Album Review: Kid Cudi exposes dark emotions with new sound

Camila Rios
Staff Writer

Scott Ramon Segura Mescudi, better known as Kid Cudi, released his fifth studio album, “Speedin Bullet 2 Heaven,” Dec. 4.

Kid Cudi is an American rapper, singer and composer who rose to fame after the debut of his first album, “A Kid Named Cudi,” in 2008. In all of his albums, Cudi has depicted an immense amount of emotion and “Speedin Bullet 2 Heaven” is no exception.

In the new album, he is more emotionally exposed than ever before.

In the single “Confused,” Cudi is describing his confusion over his own identity. All of his confusion turns into madness, and he goes on to say that he distracts himself from all of that through physical pain as well as substance abuse.

He says things such as “some days I hurt myself to distract me from the distraction,” and “madness fixing sadness.” Throughout the entire song, Cudi uses vivid and strong language in order to depict what he is feeling.

Many people, fans or not, describe this album as noisy, pointless and pure trash. Although it is rough around the edges and messy in its format, it is also incredibly unique and invokes powerful emotions in anyone that will listen to it with an open mind. If this album shows one thing about Cudi as an artist, it is that he will always find ways to express himself in whatever unique and strange way he deems fit.

Via Twitter, Cudi described to his fans what this album would be like.

“This album is 100 percent the purest form of my artistic self,” he said. “I’ve ripped my heart out and carved it into tiny pieces of musical madness.”

This album is entirely self produced by Cudi and also has more of an alternative punk rock vibe to it with the use of only instruments such as bass and guitar, which Cudi played himself on the album.

The album does not contain any electronic sounds. It is all about expression and about the message he’s trying to send his readers. Cudi is baring his soul to anyone who will listen.

This album is different from anything that Cudi has ever done before. He experimented on this album to express a different type of sound. It is possibly the deepest inside look at the dark and clouded mind of Cudi.

Throughout the years, Cudi has opened up about the struggles he has had to endure due to a mental health disorder, which has led to depression as well as suicidal thoughts. He went as far as to announce through Twitter that he is dedicating this album to those who suffer from mental disorders.

At first glance, some songs are unpleasant to listen to. They express extremely dark emotions, which can be hard for a listener to relate to. However, after listening to the songs on the album a couple of times, they begin to make more sense and become more of a pleasurable listen.

“Speedin Bullet 2 Heaven” is a double disc album. The first disc contains the actual album in its entirety, while the second disc contains extras. Extras include demos, unreleased songs and more.

Camila Rios can be reached at camila.riosgomez@laverne.edu.

Camila Rios
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