To kick off the new year, music artist Kid Cudi released his newest studio album titled: INSANO. Twenty-one songs deep, the album represents a new sound for Kid Cudi. Cudi spends the vast majority of the project truly rapping instead of a more serenading approach he has taken with his past projects. The project contains seven features from the likes of Travis Scott, A$AP Rocky, Young Thug and more. Production credits range from Pharrell Williams to acclaimed jazz artist Jean-Baptiste, however renowned disc jockey DJ Drama’s influence is felt heavily across the album and the sound is reminiscent of Drama’s Gangsta Grillz tapes from years past.
Kid Cudi is no stranger to changing his sound. From Psychedelic Rock albums to EDM singles, Kid Cudi frequently experiments. While these past experimental projects have fallen flat, INSANO is a much fresher and a more pleasing project that has a decent amount of replay-ability. The lyrics have changed from Cudi’s signature humming and open look at struggles with melancholy, to boastfulness and an excitement for life throughout the project. This caveat, however, is where my feelings are mixed the most on the project. What was once the premier artist who could introspect deeply and inspire an entire generation of artists to open up about their struggles in music, has now fallen into the tropes commonly seen in hip-hop today. Now this isn’t saying that the album is in any way diminished from the change in vibe than past projects, it does however leave classic Cudi fans with the feeling of something missing while listening to the project.
Tracks that stand out the most to me are “GET OFF ME,” “AT THE PARTY,” “WOW,” “RAGER BOYZ” and “ELECTROWAVEBABY.” These tracks contain both of Travis Scotts features, A$AP Rocky’s and Young Thug’s (respectively), with “ELECTROWAVEBABY” being Cudi’s best solo performance on the album. Cudi’s project finishes with six or seven songs worth revisiting and many songs that can be skipped past after the first couple of listens to the project. The whole project is worth a listen at least once when you have an hour to spare, and listeners can look forward to the release of the deluxe album, with Cudi boasting an addition of 20 more songs sometime in the next couple of months.
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