As a longtime Kid Cudi fan, I’ll admit that the first time I heard Indicud I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. The project, expected to be a “return to form” of sorts for the Cleveland rapper after his much-maligned side project WZRD, was nothing like the Man on the Moon albums that had come before it. While Cudi had taken great pains to explicitly state that this would be the case, its significant departure in style still caught many fans—myself included—off guard. Of course, the album was still undeniably Cudi, but its unfamiliar production, lengthy instrumental tracks, and general left-field approach had many longtime fans questioning whether Scott had lost his touch.
Today, on the album’s second anniversary, my opinion on it has evolved considerably. While at first I yearned for the varied contributions of early-career mainstays like Dot da Genius, Plain Pat, and Emile, I’ve come to see the Cudi-helmed production as one of the album’s strongest assets. With control behind the boards as well as in front of the mic, he gains greater latitude to push boundaries with songs, and connects with them on a more personal level as a result—from the layered violins of “Immortal” to the smouldering chorus of “Brothers.” While the album is not without its faults, its moments of excellence more than justify its high position in Kid Cudi’s catalog.
Every conversation about Indicud should begin and end with “Just What I Am” no matter one’s feelings on the rest of the album. Scott’s longtime collaborator King Chip leads off delivering an introspective verse about his relationship with God and drugs over the spaced-out beat. Along the way, he manages to work in one of the best lowkey rap punchlines ever, joking, “Neighbor’s knockin’ on the door/Asking can we turn it down/I say ‘Ain’t no music on’/She said ‘No that weed is loud.’” Cudi follows it up by exorcizing his demons about therapy, medication, and parenting in one of his most personal rap verses to date.
While the merits of a song like “Just What I Am” are obvious, some of Indicud’s other tracks take a few spins to truly sink in. Songs like “Girls” and “Young Lady” seem a bit disjointed at first, but after a while the edges smooth over and they come to feel like classic Cudi jams. In particular, the nuanced charms of “Young Lady”’s Father John Misty sample cannot be overstated. The track is a mellowed-out masterpiece, blending Kid Cudi’s sound with a dynamite sample of “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” by the former Fleet Foxes member. It may take some time to adjust to Scott’s admittedly liberal definition of “on-key” singing, but once it happens you begin to question how you ever disliked these songs in the first place.
In the weeks before the album’s release, Kid Cudi promised that Indicud would be his version of Dr. Dre’s The Chronic 2001, with guest artists taking lead roles in several songs while he produced. This proved to be one of his most interesting and rewarding choices, as the likes of Haim, RZA, and even Michael Bolton are given room to shine over Cudi’s production. Haim in particular stand out on the soaring “Red Eye,” perfectly matching their style to the album’s dreamy aesthetic. Michael Bolton’s appearance on “Afterwards (Bring Yo Friends)” is also as delightfully weird as you would expect it to be, but still stops well short of feeling gimmicky. The unorthodox features, which at first seemed confusing, turned out to be a key asset in expanding the album’s scope and feel without compromising its distinctly Kid Cudi vibe.
Of course, not all of my initial hesitance about the album has simply disappeared. The strange, buzzing beat of “Mad Solar” continues to sit oddly with me, and I truly find “Unfuckwittable” to be a mess (and perhaps the root cause of many people’s problem with the album as one of its lead tracks). It’s even arguable that some of the initial feelings of discord find their root in Cudi overplaying his hand as a producer and tweaking too much. Nonetheless, Indicud as a project has aged remarkably well, due in large part to the depth and care of Scott’s craftsmanship. From the deep-space echoes of “Just What I Am” to the spitfire rhymes of “Cold Blooded,” the project stands tall in Kid Cudi’s catalog, even in the shadows of the fantastic Man on the Moon series. With today being Indicud’s second anniversary (and with a new Cudi album reportedly on the way soon), what better time to give it another spin?
Chris Mench is a writer living in North Carolina. Follow him @Chris_Mench
