Kid Cudi Talks Wale, Reebok, Shia Labeouf & Being Bigger Than Kanye
When it comes to young rappers, it seems like Kid Cudi might be a bit better off than the rest of the gang. Not only did Cudi just ink a deal with Universal Motown, but he also has music’s biggest star, Kanye West, in his corner. Cudi and Complex have long had a relationship (he actually modeled for us back in 2006), but after we tapped him and his homies in a blog post and he responded, we weren't sure if things were cool…
That is, until Cudi came through the eckoplex yesterday for his first press day, and he kept it realer than most. In this exclusive interview, the Double-O representer talks about how he wants to be bigger than Kanye and Lil Wayne, the screaming match he had with Wale last week, and that rumored Reebok situation that went down in Phoenix. Yup, we back friends like Puffy and Steve Stoute…
Interview by Joe La Puma
Complex: Obviously there was a little push back from the blog post we did about the new rapper retail deals…
Kid Cudi: Even in my post I said I have no problem with Complex. It's been my favorite magazine. On one of my songs, “Cleveland is the Reason,” I actually shouted you guys out and I recorded that song in 2006. So when I say “I want my closet Complex like the magazine,” I was really dreaming of getting fresh. And I remember always looking in Complex and looking for the fresh shit. But when I saw that, it was kind of brought to my attention…like, I'm all good with jokes, I like cracking jokes, I'm a silly dude, we all know that, but I didn't feel too roasted. I was like, that was an attempt to be funny but it just wasn't funny. I was just standing up for my homies that were on the list. It wasn't really like I was standing up for myself, and I wasn't really attacking the magazine. I was just attacking this kid that thought he was being witty. But I wasn't shitting on him. I was just like [silly voice] mannn you know…that's not right man, that's not cool.
Complex: Fair enough, we cool, ha. How crazy has the past year and a half been for you? I remember watching you at the T-mobile event and not many people knowing you, now you’re fresh off from shutting down SXSW with Kanye…
Kid Cudi: It's definitely a mind fuck. Literally, since I've had “Day N' Night,” it's been bong, bong, bong. I know some people are like, man he blew up over night. Those muthafuckas ain't follow my career. It was always a steady little pace from giving “Day N' Night” to A-Trak at the “Stronger” premiere video release party, to having him play it twice, to 'Ye standing there talking to people, and me from a distance trying to get his attention and pointing to my ear and saying “yo listen, that's my song,” and him nodding back and giving me the smile like “yeah that's what up.” He was like, “Yo, you have a lot of shit I've heard that I fuck with,” but nothing came out of it, but it was letting me know that I was on the right track. After he came back from Australia, he contacted Plain Pat and say he wanted to fly me out to Hawaii to work on the Blueprint 3. So literally, in my brain, I feel like I'm on this rollercoaster that's not ending anytime soon and it’s just fresh as fuck.
Complex: So you talked about working with Kanye, how much of an advantage do you think aligning yourself with him gives you over other young rappers like Charles Hamilton or Mickey Factz, who might not have that major co-sign?
Kid Cudi: Basically Kanye is probably the biggest fucking artist in the universe right now, and me being with such a dope tastemaker complements my taste in music. Whatever he does and whatever he touches is amazing and being a new artist and having that person say, “Hey everybody, this muthafucka is dope.” I mean, the talent was already there of course, “Day N' Night” was already established and shit like that, but at the same time, it definitely turned the right ears to it. So it's definitely an advantage for me.
Complex: The Universal deal. Why did it make sense for you to sign with them?
Kid Cudi: It wasn't about the money, because I really don't give a fuck about the money. Honestly, I don't even have to do music anymore, I can just live off of 808's and Heartbreak checks and “Day N' Night” checks and be good. Then I have the HBO show in August. I went with Universal Motown because I know Sylvia Rhone believed in my vision. Like, Sylvia is going to go hard for me and I know it. She was ready to put her career on the line for this stranger, ultimately because she believed in my shit, not because I had this big song. Because she already told me that it's about longevity. There are artists like a Lil Wayne that's just going to blow the fuck up and just kill shit. And she knows that I can play the role of a Lil Wayne, or a Kanye and be as equally successful and that's why she was like, I don't give a fuck about what anybody else is talking about, I want this kid to do this. And that's why I was with the deal.
