Each day Complex scours the music blogs for 5 fresh songs that you should listen to in our 5 O’Clock Shuffle post. Instead of going crazy trying to keep up with your RSS feeds everyday, just head over to Complex.com to stay up-to-date on important leaks and releases.

The weekend is over and nobody with a case of the Mondays wants to spend their time looking through a million blogs for new music–that’s our job. Today’s Shuffle includes collabs between Robin Thicke and Jay-Z and Shakira and Kid Cudi, a bonus cut from the 50 Cent album, and more just-released tracks from Pill and Lady GaGa. We keep the playlists diverse around here. Keep reading to start listening…

SONG: “Man’s World”
ARTIST: 50 Cent
DOWNLOAD: [LINK]
• Here’s a bonus track from today’s digitally released version of Before I Self Destruct. This one’s in line with the rest of the album’s aggressive content.

SONG: “Dance In The Dark”
ARTIST: Lady GaGa
DOWNLOAD: [LINK]
• GaGa leaks new music more often than some of these rappers. This record will be featured on her upcoming album, The Fame Monster. The new LP is no longer a re-release of her debut with bonus songs either. Eight new songs for $8.00. Smart.

SONG: “Meiplé”
ARTIST: Robin Thicke f/ Jay-Z
DOWNLOAD: [LINK]
• Not only does Mr. Thicke (ayo!) dress well, but he might have another hit on his hands with this Hov-assisted record. It’s kind of silly, but it could catch on within certain circles.

SONG: “Did It Again”
ARTIST: Shakira f/ Kid Cudi
DOWNLOAD: [LINK]
• You’ll only find this Kid Cudi feature on the American version of Shakira’s album. It’s pretty much the type of pop record you’d expect from a collab between these two. It’ll probably do some damage in the clubs.

SONG: “Coastin’”
ARTIST: Pill
DOWNLOAD: [LINK]
• We keep posting leaks from Pill’s 4075: The Refill mixtape because, well, he keeps leaking good songs. This isn’t as hot as last week’s standout, but it’s still dope. The tape should be great.

Visit Complex.com every day at 5 PM for your daily “5 O’Clock Shuffle“ playlist.

Have you ever had your girl leave you for another girl? We’re not exactly sure if popular DJ Sharam or Kid Cudi has dealt with that dilemma, but they made one hell of a song about it. Although “She Came Along” has been on our radar since it leaked over the summer, the video is just now arriving. The Wild Wild West setting fits the sound of the song, but the concept’s visual transition seems kind of half-baked. Cudder never even makes an on-screen appearance. Basically: the song > the video. It’s definitely worth a watch though, for the hot Western chicks, if anything.

Tune in to Complex.com every morning at 8 AM for your daily “Wake N’ Watch” video.

Each day Complex scours the music blogs for 5 fresh songs that you should listen to in our 5 O’Clock Shuffle post. Instead of going crazy trying to keep up with your RSS feeds everyday, just head over to Complex.com to stay up-to-date on important leaks and releases.

Every new song has its purpose. Sometimes newcomers are trying to get in the game. Sometimes superstars are trying to get back in the game. Both types of efforts are intriguing for their own reasons and there’s never really any guarantee of who’s going to have the hotter song. Today’s Shuffle kind of epitomizes these statements. It features music from iPod staples and artists you probably never heard of until today, but the playing field is more even than you’d expect. MP3 streams and download links wait after the jump. Keep reading to get started…

SONG: “Gangsta Luv”
ARTIST: Snoop Dogg f/ The Dream
DOWNLOAD: [LINK]
• Here’s the first single from Malice In Wonderland. Sounds like a formulaic radio hit. Not sure if it’ll pop like some of his past megahits, but it’s always a possibility with Snoop.

SONG: “Under The Sheets”
ARTIST: Ellie Goulding
DOWNLOAD: [LINK]
• You know those poor girls that you smash and never call again? This is how they feel. Unfortunately, we don’t feel so bad knowing that our asshole-ish ways can inspire a chick to make such a dope song.

SONG: “Fresh Out The Oven”
ARTIST: Jennifer Lopez Lola f/ Pitbull
DOWNLOAD: [LINK]
• Jenny from the block wants to be called Lola now. Cool. Too bad the name change and The Neptunes couldn’t save her from coming back with more average music. Oh well, she’s still hot.

SONG: “When I Look At You”
ARTIST: Emalkay
DOWNLOAD: [LINK]
• This is music for the ADHD generation. Explosive bass, hyperactive synths, and an utter lack of direction. Maybe it’s because we forgot to take our Ritalin today, but it sounds awesome.

SONG: “I Get It In”
ARTIST: Kid Cudi
DOWNLOAD: [LINK]
• Scott Mescudi recorded this back in 2007. Two years later he has a Complex cover and a successful debut album under his belt. We’re not that mad at this song, but wow, talk about an improvement.

Visit Complex.com every day at 5 PM for your daily “5 O’Clock Shuffle“ playlist.

Of course, that probably means nothing to the rapper once heralded as the second coming of Biggie; technology has exploded in the time since his cell door clanged shut, so we imagine he might have a bit of a tough time getting adjusted to the way things are now. In fact, we peeped our special limited-edition crystal ball to see how it might go…

ShynePo FREE AT LAST PEOPLE FREE AT LAST MOSES MICHAEL LEVIY IS HOME!!! HAPPY SUKKOT!!! I DONT QUITE GET THIS TWOOTER THING BUT IM ABOUT TO CHECK MY EMAILS

ShynePo @aol I’VE GOT MAIL! GIMME MY EMAIL MY USER NAME IS BADBOY1 AND MY PASSWORD IS PASSWORD

ShynePo @AOL HELLO? CLICKETY CLACK BADBOY1 PASSWORD

@ShynePo *picks phone up off modem, peers into it*

ShynePo FUCK MAN THEY TOLD ME UPSTATE THINGS DONE CHANGED BUT I DO NOT GET THIS AT ALL

iamdiddy @ShynePo Shyne baby! You’re back! Sorry I couldn’t be there to pick you up this morning, but I was too busy uStreaming myself trying to close my mouth all the way! Let’s go!

