The 25 Best Kid Cudi Songs

On the five year anniversary of his first album, we count down the best Kid Cudi songs.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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After one critically acclaimed mixtape of his own and a long list of co-writing credits on Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak, music artist Kid Cudi released Man On The Moon: The End of Day five years ago today. Five albums and five Complex covers later, we're taking the anniversary of Cudi's debut LP as an opportunity to discuss our favorites from the rapper and singer's vast and illustrious body of work.

From the smash singles to the under-the-radar one-offs, Cudder's music covered a lot of territory over the past half decade. Some of his songs make you want to cry. Some of his songs make you want to rage. It's difficult to compare the poppy delight of a record like "Day N Nite" to the experimental melancholy of his band WZRD, but someone has to do it. Every step of Cudi's awesome journey to Mother Moon holds its own significance. Whether it's the time when he tried to sing to start a revolution on "REVOFEV" or when he tried to start a threesome on the track "She Came Along," we have immense love and appreciation for all sides of Mr. Rager. This is the definitive list of The 25 Best Kid Cudi Songs.

Written by Ernest Baker (@ernestbaker)

26. Kid Cudi “The Prayer” (2008)

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Producer: Plain Pat

Album: A KiD Named CuDi

An overlooked but essential part of the Kid Cudi mythology is his trailer for A Kid Named Cudi. The clip served as a mission statement of sorts for his career, especially its final declaration: “I'm not playing no more.” “The Prayer” feels like an audible realization of that manifesto with Cudi singing lines like, “I'm gon make my words important so if I slip away, if I die today, the last thing you remember won't be about some Apple Bottom jeans with the boots with the fur,” in the wake of Flo Rida's "Low."

The entire record is a similar blend of subtle humor and dead-serious dejection, all held together by Cudi's new age take on a popular nighttime prayer on the chorus. That “I know the world'll feel this, nigga” line in the second verse turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

25. WZRD “Teleport 2 Me, Jamie” (2012)

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Producer: WZRD

Album: WZRD

Desire's “Under Your Spell” sounded great from the first moment that most of us heard it, sitting in the movie theater watching Drive. Four months after Ryan Gosling's action thriller hit theaters, Kid Cudi and Dot da Genius flipped the soundtrack's standout for their lead single as alternative rock duo WZRD. The record explores themes of loneliness and longing together with the most infectious bits of “Under Your Spell.” The chorus has Cudi channeling what feels like his inner Michael Jackson and guarantees that no matter how low-key of a side project it seemed like, WZRD will never be forgotten.

24. Kid Cudi “Man on the Moon” (2008)

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Producer: Nosaj Thing

Album: A KiD Named CuDi

Nosaj Thing made his debut with the instrumental EP Views/Octopus in 2006. Two years later, Kid Cudi repurposed its best track, “Aquarium,” for a track on his mixtape A Kid Named Cudi. In a way, the record was the birth of his extraterrestrial alter ego. “Man on the Moon” made it to Cudi's debut album, and both of his first two albums had the pre-title Man on the Moon. The lyrics are some of the best and most melodic that Cudi's ever written, but the highlight of the track is quietly the bits of improvised rant before each verse. “I never gave a fuck what niggas thought about me. I mean, I did, but like, fuck it,” are words to live by.

23. Kid Cudi “Dat New New” (2008)

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Producer: Dot da Genius

Album: Stoner Charm

Most people heard “Dat New New” on the Stoner Charm mixtape, and its most preeminent YouTube rip sits at 17 million views. So while the track never saw any sort of official release from Cudi, it's stood the test of time as one of his most popular. Much of the record's perseverance can be attributed to its wildly addictive chorus: “You can look all over, but no, you'll never find/Hot shit like mine/It'll blow your mind.” “New” is no longer an accurate descriptor for the song, but years later, it still sounds as fresh as ever.

22. Kid Cudi f/ Raphael Saadiq "Balmain Jeans" (2014)

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Producer: Kid Cudi

Album: Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon

If you slept on Satellite Flight, just know that you fucked up. Cudi's not making radio-friendly pop hits anymore, but it's for the best, because we still get trippy serenades like "Balmain Jeans" and gut-wrenching anthems like the album's other highlight, "Internal Bleeding." Cudi's ability to continue delivering these records filled with brutal honesty and searing vulnerability is why such a cult of personality surrounds him. Cudi is straight wailing on this shit. He sounds like a wounded beast, and it's kind of a spectacle to behold. The lyrics aren't too complex. The record's mostly about the emotion in Cudi's tone. There's a really pointed, traumatic sense of purpose, and you get the idea that Edgar Allan Poe would be singing songs like this if he were dropping albums in 2014 and really into French fashion houses.

