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It’s only a natural progression for someone like Kid Cudi to do a rock-offshoot project. Let’s not forget, even from the days of his first single, “Day N Nite”, he was singing more-so than rapping. We saw him infuse these elements even more-so on 2010′s Man On The Moon II, a hip-hop LP with some underlying rock elements. With WZRD, he and Dot Da Genius go full rockstar, with nay a rap lyric in sight.

Fans of Cudder may be instantly disappointed with WZRD, because it is not a traditional Kid Cudi LP. Those not going in expecting that however are in for a pleasant surprise. WZRD is the type of record you just play in the background – at home, not in traffic – and slowly it creeps up on you as one of the first good LP’s of the new year.

There’s a clear influence here from acts like Pink Floyd and The Pixies, not to mention Nirvana – the latter of which Cudi covers “Where Did You Sleep Last Night”, ground last covered by Cobain and company on their legendary MTV Unplugged performance. Meanwhile, the lead single, “Teleport 2 Me, Jamie” samples Desire’s “Under Your Spell” which you might recognize from the Drive soundtrack. But Cudi’s take on the track is all his own, re-imagining himself as the lonely stoner, waiting by the phone.

So while there are influences abroad, the personality of WZRD is all Cudi. The Moon Man persona is embraced in full, as he sings about being “High Off Life” or begs for his prescription on “Dr. Pill”, while the rager comes out on tracks like “Love Hard” and “Upper Room”. Other times he mellows out on the acoustic guitar driven, pondering-his-own-death track “Efflictim” or the psychadelic “Brake”. The landscape is different, the scenery is the same.


It’s a seemingly more natural fit for Kid Cudi to do a rock album – more so than any rapper before him, including Pharrell and company with N.E.R.D. If you don’t mind Cudi’s earlier material as a singer (“Pursuit of Happiness, comes to mind), WZRD will definitely satisfy, it just needs to be given a chance. Just don’t go in expecting an LP full of beats, rhymes, and metaphors.

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5 Responses to "Kid Cudi + Dot Da Genius – “WZRD” – @@@@ (Review)"
  • Model Citizen says:

    I hate Kid Cudi so I probably won’t ever hear this, that being said this seems like a far better idea than trying to rap. He’s a terrible emcee.

  • Freddy Hearsecury says:

    He’s not a terrible MC. Don’t get me wrong I thought so too back in 08 but if you really listen to duke he’s about as real as you get when it comes to lyrics and he conveys emotions in a great way. I can name you 100,000 more technically proficient rappers but not too many of them convey emotion beyond I’m better than you. As far as this album it’s pretty dope I wasn’t feeling it until third listen and I only got past listen one because teleport 2 me is so good. That where did you sleep last night is an old folk standard though they were probably introduced to it by nirvana it’s equally possible leadbelly is their point of origin for this cover.

  • Eddie says:

    Excited to listen to this album. Big Kid Cudi fan

  • khordkutta says:

    Teleport 2 Me, Jamie, could be interesting im presuming it samples the title/end track from Drive, def worth a listen

  • battlehound says:

    not bad, like the cover of where did you sleep last night
    definitely worth buying

  • Comments (5)

    Model Citizen

    March 6th, 2012 at 7:22 pm