. I’ve been given this opportunity for people to listen to me worldwide. I’m just gonna fucking keep rocking and keep rocking and keep rocking until I’m in a wheelchair somewhere.”

Browse pictures from the photoshoot below, and watch some behind-the-scenes action after the break.

[Via Complex; DatNewCudi] Continue reading Kid Cudi pieces together his life of fame in latest Complex cover story →

Music video: The Knux – “Run” (Featuring Kid Cudi)

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Alternative hip hop duo The Knux teamed with Mr. Rager to come up with “Run,” the second single off their upcoming second album Eraser. Peep the rocker music video above; it takes you through a day in the life of a New York City model. Then download the cool track from iTunes here. Eraser drops September 27. Their lead single dropped in April and it’s called “She’s So Up.”

Music video: Kid Cudi – “Mr. Rager” (Featuring Surface to Air leather jacket)

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Cudder continues to support his now nine-month old sophomore release Man on the Moon II with the music video for his anthem “Mr. Rager.” The clip is directed by Jérémie Rozan, founder of the high-end fashion brand Surface to Air. Cudi collaborated with Rozan to design an exclusive limited line of leather jackets. The jackets (which are featured in the video) are now on sale at the flagship Surface to Air retail shop that just opened in NYC’s trendy section Soho. To celebrate Fashion’s Night Out, Razon (and perhaps Cudi) will be on hand at the grand opening of the store tonight where the music video will be screened for those in attendance.

DatNewCudi has the scoop: “The limited edition “thriller” style jackets retail for $1,200 and feature red quilted shoulder pads, internal red pockets, quilted lining, Surface to Air logo on buttons, zips, hot stamped logo on the leather and Red quilted shoulder pads and of course is 100% leather.” Two different vairents called “Fire Jacket” and “Champ Jacket” are part of the initial release. See pics below. And don’t pass over the violent music video above; in it Cudi takes on a fashionable gang. There’s a twist ending and a super cool blink-and-you-miss-it cameo to boot!

Update: Turns out Cudi did show up at Surface to Air last night! Hear him talk about the importance of visuals attached to his music after the break.

[Via DatNewCudi 1, 2, 3] Continue reading Music video: Kid Cudi — “Mr. Rager” (Featuring Surface to Air leather jacket) →

Music video: Kid Cudi – “No One Believes Me”

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Cudder fans, here’s a nice treat.

On June 1 Kid Cudi dropped the debut single from his Dot Da Genius-assisted rock band 2 Be Continuum, “Perfect Is The Word.” Since then, Cudder’s been spending his summer on the Cud Life Tour and shooting episodes for the HBO series How To Make It In America. Somewhere in between all this he was able to finalize the track “No One Believes Me,” a song featured on the soundtrack for the upcoming vampire flick Fright Night. Instead of just releasing the song to fans, Cud went the extra mile and teamed with Fright Night helmer Craig Gillespie to make a spook-tacular music video that perfectly embodies the ominous track. Witness a paranoiac and fanged Kid Cudi haunt a quaint suburban town in the clip embedded above; I bet you won’t see the surprise ending coming.

Fright Night, starring Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, hits theatres August 19; “No One Believes Me” will play during the end credits. The soundtrack releases days before on August 16.

Update: Kid Cudi talks to MTV about his inspiration behind the video after the break.

Update 2: The song is now available on iTunes.

Continue reading Music video: Kid Cudi — “No One Believes Me” →

Music video: Kid Cudi – “Marijuana”

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This latest video from the lonely stoner is a cut off his sophomore record Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. “Marijuana” was directed, shot and edited by Transformers star Shia LaBeouf and produced by Lorenzo Eduardo. Tour Amsterdam with Cudi and his crew in the video floating above. And remember kids, despite how cool Cudder makes it all look, smoking is bad for you.