21. Kid Cudi “09 Freestyle” (2009)

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Producer: Cha Lo

Album: Dat Kid From Cleveland

Everyone loves an “artist coming to terms with their fame and success” record, and Cudi's “09 Freestyle” serves that up in the most exhilarating way possible. First off, he's Straight Up Rapping more than he has at most points of his career, but the shit he's saying is so piercing with confidence and intensity that it'd be a grave mistake to overlook this one when assessing the best songs of Cudi's career. Between lines like, “Hoes treated me like, 'Who are you?'/Now I get to choose like, 'you and her, too'” and “I would sit up some nights and think about my own place/Probably 'cause I took so many blunts of kush to the face,” this is a classic I've-been-grinding-forever-and-now-I-made-it rap. 

20. Kid Cudi “Unfuckwittable” (2013)

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Producer: Kid Cudi

Album: Indicud

Cudi popularized the term “unfuckwittable” in his 2010 Complex cover story (the same one where he said, “We don't fuck with you musically"), and three years later he turned it into a song. The track begins with a soundbite from Macaulay Culkin in The Good Son, and culminates with Cudi screaming, “YOU KNOW THAT I'M UNFUCKWITTABLE,” over a menacing guitar slide. The rest of Indicud gets pretty dark, but despite its moody soundscape, there's absolutely no self-doubt to be found anywhere on “Unfuckwittable,” which makes for a welcome change of pace not only on the album, but also in terms of Cudder's entire discography.

19. Kid Cudi “The Mood” (2010)

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Producer: Emile, No I.D.

Album: Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager

Most rappers have songs about the surface level appeal of the nightlife. Hell, even Cudi does. But “The Mood” is special because of its dark, almost cynical take on clubs, drugs, and groupies. “Skinny model girls rub coke on their gums” sounds like a celebration of excess to the untrained ear, but visual of Cudi slumped in the corner of some social setting, not talking, wearing shades paired with the maniacal laughter incorporated into the beat is a clear sign that the nature of the record is more sinister than it appears. In turn, it's more true to life than most glossy interpretations of the party life, and therefore, more sincere.

18. Kid Cudi f/ King Chip “Just What I Am” (2012)

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Producer: Kid Cudi

Album: Indicud

Indicud has emerged as a cult favorite among Cudi albums, because one, it's way better than most people give it credit for, and two, there's a charm to the advent of Cudi the Producer, behind the boards on every record, in complete control of his own destiny. “Just What I Am” is the prototypical record of this era. It's the first track he made for the album as well as the first single, and one of Cudder's best songs ever. “I had to ball for therapy, my shrink don't think that helps at all” is one of those signature personal insights from the artist, but the song mostly feels like an expression of individuality for the masses. Everyone say it in unison: “Fuck yes, I'm so odd.”

17. Kid Cudi “Sky High” (2009)

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Producer: The Kickdrums

Album: Dat Kid From Cleveland

“Sky High” has always felt like half of a song. It's not even two minutes long, and it was never officially released, but it still stands as some of the most captivating music that Cudi's ever recorded. The Kickdrums blend a gospel organ with Kanye's ad-libs from “We Major” to set the stage for pivotal Cudi boasts like, “Play my song so you can witness what I'm on…besides 808s.” For the rest of the track, he talks about blogs, being “the product of a suburb,” and taking photos with Diddy. The song is great because you get to hear Cudi realize that he's blowing up as it happens. The guard is completely lowered.

16. Kid Cudi “Marijuana” (2010)

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Producer: Dot da Genius, Kid Cudi, Mike Dean

Album: Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager

Perhaps Cudi has never sounded happier than when singing about weed on records like “Maui Wowie,” but on “Marijuana,” it sounds like he's exalting his demons over a blunt. Over a fierce piano loop, he thanks the “pretty green bud” for keeping him company in his loneliest of days, and he fully followed through with the concept by releasing a music video for the track set in Amsterdam, directed by Shia LaBeouf. Shout out to the chronic for Cudi “leveled up in [his] crazy head,” and presumably for delivering the creative spark that ignited this quiet classic that just so happens to run at exactly four minutes and 20 seconds long. Get it? 420? Sorry, we're stoned.

15. Kid Cudi “Cleveland Is the Reason” (2008)

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Producer: Dot da Genius

Album: A KiD Named CuDi

Instead of that lengthy letter about why he's returning to the Cavaliers, LeBron James should've just played “Cleveland Is the Reason” at a press conference. The standout from A Kid Named Cudi might be the best ode to the Ohio city in existence, and on it, Cudi credits the town with all of his success. Dot da Genius provides spaced-out production that sounds like a nighttime cruise through desolate Midwestern streets while Cudi implores listeners to “take a trip to the 'Land.” Not to mention, he shouts out Complex in the first verse saying, "They say I'm Complex just like the magazine/I wear my closet Complex like a magazine." We might have to book a ticket, for real.

