Kanye West and Kid Cudi’s new album, Kids See Ghosts, drops this Friday, June 8. It’s been a long time coming, as the two rappers have been in one another’s orbit for over a decade, and have yet to drop anything beyond one-off songs together.
When they do unite, the pair’s relationship is marked by their innate ability to assemble like Batman and Robin and take the hip-hop universe on daring sonic adventures. It’s why rap fans laid down half a million likes on Kanye’s tweet announcing his project with Cudi. This is what people have been waiting for.
me and Cudi album June 8th
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 19, 2018
But while we’ve been waiting for this moment, a lot of ups and downs between Ye and Cudi have been documented. Since their chance meeting in 2004, there has been both mutual admiration and public disagreements between the two. At this point, they’re known just as much for complimenting each others’ sound as they are for threatening to never work together again.
The game has come full circle, though, and now we’re guaranteed seven tracks of presumed greatness. To prepare for Kids See Ghosts, it’s important to take a look back at how Ye and Cudi arrived here. Fret not: We got you.