ShynePo @iamdiddy USTREAMING YEAH YEAH WE HAD TO DO THAT EVERY COUPLE OF MONTHS IN THE BING, CONTRABAND AND ALL THAT. LET’S GO WHERE, THOUGH? I HOPE IT’S THE STUDIO, BECAUSE I GOTTA LACE ALL THOSE TRACKS FOR THE BAD BOY SUPERGROUP ALBUM I’M DOING WITH CAIN AND MARK CURRY!

iamdiddy @ShynePo …ah, man, we gotta talk. Don’t worry, I put together a new video explaining everything! Peep it on YouTube!

iamdiddy *Sets up tripod, consults Stephon Marbury’s Guide to Overexposing Your Crazy*

ShynePo @iamdiddy YOUTUBE IS THAT LIKE HOTBOT PUFF?

iamdiddy @ShynePo Hotbot? Puff? Hahahaha who is you ni**a, Rip Van Wrinkled? Thanks for shootin’ up that chick’s nose and all, but I’m DIDDY! I ran a marathon! I replaced all my regular teeth with baby shark teeth! I wear a tuxedo to bed! I’M CIROC OBAMA!

ShynePo WTF IS A CROCKOBAMA THAT SHIT SOUND LIKE A SOUTHERN-ASS ALLIGATOR MAN THIS IS TERRIBLE I’M GONNA ASK JEEVES WHAT TO DO

ShynePo @AskJeeves HEY JEEVES I CAN’T FIGURE ANY OF THIS SHIT OUT I DON’T KNOW HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE I EVEN BOUGHT BLACKBERRIES AT C-TOWN BUT ALL THEY DID WAS MAKE MY THUMBS PURPLE

BarringtonLevy @ShynePo U biddlywiddlywhoa? Let’s get this waddlyziddly doooooough!

ShynePo @BarringtonLevy SORRY FAM TIMES CHANGE I HEARD THEM LITTLE NI**AS B2K ARE THE ONES TO ROLL WITH SO I 2-WAYED CHRIS STOKES. WE’RE MEETING AT THE TELLY LATER! HE SAID HE HAD A GREAT DEAL FOR ME!

BarringtonLevy @ShynePo But he’s a kiddly diddly noooooo!

ShynePo @BarringtonLevy WHAT, SHOULD I NOT TAKE A LOOK AT THE PACKAGE HE’S OFFERING?

PausePolice @ShynePo Ayo, son, pause!

ShynePo @PausePolice FAST FORWARD! NO, REWIND! FUCK, I DUNNO, HOW DO YOU PLAY THIS GAME?

Tami760 @ShynePo whoa.. found a date @http://bit.ly/hBy70 (:

ShynePo @Tami760 BIT WHAT NOW? YA PARENTHESIS POINTING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION SON!

@iamdiddy Nah, man, that’s spam, you gotta ignore that. Twitter’s not for listening, it’s for talking! To people you don’t know! It’s about sanctimonious platitudes and juice fasts and self promotion! Save all that other shit for Tumblr and Facebook!

ShynePo FOR WHO AND WHAT?! GODDAMN I’M ABOUT TO START CRYING OVER HERE FUCK ALL THIS INTERNET SHIT LEMME JUST TURN ON THE RADIO

ShynePo HMMMMM

ShynePo WHAT IS A DRAKE?

ShynePo WHAT IS A KID CUDI??

ShynePo WHAT IS A JERKIN’???!?!?!?!

ShynePo *gives up, becomes a rabbi*

**Yes, this is a parody. We made it up, people!

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After this week’s in-depth interviews with RATATAT and Emile, our behind-the-scenes series on Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon: The End Of Day continues with today’s Q&A subject: Matt Friedman, one-half of ILLFONICS, and the man who produced the ’shrooming anthem “Enter Galactic.”

As ILLFONICS, Friedman and partner Jed Cappelli have churned out beats for notables like Jim Jones (”Na Na Nana Na Na”) and the Re-Up Gang (”My Life’s the Shit”). On Cudi’s debut, Friedman is responsible for the album’s outlier—”Enter Galactic” is clearly the LP’s most uptempo, dance-friendly track. Read on as he talks about how he came to work with Cudi, why “Enter Galactic” almost didn’t make the album, and future projects…

Interview By Ralph Warner

“Enter Galactic (Love Connection Part 1)”

Complex: How familiar were you with Cudi and his music before working with him?

Matt: We knew about Cudi since “Day ‘N’ Nite,” whenever it first came out back in 2007. Before Fool’s Gold [Records] even put it out, it was just on Fader.com or whatever when it was first coming out. We were trying to get with him all the way back then and it just didn’t really happen at the time. But then when the mixtape came out, I told my manager Toshi [Kondo], “We need to work with this dude,” because creatively there’s not a lot of people doing anything like what he’s doing. Artistically for us, we’ve had a lot of hip-hop placements but musically we’re all over the map, so we always thought it would be a good match to work with Cudi. Then, like almost two years later, around last fall maybe, we kind of touched base with some people that were working with him and started making joints and sending them through and that’s how that [YouTube] freestyle came about.

Complex: Right, the “Too Short” freestyle clip.

Matt: Yeah. Jon Kaslow, who’s his DJ now, we were all always cool with him, so he would pass Pat and Emile some of our stuff. I made that freestyle track for him, I guess initially he really liked it and mentioned that he probably would end up using it for the album, but that didn’t end up happening. But yeah, we just kept making stuff and got cool with his A&R Nigil [Mack] once he signed a deal over at Universal, because before he signed we were working with another artist over there named Jackie Chain. So once Cudi signed there, we were already cool with Nigil and I think he was the one that passed on the beat that became “Enter Galactic.”

Complex: When was “Enter Galactic” recorded? How long did the process take?

Matt: It must have been recorded in like late June, early July. We sent the track to Nigil and he was like, “Yo, this beat is crazy! Send it to Cudi.” I think Cudi cut his vocals that day, he heard it and it just clicked for him. I wasn’t actually there, he just had the track and laid it down. Then we kind of went through this tumultuous period where they wanted it, and then they didn’t want it. They weren’t sure if it was going to fit into the rest of the record. So it kind of went back and forth and then in mid-July, the week before I was about to go on vacation, they decided that they wanted to use it.

Complex: What changes did they want you to make to the beat?

Matt: They had me come into the studio because the original layout I had was kind of crazy, some parts were kind of long, and the way he laid it down, the middle section just kind of went on a little too long. So we adjusted the layout a little bit and they had me do a few variations of stuff on my own. But the changes I made kind of took it further away from the rest of the album because I hadn’t really heard the rest of the album, so sonically what I was doing was moving away. In the end they just went with the original stuff, the original beat but just the new layout we worked on together.