14. Sharam f/ Kid Cudi “She Came Along” (2009)

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Producer: Sharam

Album: Get Wild

Cudi was really on one in 2009. Months before he even dropped his first album, he was doing country-western house records with Iranian DJ Sharam. Adding to the absurdity, the song is about trying to get two girls to have a threesome. Somehow, Cudi pulls the feat off in spectacular fashion, making you want to square dance and do rap hands at the same damn time. The record's slipped under the radar as the years have passed, but real fans know it's one of the best collaborations of Cudi's career.

13. Kid Cudi “Sky Might Fall” (2009)

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Producer: Kanye West, Kid Cudi

Album: Man on the Moon: The End of Day

The origin of “Sky Might Fall” is shrouded in legend. Kid Cudi was reportedly with Kanye West at a Big Sean listening session when an idea for the record's chorus came to him in a flash. The pair then took off for the studio to make the epiphany a reality. Kanye handled the production duties that give the track its dystopian feel. Cudi worked from a rough melody to pen lyrics that brought the apocalyptic theme home, and from the rubble “Sky Might Fall” was created.

There were plans for “Sky Might Fall” to be released as Man on the Moon: The End of Day's second single. That distinction eventually fell to the Lady Gaga-sampling “Make Her Say,” but the detour never slowed the song's momentum. Cudi released a teaser for the record through an unofficial trailer for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen set to the would-be single. Hype ensued, and the final product delivered signature Cudi melancholy in spades.

The lyrics find him “soul searching in every way” through verses rife with cloudy metaphors and allusions to total annihilation. “Sky Might Fall” is far from the only Cudi song to explore similar territory, but it does so with more style and efficiency than most.

12. Kid Cudi “Cudi Zone” (2009)

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Producer: Emile

Album: Man on the Moon: The End of Day

“Cudi Zone” has to be the most uplifting record in Kid Cudi's repertoire. For an artist who's so remarkably in touch with his dark side, this is one of the few moments where he forgets about all the bullshit, or at least finds a way not to get stuck on it. The production has a symphony-in-the-clouds air to it that allows Cudi to wistfully evade everything from “the devil in the hot pink dress” to detractors who “wanna hate because he left” Cleveland. Like Cudi says on the second verse, “Everybody wanna be a critic,” but on “Cudi Zone” he's too busy soaring and ballin' to give a fuck.

11. Kid Cudi “GHOST!” (2010)

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Producer: Emile, Ken Lewis, No I.D.

Album: Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager

“GHOST!” may be tacked on near the end of Man on the Moon II, but it's quite telling that it's often one of the first songs that Cudi performs during concerts. The fact is, there's no other record in Cudi's catalog that captures the essence of spirit and artistic purpose better than this one. When he starts off the track screaming, “I WAS SO CLOSE TO BEING DEAD,” you know he means it, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel that carries the song into masterpiece territory. As “GHOST!” comes to a close, the beat switches from the psychedelic sample of the Freak Scene's “My Rainbow Life” to a piano loop that sounds like College Dropout-era Kanye production, and Cudi starts chanting, “I hope they understand that I really understand that they don't understand.” There isn't a sentence that better describes the necessity of his music over the past several years.

10. Kid Cudi “Revofev” (2010)

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Producer: Plain Pat, Mike Dean

Album: Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager

“REVOFEV” is the storming of the Bastille of Cudi's catalog. It's anchored by the pressing question, “Where will you be for the revolution?” and the entire record is like a call to arms for the depressed youth of the world. Cudi is the “big brother” who tells the kids that there's “no need to stress,” and although just about every song following “REVOFEV” on Man on the Moon II comes from a place of what one can assume is extreme stress, “REVOFEV” is lovely a reminder that every cloud has a silver lining.

9. Kid Cudi “Solo Dolo (Nightmare)” (2009)

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Producer: Emile

Album: Man on the Moon: The End of Day

A lot of songs are described as “haunting,” but Emile's production on “Solo Dolo”—especially those strings—is actually haunting. You couldn't ask for a better backdrop to lyrics like, “Listen good, I don't have nobody,” and existential rhetoric like, “Why must it feel so wrong when I try and do right?” The listener gets a true sense of the dramatic nature of Kid Cudi's emotions, and the record holds up to this day because of that timeless candor.