Update: Cudi updated his fans concerning the “MANIAC” short film. On his Tumblr he shared, “MANIAC is a short film inspired by the song. It is not a music video and it has no reference to the song content. It will be scored by Dot and I as a film with all new music. Directed By Shia LaBeouf for Grassy Slope and Ragin4Dayz Productions.” A short teaser is embedded after the break; expect the short to hit the ‘Net this Halloween. Continue reading Music video: Kid Cudi — “Marijuana” →

Single: 2 Be Continuum – “Perfect Is The Word”

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The debut single from Kid Cudi’s rock band 2 Be Continuum is here! Cudder has been teasing the track since yesterday on Twitter. First he warned his fans, “Tomorrow, be ready.” Next he hinted, “10pm, the debut.” And after a minor delay (“Delay delay!!! Workin on some last minute fixes, sorry to leave you guys in suspense all day but i gotta make sure everything is right first. Gimme a few. Update soon!!!”), he dropped a MediaFire link into his feed and “Perfect Is The Word” was let out into the wild. The lonely stoner introduced it like this: “KiD CuDi & Dot Da Genius “Perfect Is The Word”.” Formally known as Wizard, 2 Be Continuum is the spin-off band Cudi and friend/producer Dot Da Genius formed earlier this year. The track definitely sounds like it came from the same mind that created the Man on the Moon records, but you’ll notice more guitar and less rapping. Sample the first slice of wizardry below.

Download: 2 Be Continuum – “Perfect Is The Word”

[audio: Perfect Is The Word.mp3]

Update: Cudder hopped on Twitter to announce a second new track is on the way. It’s called “No One Believes Me” and it will be featured in the upcoming vampire flick Fright Night. Cudi says, “Look out for the soundtrack and video soon.”

[Via Twitter]

Kid Cudi renames his band, gives one to new label

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This week Kid Cudi kicked off his Cud Life Tour in Hollywood and then brought his talent to New York City where he made back-to-back-to-back live appearances at the Roseland Ballroom. I happened to attend the second NYC show, and it was during this set that Lonely Stoner (no more) made two big announcements concerning his future plans. First, he decided to change the name of his band. As any Cudi fan should know by now, the rapper’s teaming up with producer Dot Da Genius to form a rock/rap band for his next album. Originally Cudder named the band Wizard but just recently he made a change. Henceforth the Cudi/Dot collab band is to be referred to as 2 Be Continuum. At the concert Cudi explained, “When I went into iTunes and I put in Wizard there was like five bands named Wizard. I needed something more original, something different.” Though the original name has been scraped Cudi promises his music is “still wizardry at its finest.” We can expect the first sampling from 2 Be Continuum to drop later this summer. During the same break in song, Cudi announced the name of his new label and that’s called Wicked Awesome Records. But of course! And now you can peek after the break to watch Cudder drop all the details himself. Continue reading Kid Cudi renames his band, gives one to new label →

Music video: Kanye West – “All of the Lights” (Featuring Rihanna & Kid Cudi)

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The music video for Kanye West’s All of the Lights has arrived. ‘Ye tapped long-time collaborator Hype Williams to direct, and he also managed to bring featured artists Rihanna (her supple breasts) and Kid Cudi into the mix. The video plays out in a unique manner. It begins in black-and-white, following a little girl walking around a city while the interlude plays behind her. The interlude fades out about one minute in, bright colors frantically flash over the still girl, and the vocals come begin. Before West, Rihanna, and Cudder show up, RiRi belts out the chorus as the corresponding lyrics fill up the screen in various colors, shapes, sizes, and style. After Cudi concludes his bit, the horns come back and we are left without an appearance from Fergie. The chorus sounds again along with the stylized words, and then the video name drops all of the song’s contributors including John Legend, Charlie Wilson, Tony Williams, Alicia Keys, and La Roux. The final fifteen seconds involves a barrage of–what else–flashing lights. If you haven’t picked up My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy yet, what is wrong with you?

Kid Cudi joins Twitter (again), says new mixtape coming this summer

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In December 2009, shortly after Kid Cudi dropped his debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day, he stated, “I will never get back on Twitter or Facebook. I’m getting my blog back together and that will be the only way to stay connected with me.”  So much for that.  Today Cudder joined Twitter again, and you can follow him @wizardcud. Why the change of heart?  “i really only got back on twitter becuz i heard will smith tweeted about a fresh prince reunion and i wanted to post my response to that…” he joked.  Only hours after reintroducing himself (“yes, its true. its me, the real wizard”), Cudi dropped an explosion of headlines.