Complex: How do you feel about the fact that “Enter Galactic” does sound so different from the other songs on Cudi’s album?

Matt: It’s funny because originally I did make that beat with another artist in mind, a female singer. Then I thought a male singer could really do something on this, but I wasn’t thinking about Cudi when I first made it. Then my manager Toshi was like, “I could definitely hear Cudi on this, I’m going to send it to his A&R.” And I was like, “Are you sure?! Really?” [Laughs.] Then I thought about it and I was like, yeah I could hear that too. He was totally right, so it was a good call.

Complex: We heard from Emile that Cudi is pretty active in the studio and isn’t afraid to give suggestions to producers. Was that the case for you?

Matt: When I went into the studio, he would do that and there were a lot of suggestions, like, let’s try adding this thing here, or maybe take out this kind of thing. With Cudi, Emile, and Pat, they were all there and I tried those things out, but in the end they just went with more of the original [beat].

Complex: Was your experience working with Cudi different than with other artists?

Matt: I think that the first thing that stands out to me is just that melodically, it’s almost really like working with a singer. On “Enter Galactic,” he mostly just kind of sings, then does some spoken word, then raps, and then goes back to singing. It was cool working with an artist that versatile because a lot of the times when you’re working with rappers or singers, it kind of puts you in the box of what they do. Most artists just do one thing and hopefully they do it really well, but I think creatively he can do a lot of things and it’s inspiring to work with someone like that. Even when we were throwing ideas around in the studio and singing extra lines, the way he hears the music is definitely really cool.

Complex: There’s some rumors of “Enter Galactic” becoming a single.

Matt: [Laughs.] Uh, I’ve heard some bubbling, I don’t know. I don’t really know what their plans are. I mean I’ve heard online rumors of a bunch of different songs being singles. Hey, I would be excited if it was but I don’t know at this point.

Complex: Describe how your partnership with Jed works on a record like “Enter Galactic.”

Matt: Definitely spontaneous. With “Enter Galactic,” I produced that on my own. Some tracks we’ll start together from top to bottom, some tracks one of us will get it going and then bring the idea to the other person and we’ll finish it together. Then some stuff we do completely on our own. We both overlap with what we do. We both play guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, programming, and all that stuff. It really just depends on the record and wherever the idea comes from.

Complex: How has your relationship with Jed progressed over time?

Matt: There’s really no one way that we work together. Early on we would always be in the studio together. We’ve been working together for 10 years. Originally during production we would teach each other things and build off of each other, but I think as time went on we just got more confident with our own skills. We would start things and bring them along further before bringing it to the other person. I mean we still do stuff together but there’s a lot more of building something a lot further then finishing it together. Then we both started doing joints from top to bottom, on our own, at our own studios. We both have studios with similar setups. That was just the case with the Cudi record. The [Jim] Jones record we did together, our placements with LL we did together. It just really depends.

Complex: What are some of the projects you’re currently working on?

Matt: I just did a track with Gorilla Zoe, we’re probably going to do a few more tracks with him. We did a track together with Shanell and Gudda Gudda from Young Money that’s hopefully going to be on the Young Money album, it’s a real kind of pop track. There’s a track with Red Cafe, some stuff with Pill and Donnis. We also are producing a remix of Mick Boogie’s upcoming Noisettes’ Wild Young Heartbreak project. There’s some TV stuff too, we have a beat that’s going to be on the season finale of Entourage. Just keeping busy.

Complex: Your sound is pretty diverse. Is there a particular genre that you prefer?

Matt: That’s tough, it’s hard because when you get a track that’s coming together really great—in that moment that’s your favorite track. They can all be exciting and fun. I love doing the pop/rock stuff, but I love doing it all. I think that’s what keeps it fun for us is that we’re not just doing the same thing over and over. If we were just doing a hip-hop beat over and over it would get pretty boring for us. But because we’re bouncing all over the place, it keeps stuff interesting.

RELATED:
• Emile on the making of Kid Cudi’s Album
• Ratatat Talks Collaboration On Kid Cudi Album
• Complex’s Kid Cudi Cover Story: The Uncut Interview Outtakes
• Complex’s August/September Kid Cudi Cover Story

Yesterday we presented our interview with Ratatat, who produced “Pursuit of Happiness” and “Alive” on Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon: The End Of Day album. Today, we turn our focus to Emile, who is not only Cudi’s co-manager but the person who racked up the most production credits on the LP.

The man sometimes referred to as “The Urban Gentleman” has previously worked with Raekwon (”Ice Water”) and Obie Trice (”Wanna Know”), but it’s with Cudi’s project that Emile is truly making a name for himself. After producing the majority of the A Kid Named Cudi mixtape with Plain Pat, Emile shifted his focus to work on Cudi’s studio album. (The trio have since started their own indie label, Dream On.) On Man On The Moon, Emile’s touch is apparent from start to finish—he produced “In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem),” “Soundtrack 2 My Life,” Solo Dolo (Nightmare),” and “CuDi Zone.” In this exclusive interview, Emile breaks down how each track came to fruition, and also talks about the first night he met Cudi…

Interview By Joe La Puma

“In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem)”

Complex: So starting from the first track—”In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem).” How did that song come about?

Emile: It’s like the way we did all of our records where we started with nothing, and we were just kind of listening to different sounds and different music. I hooked that beat up pretty fast and I’m pretty sure that Cudi freestyled that whole thing. For a lot of songs we did he would write out the verses on his Blackberry or whatever phone he was using at the time. With that one, he just went in the booth and freestyled it and nailed it. We were always planning on redoing it or having him “officially” do it. But yeah, it was just like that first take was the one that stayed on the album. That was off the top, kinda ill.

Complex: Did you guys plan on starting the album with a gloomy beat like that from jump?

Emile: Actually, that was more of Cudi’s thing. He had in his head what he wanted to start the album with. Like way back it was a song called “Bigger Than You,” which some people might of heard because it leaked. It was a really dope record. “Bigger Than You” was actually the first record me and Cudi ever did together. It was on the first day that we met, we cut that song. Once we cut it, he was like, “That’s the intro to my album.” It stayed that way for a while, but that record was cut a long time before the album was ever done, so eventually it kinda faded out. Then we did this “In My Dreams” record and he was always kinda stuck on that being the intro. He really liked this part that I played which is the little melody part where he actually sings, “You’re in my dreams.” He always liked that and was like, that’s dope for the intro. So that’s how that kind of happened.

