Speaking at an event for the New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s Youth Anxiety Center, Kid Cudi spoke on the importance of mental health and talked about how his daughter’s approval is the only approval he needs.
“Before I actually had therapy, the music was there for me. It was the perfect way to express myself and feel safe doing it,” Cudi said, per Vogue. “I’m always asking my daughter if she’s cool. I’m always checking in with her. That’s important; I feel like that’s good for our connection.”
The Man on the Moon rapper also said that his daughter approved of his 2021 Saturday Night Live performance get-up, where he wore a dress to pay homage to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.
“My daughter [texted] me and said, ‘Daddy you looked so pretty in your dress,’” he said. “That was all I needed. No one else’s opinion mattered.”
2022’s New York-Presbyterian Youth Anxiety Center dinner marked the 11th anniversary of the program, which has strived to destigmatize discussions around mental illness and help vulnerable kids seek treatment.
Kid Cudi served as the perfect spokesperson on this issue, as he for years has been open about his struggles with mental health. The rapper checked himself back into rehab in 2016 after revealing that depression and anxiety were ruining his life, and sitting down with vogue.com editor Chioma Nnadi, spoke about how his childhood led him to that experience.
“It was one of those things where it was just like: How do you come up to Mom who’s dealing with four kids, and your dad died, and she’s taking care of everybody on her own, that you’re dealing with something?” Cudi explained about his childhood.
Cudder now says his daughter remains his biggest supporter.
“Everything that I’m about, she’s about,” Cudi said about her. “This is a taste of the next generation. She accepts me for as wild and rock and roll as I am.”
Revisit Kid Cudi’s SNL performance below.
