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.
2004: Kid Cudi and Kanye West Meet
July 2008: Plain Pat Gives Kanye 'A Kid Named Cudi'
November 2008: Cudi Helps Ye With '808s & Heartbreak'
Fall 2008: Cudi Signs to G.O.O.D. Music
February 2009: Cudi Debuts 'Day 'n' Nite' Video on '106 & Park' With Kanye
May 2009: Cudi Says He Set the Bar to Be Bigger Than Kanye
September 2009: Kanye Executive Produces Cudi's Debut Album 'Man on the Moon'
August 2010: Kanye Appears on Cudi's 'Man on the Moon II'
August to December 2010: Kid Cudi Appears on Three G.O.O.D. Friday Tracks
October 2010: Kanye Says Kid Cudi Is His Favorite Artist
November 2010: Cudi Appears on 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'
February 2011: Kid Cudi Appears in 'All of the Lights' Video
February 2012: Cudi and Kanye Win Grammys for 'All of the Lights'
July 2012: Cudi and Kanye Appear on Complex's G.O.O.D. Music Cover
May 2012: Cudi Stars in 'Cruel Summer' Film
September 2012: Cudi (Barely) Appears on G.O.O.D. Music's 'Cruel Summer'
April 2013: Kid Cudi Leaves G.O.O.D. Music
June 2013: Cudi Appears on 'Yeezus'
February 2014: Cudi Says He's Unhappy With 'Yeezus' Feature
February 2016: Cudi Appears on 'The Life of Pablo'
September 2016: Cudi and Kanye Fire Shots Back and Forth, Then Make Up
November 2016: Cudi Joins Kanye Onstage During Saint Pablo Tour
July, 2017: Kanye and Cudi Spotted Leaving a Studio in L.A.
August 2017: Kanye and Cudi Spotted in Japan
November 2017: Kanye Joins Cudi Onstage in Chicago
February 2018: Kanye Performs With Cudi in L.A.
In February, Kanye West made another surprise return to the stage—alongside Kid Cudi, again. In videos uploaded to social media, West can be seen introducing Cudi at Adidas’s NBA All-Star Weekend event in Los Angeles before they both perform their collaborative standout, “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1,” from The Life of Pablo.
Kanye West introducing @KidCudi on stage 😭 #747warehouse #AllStarWeekend pic.twitter.com/yMmbbebjg2
— Jane Shin (@janeshin) February 18, 2018
April 2018: Kanye Announces Joint Album With Cudi
After tweet-announcing the upcoming release of his own album, Kanye sent his followers into a tizzy by letting it fly that he and Cudi also had an album coming. The project would be called Kids See Ghost, named after the duo's group. West stamped the release date as June 8, one week after the release of his own album.
me and Cudi album June 8th
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 19, 2018
it's called Kids See Ghost. That's the name of our group
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 19, 2018
On June 6, Cudi shared the album artwork, designed by Takashi Murakami.
KIDS SEE GHOSTS ALBUM ART pic.twitter.com/MVt5vIzlA1
— The Chosen One (@KidCudi) June 6, 2018