Complex: What kind of expectations do you have for your career? Do you think you can be as big as Wayne or as big as Kanye?
Kid Cudi: My whole thing is to not to be as big as Kanye or Lil Wayne, but to be bigger. It's all about progression. If I just set the goal to want to be like Kanye and Lil Wayne, that's setting my shit to a limit and it's selling myself short. I'm pretty sure when Kanye was aspiring to do his music, he wasn't like, I want to be as big as Jay. He was like, Nah, I want to be bigger then Jay. It’s not necessarily saying that you are better than them, it's just setting that bar. If I never am better then Kanye, in my brain, I'm always going to be trying to be, forever and ever until the day that I die.
Complex: That's a good way to stay motivated…
Kid Cudi: I don't want this to get misquoted that I'm trying to be better than Kanye or anything like that, it’s just a mental memo in my brain to keep me turbo charged to accelerate my shit, to make me think on grand scales. To tell you the truth, no one can catch up to Kanye, that muthafucka is gone. It’s just like a muthafucka saying that he wants to be a god amongst men. It’s never going to happen but its just you raising the bar, you know what I mean?
CLICK NEXT TO HEAR ABOUT CUDI AND WALE'S SCREAMING MATCH OVER THE PHONE…
willie March 24, 2009 at 2:20 pm
call me a hater or a realist.
I don’t see the lyrical talent with Cudi. He doesn’t produce like kanye (i know he will soon because everyone does)…but cudi has one single. thats it. hes not wack, but in no way will he ever be bigger than wayne or kanye. im sorry. we talking about rap. not being rich.
jay-z – memphis bleek
kanye west – kid cudi
“as long as i’m alive hes a millionaire”
Shnoobz November 20, 2009 at 9:56 am
I gotta disagree. Bleek never had an established following. For example, nobody says “Bleeks hat dude. He’s my favorite mc.” But Cudi on the other hand has a following and he doesnt flow like bleek (the typical rapper)
LAL March 24, 2009 at 2:49 pm
and he has a mixtape out which is better than 99% of all commercially released rap-albums of ‘08…
Geico Liz March 24, 2009 at 3:22 pm
gayest guy in rap (as if the the modeling background doesn’t confirm) he wants a threesome with wale and kanye
“”we were yelling at eachother, started crying and then fell into eachothers arms”"”
*Hetero FAIL*
p.s. he cant rap for shit
Killing Em Out There They Needing First Aid March 24, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Cudi is the real deal…he’s what i picture a lot of us would be if we all of a sudden got thrust into the limelight. He’s having a few issues here and there now but it’ll settle down over time and we’ll be left with the music, because ultimately you ain’t sh’t unless you can back it up with music. i believe in this dude
hopoff718 March 24, 2009 at 9:20 pm
im mess with cudi’s music. his shit is different but its good shit. i wudnt consider him a great mc, nowhere near Ye or anyone of that caliber. but overall his music is “good music”. you wudnt hear him spittin some crazy bars n metaphors but overall his production, melodies, and lyrical content is there. he sticks to talkin bout what he knows and he doesn’t try to be someone or something he’s not. i definitely think he’ll be bigger than bleek (in opposition of the top comment). I think he’ll be somewhere around lupe’s height of success (expect that lupe actually is a great lyricist). maybe not as high, but near it. they both made good music but not everyone understands it cuz most people are ignorant n brainwashed by some of that commercial garbage. some commercial shit is hot but most of it trash. hip hop aint wat it used to be but i think it’s steadily coming back. holla
Marcus "MdB" Browder March 25, 2009 at 1:01 am
The “A KID NAMED CUDI” Mixtape was dope. He has talent. I wouldn’t classify him as just a rapper though. He sings. He sang on 808s & Heartbreak.
