As most artists experience on their encore album, Kid Cudi’s Man On the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager isn’t as superior as his first. On this record, Cudi isn’t rapping about his insecurities or his days as a loner. This time around Cudi is fed up and confidently rapping about not giving a fuck about others’ lifestyles and not having self-pity anymore. The album certainly has songs that stand out lyrically and because of their beat, such as “Revofev”, “Mojo So Dope”, and “Trapped In My Mind”. The rest of the pieces on this record have a good range of beats and eclectic topics but they’re just not as great as his previous works.
Cudi lacks storytelling in this album, after going to jail, beginning an addiction to coke (which he let be known with nothing more than with audible coke sniffs), getting kicked off of Lady Gaga’s tour, and having had his first daughter born, we would have thought the Kid would have had a lot more of a diary to share. Instead, he continuously enlightens us about his drug use and his need to escape the troubles that he fell short to mention. The song “Revofev”, short for ‘revolution’, commands attention with its powerful head jerking beat and motivating lyrics. Cudi welcomes us into the song with, “I am your big brother / What do I have to say to the kids?” Cudi preaches, “Wake up, things might get rough / No need to stress, keeps you down too much,” all without being corny – instead, it’s very encouraging. With “Marijuana”, on the other hand, Cudi confesses his obsession for the substance rather than just having a desire for it. On “Mojo So Dope” he raps, “Give a fuck about your lifestyle”, referring to rappers who make songs talking about cars, making it rain in the club and their jewelry which fans can’t relate to.
The album’s last three songs, “All Along”, “GHOST!”, and “Trapped In My Mind” are modest and more in touch with Kid Cudi’s emotions as he talks about his confusion with his self belonging. “GHOST!” is a beautifully twisted track that makes you feel excited and confused at the same time. The unbalanced beat matches the meaning of the song perfectly as he raps about how, “Things come around and make sense eventually but when did I become a ghost?” This piece shows his faith and melancholy self-doubt about feeling misunderstood, ending the song with, “I hope they understand that I really understand that they don’t understand.” Magical twinkles and soft bells open “Trapped In My Mind”, the last song on the album, in which Cudi raps about his mind being crazy, but then not being that bad at all, as if he has different opinions of his thoughts – sometimes they’re good and sometimes they’re not so good.
In the end, Kid Cudi gave a creative record filled with ups and downs of profound emotion making his music genuine, authentic and nothing like most rappers today. Even though he doesn’t get into detail with his problems, he does let us know that he’s been going through difficult times which not only make him a down to earth and relatable rapper, but an actual person.
MP3 Stream: “GHOST!”