Complex: You said you recorded “Bigger Than You” the first day you met Cudi. When exactly was that?

Emile: 2007. Some point in ’07. Maybe summer of ’07 or fall of ’07, it was a while back.

“Soundtrack 2 My Life”

Complex: The second track on the album is a lot of people’s favorite: “Soundtrack 2 My Life.” I remember Cudi spitting it as a freestyle on 106 & Park, but the lyrics were a bit different. Talk to us about that track.

Emile: It was probably around the time that 106 happened, I’m not 100% sure, but I would guess it was probably around the 106 time. I think probably one of the reasons why the lyrics got fucked up is because it’s kind of like a head-nod type of record and I remember the crowd started clapping all fast to speed it up and shit. That record started with me just kind of on the keyboard just playing shit. When he heard something he liked, he would be like, “That’s dope.” It would just be like some chords, then we’d kind of build it around that. It wasn’t like, I’d have a beat done and be like, “What do you think?”

Complex: Right.

Emile: It would always just start with nothing and then build into a beat. That was one of those records we cut all in one night—which is rare, because usually we would spend a few days or a few different sessions per song, but that one we just did in one night because he was just determined to get it done.

Complex: To me, it’s one of the records that really gives a glimpse into his life. Is that what he aimed to do?

Emile: I believe so, I mean I don’t really ever ask him why he writes shit or what he wrote. I just kind of take it for what it is. I want to say he had the chorus first, he probably put the verses around what he was saying in the chorus and what he had in his head for the chorus.

Complex: And it all came out in one night?

Emile: Yeah, in one session. Pretty much the whole thing too, which is ill because usually I go back and play around with the beat a lot. But that was literally pretty much hammered out. The only thing that was different on that was I had my boy Morgan play guitars on the outro. Like right at the end when his voice starts echoing, I had these guitars I added to the outro. But other than that I was pretty much done in one session.

“Solo Dolo (Nightmare”)

Complex: So “Solo Dolo” is a track that leaked before, but without any strings. How did that song come about?

Emile: That’s my favorite song. I remember that session was just me and Cudi in the studio and I have a big record collection, we were just listening to the record that I got the sample from. I just had it playing in the background, I wasn’t really listening to it for samples necessarily, we were just kind of listening to some things and we both heard that and were like, “Oh shit, that’s dope—what if we took that sample and just slowed it way down?” So we just took it and slowed it way down, then I just kind of built the beat up around it and put some synths in it. There’s like this one weird little dreamy synth thing on the chorus, that was Cudi’s idea that he kind of had in his head. I just found the right sound eventually and added that in. Then I beefed it up with these 808s, I added some synths, and I added a couple things but I was really like, man this would be sick with a really big orchestra on it so let’s not add too much of anything and just get the ill arrangement and the ill strings on it. That’s probably my favorite song, I think what Cudi did to that is so fucking ill.

Complex: Yeah, he killed it.

Emile: When we did that, I was like, “Holy shit, he’s going in.” I think just the way his voice sounds, there’s like this low tone that he hits. I’ve had engineers ask me if that’s an effect I put on his vocals but it’s not, he’s got this low tone, it’s almost like adding bass to something but it’s in his voice. That’s in the chorus, that chorus to me just sounds so big. It’s sonically a big hook because he’s got that super sub-harmonic low voice in there. There’s no effect on there, there’s no auto, there’s no tuning, there’s no nothing. I tend to add a gang of shit to my music and my tracks, I just kind of love that overproduced vibe sometimes. But that one, his voice was so strong on that, it was just like, let’s just leave this wide open and then have the orchestra just come in and do some things on it. Larry Gold just went in on that, it sounded big and cinematic but sinister at the same time. It was perfect.

“CuDi Zone”

Complex: For “Cudi Zone,” I remember Cudi saying he had the first verse done, and then eventually finished the second verse at a later time.

Emile: He had the verse forever and me and [Plain] Pat were like “’Cudi Zone,’ what’s up with it?” and Cudi would just blow it off. So me and Pat were just like, fuck man, this record is so dope but it went on so long that I started to wonder if this monster of a record was going to be on the shelf, just like if it was ever going to get finished. A long time went by, and he just wasn’t going to force it. Cudi doesn’t force his stuff when he works, it’s either going to happen or it’s not going to happen. Eventually one day, it was real nonchalant, months and months after we had this record and he was just like, “Oh yeah, I got the ‘Cudi Zone’ verse.” I almost didn’t believe him, I was like, word? Not only did he come in forever after we did the first verse but he did the second verse and it sounded like he did it the exact same day he did the first verse. The tone was cool, everything was cool about it. It was like OK, shit we’re done. Sweet.

Complex: Now how much of a time span went on between the first verse and the second?

Emile: Man…we did “Cudi Zone” and “Solo Dolo” I think back-to-back in like two days. It had to have been six months, I don’t know exactly. It was a while, I’m going to guess between four and six months.

Complex: Going back to the origin of your relationship with Cudi’s relationship, how did you hook up with him? Did Pat bring you in later or did you and Pat find Cudi together?

Emile: You know what, I heard “Day ‘N’ Nite” on Cudi’s MySpace and was blown away by the record. It didn’t even have that many plays on MySpace yet. I don’t know how I stumbled across it, but I stumbled across it and heard it. The second I heard it I was like, “Holy shit!” I looked around on his page and saw [Plain] Pat on his top friends list. Me and Pat have had a long relationship, we’ve always kind of worked together with him being an A&R and me as a producer. So, I hit Pat up and was just like, yo there’s this cat with this song that has you as one of his top friends and this song is just like the illest song ever. Obviously he had started to work with Cudi, and was like, “Yeah, yeah that’s my guy we should get up.” I said bring him by the studio, because I think some of the new beats I got are pretty well-suited for him, we should do some shit.

Complex: Did he bring him by right away?

Emile: We didn’t get up until a few months after that. I think Pat was doing the Graduation album with Kanye at the time and I was doing this album out in England. Then I think Pat might have hit me up and brought Cudi to the studio. On that first day we cut “Bigger Than You.” I remember I was playing them mad beats, and he liked the beats but it was the sort of thing where you’re playing an artist mad beats and they’re like, yeah that’s good, that’s good, but you know when somebody really wants something, things get done. The artist hears something and they’re like, I’m getting in the booth or I’m writing right now. When you’re in the studio that either happens or it doesn’t. That wasn’t happening and I was just like, fuck it, lets just make something from scratch. And that kinda just sent the tone for how we did everything. The way we did “Bigger Than You,” that very first record, it was a sample and we were just listening to records and he was just like, “Yo that’s crazy” and we built it up. That’s kinda how we did everything from then on.