Don’t compare Cudi to Memphis Bleek. Thats in insult to Cudi. Kid Cudi has talent. Idk what Memphis Bleek has.. he has Jay-Z? Who knows.. I’m just not a fan of Memphis Bleek.
jockn86 March 25, 2009 at 1:04 am
stop hating on the Kid…He’s just making his mark now….give him a couple more years and he’ll be sitting pretty(no pun intended)…yeah, and on top of Wayne and Kanye…wait, hold up, I got caught up for a sec…I mean he will be right under, like mad close to where they’re at. Lil’ Wayne and Kanye are the shit.
dubs March 25, 2009 at 2:38 am
Lol @ saying “he’s not an amazing lyricist” like Kanye, damn homie if you think Kanyes an amazing lyricist you don’t know shit about hip hop. Rakim, KRS, Jay, Biggie, Raekwon, T.I., Ludacris, Lloyd Banks, Beanie Sigel, Eminem, Kurupt. Real fucking lyricists! And that aint a knock to kanye, just to heads not knowing wahtsup…
Cudi’s the future though
nolongerahater March 25, 2009 at 9:50 am
Complex gets alot of respect for this, Joe La Puma always does good interviews.
JB March 25, 2009 at 5:41 pm
You are all wak. Cudi is one of the most talented, gifted, genuine, most caring peoples you will ever meet. The only people that hate are the people that either don’t understand him, his vision and his mission, and those that aren’t artists. True creators. Because if you even had the slightest bit of ART in your body, you would understand the movement that he is trying to create. And you would appreciate it and rock hard for it. Because at the end of the day he is not a rapper, he is a dude that is trying to give back to the world not in a way that he chose to, but in a way that was chosen for him by God. It’s called Talent. And if you don’t recognize his talent, its cause you don’t have any of your own. So open your eyes. And stop fighting unconventionality.
Cool Jimmy March 25, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Kid Cudi is one of my favorite rappers/singers right now. He may not be super lyrical, but his shit just feels realer than others, which makes me connect more to that shit. If his album is like the stuff on his mixtape, he’ll be a Kanye or a Wayne to me most definately.
papo March 28, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Cudi, is irrelevant to music and doesnt deserve any kind of attention, PERIOD. He needs to retire.
Drew Mills March 28, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Name one other rapper that can sing and rap GOOD its hard as hell. Thats what Cudi does and he is good at it. Everyone is going to be on his nuts when the album comes out and he knows it thats why he might seem a little cocky.
dani April 6, 2009 at 12:01 pm
kid cudi co-wrote heartless and some other songs on 808 and heartbreaks…wikipedia his name its on there
dani April 6, 2009 at 12:03 pm
…and heartless is one of if not kanye’s biggest hits….that being said kid cudi is going places
AMD April 9, 2009 at 6:37 pm
lod cudi is qoinq to make some serious movez… fuk wat yall sayinq… he qoinq to make history…
KAxLB April 14, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Ok all of yall that had some neg sht to say about cudi yall are super wack. Cudi is the coolest person you could ever meet. i met him last year at a show. He most certainly is talented and im positive he more talented than yall. if you dont like his music thats one thing but dont come on complex talkin wreckless about’m. He is mad talented and i wouldnt be suprised if he ends up being more popular than wayne. honestly wayne aint even all that to me nomore. Plus Cudi n wayne aint even the same music genre you punanis
Capricorn12 May 10, 2009 at 12:53 pm
I think it’s sad that people are calling him ‘gay’ because he’s actually honest about his feelings instead of hiding behind some fake gangsta persona like 50 Cent. How many rappers are THAT honest about themselves?
yupyup:] August 11, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Fuck YESSS Cudi is fucking DOPE!
I do Art August 15, 2009 at 12:41 pm
HAHAHAH!!! i luagh at the haters that dont know shit about a person or listen to more then one song like the frist couple of post.. look now.. hes frist album isnt even out yet and hes already been a major factor in 808 and his mixtape is pure art. dude is mad cool, real and is a ture artist u just cant comperhend the shit he says and he aint gonna dumb it down for u any time soon. FRESH!
chillinayye October 6, 2009 at 11:26 am
mos def sings better and raps better than cudi…not sayin cudi’s shit aint tight but mos def i believe is a better artist that truly stay unique to his style and doesnt talk about the drosky all day every day