Review:
Indicud is Kid Cudi’s third album (unless you also count his WZRD
collaboration with Dot da Genius), and the first outside his Man on the Moon
Trilogy (the final chapter due next year).
While Mescudi sticks to his familiar
lyrical themes – isolation, drug use, depression, yet with a sense of
confidence – with Indicud he tackles all the production (though Hit-Boy does
co-produce Red Eye). This is both something that works really well about the
album and one of its main issues. Mescudi has always had a very specific and
unique sound for his albums (like a darker version of EDM), but it is his
collaboration with producers such as Emile, Dot da Genius, Ratatat, Plain Pat,
Jeff Bhasker, and Kanye West that helped shape a full cohesive sound (and is
really a big part of the brilliance of his first two albums). On Indicud there
is a very uniform tone and feel, which comes from Kid Cudi being the sole creative
force behind the beats, but this also kind of hurts the album as it drifts into
a repetitive (if not boring) zone during the weaker songs. His production varies
from track to track. Sometimes it is good to great: Unfuckwittable, Just What I
Am, Young Lady (which has a fantastic hook), Immortal, Girls (though, I am
not a big fan of Too $hort’s misogynistic-feeling verse), Red Eye, Brothers,
Cold Blooded, and Afterwards. While on others, his beats just feel too bland.
He is missing the collaborative spark of working with other producers.
The album has a number of strong
featured guests: Kendrick Lamar, Haim, RZA, A$AP Rocky, and Michael Bolton all
add something to their respective tracks. King Chip is on three tracks, but he
never stands out. Michael Bolton’s feature in particular seems to come out of
nowhere and feels a bit off when his voice first appears on Afterwards, but
then it completely takes over the whole track and is the most memorial aspect
on the song. RZA and Kendrick Lamar elevate their tracks considerably, while
Haim makes for a great (if not seemingly random) collaboration.
I am torn about Indicud. I like
it (that said, though, I would say it is not as strong as Man
on the Moon: The End of Day or Man
on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager), and more specifically I like a
lot of the tracks, features, and the general vibe of the album. But, it also
feels a little tedious to listen to all the way through, which stems from Kid
Cudi not quite having enough good beats to fill fifteen tracks and three
interludes.
Kid Cuid fans will enjoy the LP, and
the good elements on the album get better with time. But again, it is just a
step below his past work (but better than WZRD). 3/5
Essential Tracks:
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