Complex: You’re one of his managers. How did that music relationship turn into a managerial relationship?

Emile: Yeah, well it’s co-managing with Pat. Pat was always the original manager and when Cudi started coming to the studio we started working a lot, it was just an organic thing that happened. His buzz started getting bigger, we put the mixtape A Kid Named Cudi out and the next thing you know I had a million people hitting me like different labels and people I had different relationships with trying to get meetings and set up meetings and that kind of stuff. It happened naturally over time, the music kind of blended with the business. We just kept it moving.

Complex: Now the “Browski Room,” the place where the tracks you did for the album were recorded, is that your personal studio?

Emile: [Laughs.] Yeah. I mean I never had a name for my studio and we got a lot of inside jokes and that’s one of them.

Complex: You’ve worked with a lot of other artists, but is there something about Cudi that stands out to you?

Emile: The creativity, the harmonies, the melodies and just the fact that he manages to be completely original and be like an underground artist, but has melodies that appeal to everybody. I think that’s the trick. A lot of people are very underground and stay that way because they don’t appeal to the masses. Or, they appeal to the masses and real music heads can’t appreciate it. A lot of the time it’s one extreme or the other and Cudi kind of manages to fit in both categories and that’s the ticket.

Complex: Did you or Pat or Cudi ever feel like this album was too bold for a debut album? It’s not the most Hot 97-friendly record…

Emile: Yeah I mean, that wasn’t even needed to be thought about. We’re not the type to even really give a fuck about all that. It is what it is. Like when you hear “Day ‘N’ Nite,” you know it’s incredible but it’s not like a generic radio record. It just so happened that the people heard it, and loved it, and it managed to find a place in our world. I never even thought about it, I think we knew what we were doing was good and wherever it fit in, it fit in.

Complex: So now with the album done, what are you working on now personally? Are you working with any other artists?

Emile: Not really. I started to get back in the studio and cook up quite a bit and I’ve got in with a few artists to record a few things which is all good, but we’re really pushing this Cudi album hard so I’m spending a lot of time doing that. I’ve been getting back in the studio myself, personally just kind of alone, making tracks and things like that.

Complex: You’ve had big records with Obie and others before, but do you view this as a breakthrough for you?

Emile: Yeah, definitely because I feel like this is a new sound for me, it’s really producing. It’s not making a beat, sending it to an artist and having them record a song to it—which I do a lot of, that’s fine and that’s cool. That’s how a lot of stuff gets done in rap. But it’s not nearly as fun as truly starting from scratch with an artist and developing a sound. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do and this was an opportunity I had to actually do that.

RELATED:
• Ratatat Talks Collaboration On Kid Cudi Album
• Complex’s Kid Cudi Cover Story: The Uncut Interview Outtakes
• Complex’s August/September Kid Cudi Cover Story

Last week, Complex cover star Kid Cudi moved an impressive 104K units of his debut album Man on The Moon: The End of Day—but more than just sales, Cudi’s record has been generating a lot of discussion with its unique sound. While most people are familiar with Scott Mescudi (click here for our in-depth cover interview if not), those who’ve listened to the album have been asking about Ratatat, who produced two records for the album, including the standout third single “Pursuit Of Happiness (Nightmare)”.

The Brooklyn-based instrumental duo has gained a big following in the electro/indie rock world over the last five years with their eclectic albums on XL Recordings (in fact, their 2006 album Classics ended up on Complex’s 100 Best Albums of the 2000s list), but this marks their first exposure as producers within the hip-hop scene. In this interview, we talked to one-half of the group, Evan Mast, about how the Cudi collabos came about and what it was like to work on the album. Read on to learn more about Ratatat, yeahhh….

Interview by Joe La Puma

Complex: When did you first link up with Cudi?

Evan Mast: Recently—just a couple months ago. He had been in touch with our A&R guy, but we never had any direct contact with him. We hadn’t heard much of his music or anything, even after “Day ‘N’ Nite” was blowing up. The A&R said he was interested in us doing some production. Then basically Cudi called up one day, and said he’s been following us for a while, and he was into our stuff and interested in a collaboration. Then we started researching his stuff and listening to his mixtapes, and we really liked his stuff.

Complex: How did “Pursuit Of Happiness” come about?

Evan Mast: We had plans to meet up, but we’d been on tour for a really long time and hadn’t had time to work on new material, and I went to my apartment to listen to beats, I sort of realized I didn’t have much to play him. I spoke to him on the phone and gave him directions, and like in the 15 minutes of him getting in the car and showing up to my place, I put together the piano part and the melody, and then an early version of the drums of the “Pursuit” beat. It was like super last-minute.

Complex: So 15 minutes is all it took to put the groundwork of the song together?

Evan Mast: Pretty much, the chords and stuff. I ended up going back into the production and tweaking things—but yeah, the melody, the chorus, and the basic beat pattern was in 15 minutes.

Complex: Was there a time when you, Cudi, and MGMT were in the same room?

Evan Mast: No, we never actually all got together. We had done like a finished version of the track before he got together with MGMT. I think he got with those guys and played them a bunch of tracks off the record, and they were leaning towards that one. He had them do the chorus.

Complex: Have you guys worked with MGMT at all?
Evan Mast: No, we haven’t met those guys. We’re all supposed to shoot the video for “Pursuit Of Happiness” the day after tomorrow, or something.

Complex: Now for “Alive,” did that song come after “Pursuit”?

Evan Mast: Yeah, that was super last-minute too. We were about to go on tour again, and the day before we left town, it was the last week Cudi was in the studio working on his record, so we went in and kind of did it on the spot. The drums for that beat were actually from a couple years ago, and they were still on my laptop. I always wanted to do something with them. We put the beat together real quick, and came up with some vocal ideas. When we left it was kind of half-done, and then we went back and forth between emails before coming up with the final song.

Complex: The album is getting solid reviews, and “Pursuit” is definitely one of the standout tracks. Have you noticed yourselves becoming more popular since the release of Cudi’s album?

