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“Am I too complex… for Complex Con?”
Neil Armstrong may have taken one small step for man in 1969, but in 2009 Kid Cudi became the man on the moon.
The average music fan will let you know this: Kid Cudi is a genius. The average music fan will also let you know that in recent years, the man on the moon has received less than pleasant reviews on his latest albums. His discography even has a running gag—Cudi is slowly becoming the only artist who has received every rating on the scale. Since his start in the music scene, Scott hasn’t been able to dethrone Man on the Moon: The End of Day.
But… why? As a long-time Cudi fan, I have to question the rhetoric we’re approaching his work with.
This past November I had the pleasure of attending ComplexCon and watching the Grammy award-winning artist and beloved fan favorite give us an exclusive listen to his then unreleased album INSANO.
The night was absolutely electric, to be sure. There’s no questioning Cudi’s talents in performing. For a 40-year-old, Scott has a lot of “Kid” left in him.
Still, there was the quite occasional and almost customary demand from the audience to play hits from his glorious debut album.
At the beginning of the performance, he posed us a question: “Am I too complex… for ComplexCon?”
The answer to that question, I believe, also answers my first one.
Yes.
What initially enamored Kid Cudi’s fan base and the rest of the music industry was the dark place from which his debut was born from. Channeling grief from the deaths of both his uncle and father, Scott has made it known that some of his best stuff comes from his rock bottoms. Years of battling with depression and drug abuse, he has become a beacon of mental health awareness in the rap community. For lack of better phrasing, Kid Cudi is a tortured poet.
Now, a full 15 years later, Scott has reached a better place in his life. Fresh from public feud with Kanye West (and a public reconciliation), INSANO landed into our laps on January 12, 2024.
After three months of sitting with the album, I can’t say it’s as revolutionary as his first. But I never expected it to be.
There’s a standard we set for visionaries once they start to soar. We expect the success of what initially popularized them to be recreated, else any other art they make is deemed uninspired.
We’ve seen it happen to the artists infamous for being “sad.” Lorde and Mitski are only a few of the victims of what I diagnose to be a constant demand for tragedy in our art. We beg for our favorites to stay miserable—because what is art without misery?
But tortured poets can’t always be tortured poets. There’s a reason why the 27 Club exists. Misery is an insane prerequisite to ask for the sake of “good art.” INSANO isn’t the epiphany fans hoped it would be, but it is a sign that perhaps Scott has grown out of the music scene. With his success in projects like “Entergalactic” and a role in the newest Trolls movie, Scott is still showcasing his originality and artistry just in different mediums.
Because that’s the thing about visionaries—they’re always finding other ways to break new ground. What I hope to see from Scott for the rest of his career is branching out into the world of cinema.
So yes, Scott. You are not only too complex for ComplexCon, but for the rest of your fans and the industry. While we’re busy shooting for the stars, please keep aiming for the moon.
Photo and Video Credit: Katareena Roska
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