This started as me doing a slow lead into my appreciation of Kid Cudi, but turned into me breaking down a more general love/hate thing that goes with a previously unheard of artist blowing up and their fame getting all over your face and in your ears. Cudi’s rise to fame was weird because the Kanye West co-sign had people jumping on his bandwagon fast because many of them thought that he was Kanye’s protégé, but Kanye was just a fan who signed the Kid to his label and made him famous without really changing anything about him. But by being in the spotlight, Cudi’s introspective sing/rap style got harshly criticized by some, criticism I guarantee wouldn’t have been put to him if he had remained an underground figure either because no one would’ve heard the album or because the less mainstream critics are much more open to experiments and new things. But even then, once he got big, the stench of mainstream got on him and the underground critics rejected him (Pitchfork claims to be Indie, but their review gave the album a 4.1 even though the actual review didn’t seem to dislike the album…) as much as the stuffier, higher profile majors like Rollingstone and Spin.
Wow, I now realized just how petty this follow-up piece is, especially since it’s going up right after the first article where I basically call out myself for acting like a fucking baby, especially for an rapper. But I really can’t help it and wanted to put something out on the topic because it’s pretty personal to me that I went to go see Pete Rock during my freshman year and wound up seeing a goofy kid with a ‘delicious vinyl’ shirt did like 5 songs, ‘day n nite’ being one of them, and liked him so much I bought the iTunes mp3 when I got home, and then about a year later, the radio has that track being one of the 5 or 6 they actually play. It was great to be so early on him, my roommates were pissed actually cause by the time everyone else seemed to catch on, they were already sick of the song. And for anyone who doesn’t know already, ‘embrace the martian’ is his best song by a long shot in terms of his verses, a Crookers beat and just it being a catchy dance song that has dope verses. I kind of chuckle every time I hear him talk about being Mr. Solo Dolo because he is far from that now. I wonder what it was like to have heard him before I did, such as his work that got him that spot opening, because not just anyone can open up for Pete Rock in New York City. Wale, Torae, and Skyzoo were also on the bill, and those guys are also pretty legit. OH well, I’m probably gonna regret posting such an unfocused and rambling personal piece right after the focused one I just put up but fuck it, I wrote it and its my blog so what says goes I guess. Anyone even read these by the way?
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