Evan Mast: We’ve had a bunch of friends say they like the track. We haven’t got a whole lot amount of direct feedback from it. We did the Letterman show a couple of weeks ago. It was fun, we’re like an instrumental band so we usually don’t play those late night shows and stuff. I was pretty nervous going into it, but it turned out to be really fun.

Complex: How do you feel about Cudi’s album on the whole?

Evan Mast: I think it’s a very interesting record. It’s pretty different from his mixtapes. It’s a very brave record for a debut album—it’s a lot bolder and that’s definitely commendable.

Complex: What’s next for you guys?

Evan Mast: We have another record that we don’t have a date for yet. It’s mostly done, we’re working on different video ideas for it and working with different directors for it. Might take some time off, because we’ve been touring for ages, and we just got done in August. So now we’ll start working on another project soon.

Complex: Do you have plans to work with Cudi again?

Evan Mast: Yeah, definitely we’ve been talking about doing other collaborations, I’m not sure if it’s for another project entirely. He’s super-easy to work with. We gelled really well together. His whole process with melodies is similar to the way we work in a way. Once we get the basic style of the track, we get the chorus. He would just start coming up with melodies and then try another idea, another idea, and then choose the best one. He’s real easygoing, it’s a good way of working.

WATCH RATATAT & KID CUDI PERFORMING “PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS” ON THE LETTERMAN SHOW:

Each day Complex scours the music blogs for 5 fresh songs that you should listen to in our 5 O’Clock Shuffle post. Instead of going crazy trying to keep up with your RSS feeds everyday, just head over to Complex.com to stay up-to-date on important leaks and releases.

Not only is it already Wednesday, but we’re also back at our usual time with another Shuffle playlist full of new songs. Double win. Today’s mix has a freestyle from the Man on the Moon that’s actually off-the-dome, a cut from Young Money’s newest member, one of the hottest chicks in the game, and more. There’s not much left of the week and in some weird way, we feel like a bunch of new music will help it go by quicker. Keep reading to get started…

SONG: “Cuditastic”
ARTIST: Kid Cudi
DOWNLOAD: [LINK]
• We suggest you check out Cudi’s debut album for a true measure of his talent, but we’re not mad at this freestyle over a couple Dilla beats. And he actually freestyles, which never happens anymore.

SONG: “Shine”
ARTIST: Bow Wow
DOWNLOAD: [LINK]
• It’d be too easy to say something snarky about the newest member of Young Money’s latest track. We’ll give him props for improving instead. But please start rapping about something besides how rich you are, dude. How about those nervous breakdowns on Twitter from over the summer?

SONG: “Doesn’t Mean Anything”
ARTIST: Alicia Keys
DOWNLOAD: [LINK]
• We always expect hits from Alicia and it sounds like she has another one on her hands. For the record: Lil’ Mama doesn’t show up in the middle of the song.

SONG: “Strung Up From The Sky”
ARTIST: Pelican
DOWNLOAD: [LINK]
• This Los Angeles-via-Chicago band rocks out for over five minutes without the aid of any vocals. Fortunately, it’s good enough to keep even the most impatient of folks listening.

SONG: “Can’t Hide It”
ARTIST: Raekwon
DOWNLOAD: [LINK]
• Fresh off news of impressive first-week sales (almost 70K) for OB4CL2, another track from The Chef hit the blogs. The sound is a departure from his album, but it’s still hot in its own right.

Visit Complex.com every day at 5 PM for your daily “5 O’Clock Shuffle“ playlist.

It seems like Kid Cudi is everywhere these days, especially with his debut album, Man On The Moon: The End Of The Day, dropping in less than a week. But the groupies, Kanye West co-sign, and Complex cover didn’t come overnight. This unreleased music video for his hit, “Day N Nite,” was shot by directing duo BBGUN in April 2008 on a budget of only $250. The clip, which holds up surprisingly well against the other two music videos for this song, not only proves that dreams come true, but that Scott Mescudi had the right vision long before the world knew his name.

Tune in to Complex.com every morning at 8 AM for your daily “Wake N’ Watch” video.

You don’t have to be a construction worker to wear these dope Fall jackets from Carhartt. [Daily Drop]

Just like Tony Romo, Nick Lachey doesn’t want Jessica Simpson back either! [PopCrunch]

The women of Mad Men are super sexy. [Coed Mag]

Check out real hot girls here if you didn’t get enough of them over the weekend. [Double Viking]

Sex or money? See what women would really choose. [Flisted]

Kid Cudi dropped the tracklisting to his album. [Nah Right]

Make sure a divorce is really worth it if you don’t have a pre-nup. [Holy Taco]

Let’s just say Cudi kept it 1-hundred with us, like all the way 1-hundred. Since the issue is now officially on newsstands everywhere (go cop!), we figured we’d share the bonus material that was left on the cutting room floor. In the uncut raw conversation, the kid from Cleveland talks about growing up in Ohio, his eagerness to join the Navy, run-ins with the law, and how he really felt when Consequence took a jab at him. Read on for the realness…

Interview by Joe La Puma

Complex: How vital was your mom to you growing up?

Kid Cudi: My mom was like my mom and my dad. Even though my dad was around, he just wasn’t in the house. She really was like superwoman. Recently I was talking to my mom and I was just like, “How did you take care of us?” It took me a lot for her to finally come out and say that there were some nights where she wouldn’t eat because there was only enough food for us. She didn’t have a bed, my mom didn’t sleep in a bed up until I was about 14. She always slept on the couch. We just couldn’t afford one. When she finally got one, she kinda just put it up in the living room. The first thing you saw in my crib was her bed.

Complex: So growing up, would you say that you guys were poor?

Kid Cudi: Back then I always felt poor because at the school that we went to, the majority of kids had money. It was like we got the ill Make-A-Wish Foundation dream—to live in a nice neighborhood with a shitty circumstance. It was sorta like, “Hey we’re gonna put you in this nice neighborhood but you’re still gonna be hood-esque!” So it was a mind-fuck going to school and seeing the kids that had shit like cars, and I couldn’t even get a bike. That’s why when people are like, “Oh man, you from the suburbs and shit,” I be like, “You don’t know what happened in my muthafuckin’ house.” It’s not about where you’re at, it’s about your life and what you’ve been through, what you’ve done.

Complex: When did you start rapping?