8. Kid Cudi “All Along” (2010)

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Producer: Emile

Album: Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager

“When the days change, so does my attitude/I'm messy at home, I eat a lot of junk food.” It's not often that you get more honest opening lyrics than those. “All Along” is an epic, nearly cinematic battle with loneliness, the most reoccurring theme of Cudi's music. The difference with this album cut that shows up late on Man on the Moon is the newfound sense of security that Cudi seems to have with these emotions. He's no longer rejecting the rejection and instead declares, “I guess I'm meant to be alone.” The production is reserved with no sense of rage. It's equal parts tragic and peaceful, and excellent all around.

7. David Guetta f/ Kid Cudi “Memories” (2010)

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Producer: Riesterer

Album: One Love

If you ever find yourself questioning Kid Cudi's lasting impact on pop culture, look no further than the perennial David Guetta collaboration “Memories.” This is the record that will still get played in nightclubs 20 years from now. This is the record that ensures Kid Cudi will be able to book headliner slots at music festivals for the rest of his natural life. The premise is basic: “It's getting late, but I don't mind.” Those seven words are seriously all you need to keep the party going and part of what's quietly made “Memories” the most transcendent moment of Cudi's career.

6. Kid Cudi “Mojo So Dope” (2010)

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Producer: Emile

Album: Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager

“These motherfuckers can't fathom the wizardry” might be the quote of Cudi's career. In addition to that unforgettable one-liner, “Mojo So Dope” also has Cudi rapping about surpassing his XXL Freshman cover peers, “aiming high past the idea of slanging,” and insomnia. The record feels like a case study on Cudi's mental state in which the results reveal that he still doesn't give a damn about anyone else's opinion, or as he puts it, “Give a fuck about your lifestyle.” He has a brother who needs help and personal demons to eviscerate first. As far as Cudi's concerned, anyone with disparaging comments can keep the shit to themselves.

5. Kid Cudi “Soundtrack 2 My Life” (2009)

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Producer: Emile

Album: Man on the Moon: The End of Day

One could probably credit Cudi's opening line from this record—“I got 99 problems, and they all bitches”—with swiftly and effectively carrying hip-hop into this post-Jay Z era of sad rap. “Soundtrack 2 My Life” is a four-minute-long airing of grievances that has Cudi recalling his mother's Christmas time hustle, playing in his room alone as a kid, and downing psilocybin mushrooms in an effort to stop worrying about it all. But even then, there's the reminder that no matter the circumstances, Cudi's “never truly satisfied.” The track set the tone for his debut album, but really, all of the music he's crafted in the following years, as well. It's his anthem that didn't need to be released as a single to get stadiums of fans singing along verbatim.

4. Kid Cudi “Mr. Rager” (2010)

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Producer: Emile, Kanye West, No I.D., Jeff Bhasker

Album: Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager

Cudi says that “Mr. Rager” is “dedicated to all the kids like me.” If the lyrics are any indication, that means the kids who envy birds for the freedom that comes with flying, and the kids who ask questions like, “When will the fantasy end? When will the heaven begin?” The song's a beautiful tale of escapism, and without explicitly stating it, a story about his battles with cocaine and other destructive habits. Cudi told Complex that the song's about “someone who's fed up with reality.” Decadent behavior became an outlet for that discontent, and thus, “Mr. Rager” was created. It's a stark portrait of Cudi in one of his darkest phases, which makes it some of the most intriguing work he's ever released.

3. Kid Cudi “Day 'n' Nite” (2007)

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Producer: Dot da Genius, Kid Cudi

Album: Man on the Moon: The End of Day

“Day 'n' Nite” is the song that started it all and introduced the world to “the lonely stoner.” Cudi has this brilliant way of taking even the most somber of material and injecting it with a glimmer of hope, and Day 'n' Nite” is a masterful example of that talent. Cudi may not be able to “shake the shade,” and the girl he wants “don't seem to want him, too,” but it's like all of that pain is relieved by a late-night weed session. The idea is simple and relatable, and perhaps that's why it captured the hearts of so many, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

2. Kid Cudi f/ MGMT & Ratatat “Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)” (2009)

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Producer: Ratatat

Album: Man on the Moon: The End of Day

“Pursuit of Happiness” is perfection. It's peak Cudi. It's his musical legacy. The warped Ratatat production, celestial MGMT vocals, and Drake's cameo in the music video span all of the different worlds that he's touched in one fell swoop. The lyrics summarize his intentions not just as a musician, but as a person. At the end of it all, Kid Cudi simply wants to be happy, through whatever means, however radical. Of course, it's a trial and error process that sometimes leaves the room spinning with him wondering, “Why did I drink so much and smoke so much?" but there's something inherently beautiful about the complicated pursuit of happiness, rather than the attainment of it. Night terrors and episodes of late-night drunk driving came well before the glory. Cudi persists as a unique, idolized artist because he never forgets that.

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