First he announced that his upcoming rock-themed album Wizard is expected to release this summer.  Cudi will serve as producer and he says every track will feature his guitar talents, while collaborator Dot Da Genius is currently learning the bass.  He also spilled that the long lost “Dose of Dopeness” will be a bonus track on the album. He describes Wizard in a tweet: “Wizard is a rock album, no raps, just singing. brand new thing. flavor.”

What else, what else.  He mentions the “Maniac” music video/short film is still under construction; Cudder, Cage, and video director Shia LaBeouf are holding back on dropping it until “everything [is] just right…i need the proper time for scoring…the edit must be epic.”

Last, Cudi drops this exciting bombshell: he’s releasing a brand new mixtape this summer called A Man Named Scott, the followup to 2008’s A Kid Named Cudi.  Of the mixtape he says, “for all those who fucks with my raps, this is for u since ima be all rocked out with the wizard shit. also its free! yes!”  In other words, since Wizard is going to be all about Cudder crooning, he wants to hold over his rap fans with the mixtape until the true successor of Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager releases presumably later this year.

He concluded all these hot tweets with this: “man im really happy to FINALLY get all that good news out there. more to come, not even close.”  And the man’s not lying; in between all this news he revealed that he’s been working with Kanye West and Jay-Z, almost definitely on their collab album Watch the Throne so you can expect a Cudi feature there.  He also shared that HBO’s How To Make It In America starts filming its second season in March and he’s excited to reprise his true-to-life character Domingo Dean.

[Via @wizardcud]

Actor Bryan Greenberg’s album releases next week, ‘How To Make It In America’ season 2 in production [Update: Stream single here]

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Bryan Greenberg, the star of HBO’s How To Make It In America, is about to drop his debut album.  It’s called We Don’t Have To Wait Forever and it releases January 18.  It’s being described as “a fresh collection of introspective narratives and soulful ballads” and it features a track called “You Can Run” that features Kid Cudi.  Back in June Cudder dropped by a live Greenberg performance and laid down a freestyle and joined in on the chorus.  In an interview with Complex Magazine Greenberg shares the story:

“I did have one [song] in mind for him and he did it live. He came to my show like a year ago in New York, when I was on tour. He jumped on stage for a little freestyle. When he heard the song he was like, “I really like it and that’s why I’m going to do it.” I was really honored by that. I thought he was going to rap, but he sang. It was cool. He’s really a true artist.”

Looking forward to the second season of HTMIIA?  In that same interview Greenberg talked about what’s in store for Ben and Cam.  “[The show] hasn’t reached the tipping point at all. I’m going back to L.A. next week and we’re going to do read-throughs of the first four episodes. I’m super excited. It’s going forward a couple of months and the business is growing…it’s like, how does this guy become Ralph Lauren? How does it happen? We take if from the street, like early, early sh– to like…that’s the goal, you know? It’s going to take years to develop.”

Preview the album’s lead single “Walk Away” in the video embedded above.  How to Make It In America season 2 is currently in production and is expected to air this summer.

Update: The acoustic-based single “You Can Run” featuring Kid Cudi’s singing voice is now available to stream!  Listen to it below and download it here.

Download: Bryan Greenberg – “You Can Run” (Featuring Kid Cudi)

[audio: Bryan Greenberg – You Can Run (Featuring Kid Cudi).mp3]

Fun fact. The inspiration for the song actually stems from Greenberg’s character Ben from HTMIIA.  “I was kind of writing from the point of view of Ben and being scorned by Rachel and that just being a reason to succeed in life,” he says. “I did notice that a lot of successful people in this world, they always say that it’s about the art or it’s about the work. But when it comes down to it, [what drives them is that] they were made fun of in high school. Or there was a girl that dumped them and they’re trying to get back at them. I was coming from that mentality.”

[Via DatNewCudi; Complex; EW; HipHopUpdate]