Aside from their fame, Kid Cudi and Jaden Smith are connected in more ways than one. Not only did Jaden’s little sister, Willow Smith, have a feature on Cudi’s last solo album Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’, his debut role on the big screen in Pursuit of Happyness, alongside his father Will, played a hand in inspiring Cudi’s hit single “Pursuit of Happiness.”
At least that’s what Mr. Solo Dolo says in a new interview with Jaden. In the piece published by V Magazine, Cudi asks the Syre rapper about everything from his music to sustainability. He even proposed a joint album:
KC Yeah, man! Maybe one day we’ll do an album, bro.
The two chopped it up over their optimism with the direction of the fashion industry, specifically their quest to push boundaries when it comes to race and gender roles. Earlier this summer, Cudi walked in Virgil Abloh’s debut show as the new menswear artistic director for Louis Vuitton. “ It was an incredible experience to be part of that—a monumental moment. It makes me excited for fashion,” he said in the interview. “He’s doing groundbreaking things. That’s what this business needs: thinkers, people that push boundaries.”
“At one point, I got made fun of because I wore skinny jeans. I remember I wore a kilt, and everyone made fun of me, like, ‘Cudi wears a dress.’ It was just people being ignorant. But at that time, I thought, ‘Hip hop is the most judgmental genre of music.’ Now, you can be yourself and do your own thing. This is what I dreamed the business would be like,” he continued.
The interview touched on Smith’s latest work to his very first, a role in his father’s flick Pursuit of Happyness. Cudi praised the 20-year-old for his continued dedication to the craft since his childhood. “You’ve been a dedicated artist—it’s crazy I was the same age when I first started writing my first raps, and you were way more advanced than I was at 12. You were able to get in a studio and perfect your craft,” Cudi said, before remarking on the impact the father-son movie had on his debut album and its single "Pursuit of Happiness." “That movie was really impactful—it’s one of my favorites and is definitely something that touched me. I’d definitely say it subconsciously had a hand in me creating 'Pursuit of Happiness.'”
