When Kid Cudi posted notice of his intention to start a rock band, the last high-profile hip hop artist to cross the floor probably came to a lot of people’s minds pretty quickly. Sure, Weezy’s foray into nu-metal (complete with ubiquitous autotuning) was hilariously awful, but we still have plenty of time to worry about ways it can go wrong for Cudder. For now we can focus on how much more sense Man on the Moon II makes as a transitional album. “REVOFEV” has been kicking around for a while, but it has improved with age, and it seems like a well-placed precursor to what we may see from Kid Cudi in the future.
Cudi’s love for the grandiose isn’t exactly a well-kept secret. His songs don’t just play for you, they put on a show. “REVOFEV” is positively cinematic: Cudi half speaks and half croons over stuttering baby grand chords and a stadium-sized guitar line. It’s a nice spectacle, but you’ll likely be listening more out of interest than enjoyment, particularly to Cudi’s performance. To his credit, he seems comfortable with his voice. More importantly, it’s genuine. No auto-tune necessary. He’s expanding as a lyricist as well. Instead of bemoaning the opposite sex or discussing his drug habit he doles out life lessons. It’s a nice change-up, but his vernacular is still struggling to live up to his lavish production.
[Off of Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, out now]