Kid Cudi: I started rapping when I was like 12, just around the neighborhood, just spittin’ little lines here and there with my homies. One of my homeboys Dennis—he tours with me sometimes—me and him used to always rap around the neighborhood with a couple other kids and we had this little group and shit and I was the only one who kinda stuck with it. When I was like 15, Hot Boys came out, and I remember seeing Lil Wayne and being like, “Aw shit man, this is a young dude representing for the youth and I wanna do that, but tell my story.” That’s when I stopped doing good in school—because I knew I was gonna be famous. [Laughs]

Complex: What was your journey like once you started rapping?

Kid Cudi: I used to do a lot of open-mic things and freestyle battles to better my raps. I looked at it as training for a bigger picture. I was going through a time right there where I wasn’t being myself in my music because I was too worried about people criticizing me about where I was from. That was just because at that time, rap was pretty much some gangsta shit. It wasn’t until I was about 18 when I started fooling around doing freestyles on CDs. When I went to college is when I started recording an album.

Complex: You didn’t graduate from college though, right?

Kid Cudi: I did one year of college and left school with a decent demo. I thought it was cool, but it wasn’t fresh fresh. I was always the type of person that I don’t want people to hear these half-ass records, so I never let people hear them. I used to work overtime at my job to get extra money to buy beats and these dudes The Kickdrums would sell me beats for like $200 a pop. I was really buying them. That’s why it’s crazy that we’re all coming up and doing things and I’m like, “Y’all remember me, ya’ll made me pay for beats you muthafuckas [Laughs]. Ya’ll made me work overtime just to get $200!” And I bought like 3 beats from them. The journey definitely started a little bit early on. After college, I took a year off. I was 19. That’s when I was just trying to figure out what I wanted to do and the idea of moving out of Cleveland was there but it wasn’t a real solid idea.

Complex: What made you decide to move?

Kid Cudi: Before I decided to move I came up with the idea to go to the Navy. I watched maybe a little too much Antwone Fisher that month, I don’t know. However, I was inspired to be a better man. There was a moment in time where I was really focused on the Navy and I followed through with it, I passed the test. I was happy with myself because I was accomplishing something and I was really working towards a goal. That was the first true thing I invested my energy in. I was really excited about it, I mean now I look at it like, “I was fucking crazy.” But I was really excited about going to the military. When I got all the medical tests and everything, they said that they wouldn’t let me in because of my police record from when I was younger.

Complex: Why did you have a record?

Kid Cudi: When I was like 16, I went out with my friends after school to watch these kids fight. I was just standing around as a spectator but when the police came around some snitching was involved, [and] my name was one of the names that was brought up, like “Scott Mescudi was there!” It was nothing intense, no felonies, just knucklehead shit like that. Those muthafuckas filed charges and called them assault charges even though I never put my hands on anybody. But that shit was on the record—doesn’t matter what happened.

Complex: Was that your only run-in with the law?

Kid Cudi: Well, I got arrested for smoking. I was 17, had a cigarette on my ear, drunk at a high school football game. I was raging, ragetastic. The cops told me to come over and they cuffed me. Then, on top of that, I got arrested in University of Toledo for underage drinking at a party and I physically got into it with a cop. He cuffed me and punched me in the face and really brutally kicked my ass to the point where I could’ve pressed charges, but it’s like, we didn’t have money for lawyer fees and court fees and all that shit and it would’ve been a dead issue. That was early 2004.

Complex: You’ve managed to stay clean since being in the spotlight, aside from the infamous Reebok situation…

Kid Cudi: My argument never changed. People can say what they want, the topic’s been done, but I don’t give a fuck about anything other than right or wrong. They were wrong. I reacted. I might’ve been wrong for reacting so ridiculously over the top, but like I said, I’m a maniac sometimes. The dude who approached me in that situation, I haven’t had a dude approach me like he wanted to fight me in years. The last time I had a fight, I was like 16 or 17 years old. Muthafuckas ain’t been tryin’ to fight, especially where I was at in Cleveland. Niggas don’t fight no more, you get shot the fuck up. This dude just was up in my face aggressively, and I snapped. I didn’t know what to do. I’m not no tough guy, I’m not trying to be. Everybody has that angry emotion and mine just surfaced that night. I don’t regret that shit one bit; I did what I had to do.

CLICK NEXT TO READ MORE, INCLUDING CUDI’S THOUGHTS ON HIS COMPETITION IN THE RAP GAME…

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Go behind the scenes of the exclusive photo shoot we did with Fabolous. [LINK]

And From The Complex Network:

Nah Right: Check out these pics from the set of Jay-Z, Kanye, and Rihanna’s “Run This Town” video. [LINK]

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Das Gamer: Forza Motorsport 3 will bring you one step closer to owning that Ferrari. [LINK]

Sneaker News: Nike and Lebron James just unveiled the superstar’s latest signature shoe. [LINK]

On Smash: Shyne comes home this October. What does that mean for the game? [LINK]

Daily Drop: Old heads can rep for cassettes and still rock the iPod with these cases. [LINK]

Moe Jackson: Which Gossip Girl has the sexiest legs? You decide. [LINK]

Amidst the praise and props we received from readers when we debuted our Kid Cudi cover on Monday, we heard a lot of you asking where you can cop some of the items Cudi was rocking in the Augor-assisted photos. And we don’t blame you. Not only did our fashion team do their thing, Mr. Mescudi came through with his own unique style to top things off. After all, there’s a reason we tapped him to be on the cover of our 5th annual Style and Design issue.

A few weeks ago, we showed you how to dress like Cudi in the “Make Her Say” video, and now we’re gonna do you a solid and break down exactly what the G.O.O.D. Music young gunner wears on our cover and how you can get a similar look. It’s the sincerest form of flattery, you know…

On Kid Cudi: Jacket by Ransom; Shirt by Hyden Yoo; Watch by G-Shock x In4mation

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On Kid Cudi: Sunglasses by SUPER; Blazer by Shades of Greige; Watch by Nixon; Jeans by A.P.C.

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On Kid Cudi: Jacket by General Idea; Shirt by American Apparel; Jeans by Jean Shop; Sneakers by Air Jordan

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On Kid Cudi: Jacket by Moncler; Shirt by Bathing Ape; Jeans by A.P.C.; Sneakers by Louis Vuitton Kanye West Collaboration

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RELATED: Kid Cudi Covers Our August/September Style & Design Issue

It all starts with sketches. On his blog, Augor writes,

“Going along with the ideas herd in KID CUDI’s music a couple drawings were done on the plane ride from LA to NY in prep for a meeting that was to be held at the COMPLEX office about what ideas Augor had for the photo shoot.”

We’re not sure why the third person is needed, but hey, he’s good with the pen, so his choice! Check the preliminary ideas that Augor brought when meeting with Complex’s Art team and Cudi:

“After a few crude sketches were produced the realization that maybe the all grey toned approach wouldn’t catch the impact Cudi was trying to get with the shoot…Once back in LA Augor took screen prints and got to work with a 2 week deadline laying the base plans down of how his imagery would fit with the photos.”

Augor was on hand to help art-direct the cover shoot with Cudi, and following some input from the musicain and Complex, Augor began going in with color and some heavier line drawings:




It’s a step by step process, with many rounds of sketches. On his blog, Augor continues:

“After getting a solid idea of how the interior illustrations were going to fit, development took place on the finals.”

“After doing the analog part of the illustrations it was time to move onto the digital bond. Along side with co worker Sram we tossed around a few ideas on what would suit Augor’s illustrations the best. Here are some in process pics of making it happen.”

“After the hard part (of figuring out what was going to be in the illustrations) was done another hard part surfaced….how do we make the background pop without overpowering the monster and Cudi? A couple background elements were drawn and scrapped but one made the cut that was used in sections throughout the spread”

“With all the elements into play the final interior illustrations were produced”

“After knocking out the interior the hardest part is saved for last!!
Developing a cover. A cover itself is extremely crucial. It is what catches the eye and draws a customer in. So in developing this a few ideas were passed on before the final came out. The first idea was to have Cudi as some sort of sorcerer in the woods. Very Halloweeen like.”

“Even though it was a cool concept the first cover attempt didn’t mesh well with the summer heat the issue was due to drop in so it was back to the drawing board. Here are the ink drawings used to compose the final cover”

“After trial and re trial this is what came out of the new set up.”

“The background cover kind of felt a little mack and cheese and the snake man was clouding Cudi’s flow so the final cover that will go to print has a very aqua splash feeling… “

“Hope everyone enjoys the issue”

For Augor’s full behind-the-scenes look, be sure to visit his blog.

Related: Complex’s Kid Cudi x Augor cover story

No worries though. This isn’t the first time a wannabe-emcee has pulled the cloak over an unsuspecting public’s eyes. We thought stans were bad enough, but we actually managed to dig up dirt on five guys who wanted to be their favorite rapper. Literally. Keep reading and check out our 5 Most Infamous Rapper Impostors…

IMPOSTOR OF: MF Doom
• Earlier this year, Doom finally admitted to using an impostor for some of his live shows. His rationale: “I’m a director as well as a writer. I choose different characters.” Yeah, and we chose to pay $20 for a shitty, fake show and we want our money back.

IMPOSTOR OF: Kanye West
• When Stephen Colbert launched “Operation Humble Kanye West” last December in an attempt to knock 808s & Heartbreak from the number one spot on the iTunes album chart, the fake ‘Ye tweeted the above remark. Press outlets went crazy with the response, prompting an ALL CAPS blog rant from Mr. West denouncing the illegitimate Twitter account.

IMPOSTOR OF: Nelly
• Back in 2001, when there was actually incentive for impersonating Nelly, one shameless impostor did just that on the same night the real Nelly was cleaning up at The Source awards. The fake celebrity showed up to a nightclub with six bodyguards, wearing $20,000 worth of jewelry. When denied entry, the Nelly impostor caused a huge scene that took police two hours to clear. Wow, dude needs a father figure.

IMPOSTOR OF: Kid Cudi
• Several months ago, NYC’s own M2 Ultra Lounge fell victim to another impostor sham. The Scott Mescudi poser was on stage with the DJ for a few moments and was also recorded drunkenly rambling in the video clip above. Eh, that’s definitely not the guy that graced the cover of our latest issue.

IMPOSTOR OF: Jay-Z
• Angelous, Sacario, and NOE aren’t impostors per se, but did anyone ever listen to them without hearing, “This guy sounds just like Jay-Z,” beforehand? Exactly. These were the guys Jay was talking about when he said, “There’s a whole museum of Hov MC’ers / Everybody duping the flow, you see ‘em.” Yeah, we see ‘em.

COMPLEX’S KID CUDI COVER STORY
COMPLEX’S BEHIND THE SCENES KID CUDI x AUGOR VIDEO
COMPLEX’S KID CUDI x AUGOR GALLERY
COMPLEX’S KID CUDI x AUGOR COVER (LARGE)

The self-proclaimed lonely stoner is currently on The Great Hangover Tour with Asher Roth, and has fans eagerly awaiting his debut album The Man On The Moon: End Of Day, which is now set for September 15. His melody-heavy raps bring an innovative sound to the game, which is why we paired him up with graf artist AUGOR for some illustrations that show Cudi battling his demons. We just put the whole story up online, and you’ll see that Cudi really invited us inside the mind of Scott Mescudi. You think you know, but you have no idea…

• CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL KID CUDI COVER STORY!
• CLICK HERE TO BROWSE THE KID CUDI x AUGOR GALLERY!

The America’s Most Wanted Tour (Wayne, Jeezy, Drake, Soulja Boy) might be off to a rocky start. [Nah Right]

Feeling sorry for Kelis these days? Show some support by looking at these naughty pics of her. [Holy Taco]

Punchlines to the 100 most offensive jokes of all-time. [Coed Mag]

Kid Cudi rips it up at a Summer Jam on the West Coast. [Dat New Cudi]

Here’s an idea: stop thinking about hotties and start clicking on them. [Double Viking]

The best basketball sneakers out now come with metallic gold accents. Nice. [Daily Drop]

We hope Lindsay Lohan takes this part in the next Robert Rodriguez flick. [PopCrunch]

Yes! Shakira is ready to get sexy in her upcoming music video. [Flisted]

Although Cudi, Kanye, and Common all rock under the GOOD Music tree, their individual styles, as evidenced by the video, are all distinct. And we know while watching the video you were thinking to yourself, “How could I ape one or all of these fresh looks?” Stop frontin’, it’s OK. Complex is here to help, not hate. So to save you some time on Google, we’ve put together a quick buyer’s guide inspired by the “Make Her Say” video. We can’t guarantee these ‘fits will make her say anything, but they’ll get you closer to pokin’ her face than your current get-ups. Word.

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KANYE WEST

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COMMON