Album Review: Kid Cudi: Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager

(great album cover, by the way)

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It may very well be Scott Mescudi vs. The World (Nice reference to Scott Pilgrim, Cudi, you nerd.). I've heard people talk bad on him in so many varied ways since his wonderful debut album was released. His live show sucks (which, honestly, is kind of true). His music is too introspective (which, honestly, I kind of like). He gets in trouble with the cops for possibly assaulting a woman while on liquid cocain (?). Wale (yes, Wale) dissed him in an interview, creating one of the most hilariously weak beefs in rap history.

So what does Kid Cudi have to show for all this? A new album, of course. The first in a series of releases this month on Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label, Kid Cudi's new album is a great start, with Kanye's new album hopefully being a great end. While The Legend of Mr. Rager doesn't reach the heights of Cudi's debut, it is still a strong album in its own right.

And. Here. We. Go.

Act I: The World I Am Ruling

Track 1: Scott Mescudi vs. The World
First off: I love the first sound we hear is a throwback to the first track on The End of Day. Perfect intro track. Kid Cudi really gets the idea of a concept album by now, so it's not all that surprising. Along that note, the beats on this album really flow very well together. While some are better than others, there is a certain thematic quality to the album's beats as a whole, which I thought was pretty neat. On a specific note, I like this beat a lot. The keys could have been brought down an octave, but other than that no complaints. Cee Lo Green (who is apparently the soul machine) also guests on this one for the chorus. I like Cee Lo, but he feels kind of out of place here. Overall and pretty great opening track

Verdict 8/10


Track 2: REVOFEV
This song has been floating around for a long time, which has given us a long time to digest it. I have been a big fan of this song since it was leaked. Strangely optimistic and anthemic for a Kid Cudi song. It also uses such an unorthodox, rock instrument heavy beat that it just stands out, even this early in the album. Definitely one of the stronger tracks on here.
Verdict: 9/10

Act II: A Stronger Trip




Track 3: Don't Play This Song
Strong beat. Also contains the lyrics "I never gave a fuck about a scantron" which I thought was kind of funny. Mary J. Blige guest stars, but seems mostly wasted. Mostly about how he doesn't care about people's advice and how they should just let him live his life. Feels like it is kind of lacking something though.
Verdict: 6/10


Track 4: We Aite (Wake Your Mind Up)
This is pretty much a interlude track. Kind of interesting in a way, but nothing special.
Verdict: 5/10


Track 5: Marijuana
I guess it was only a matter of time before Cudi straight up made a song about weed. While I'm not the biggest fan of drug songs (unless it's the Clipse of older gangster rap), This song is pretty good in spite of its subject matter. Dot Da Genius's beat fits the subject matter perfectly, and it is a pretty well rounded song.
Verdict: 7/10


This album has 17(!) tracks. So I'm gunna be taking some breaks every so often.
BREAK: Speaking of the Clipse...



Track 6 Mojo So Dope
This is an interesting one. Vocal sample is strange, but not horrible. Feels like it is lacking enthusiasm for a song called "Mojo So Dope". Other than that, not bad.
Verdict: 7/10


Act III: Party On


Track 7: Ashin' Kutcher
This was a weird one to rate. There are parts of this song that work pretty well, but in other places it is just straight up horrible. But the beat is kind of cool, even if it doesn't fit Cudi all that well. Chorus is just I don't even know.
Verdict: 6/10


Track 8: Erase Me
I probably shouldn't like "Erase Me". It's pretty damn cheesy. But for some reason I really, really, like it. The beat was done by the same guy that did Lil' Wayne's "Lollipop" (random fact I guess). It sounds like a rock track more than a rap track, which strangely fits Cudi, where it most certainly doesn't fit most rap artists (especially Lil' Wayne). I would probably give this song a 10 if Kanye didn't use the word Diarrhea in his guest verse.
Verdict: 9/10


BREAK:
Video for "Erase Me" featuring some very nerdy guests


Track 9: Wild'n Cuz I'm Young
This is kind of becoming an alarming theme. While this song isn't bad, it's just lacking the lyrical and emotional flair that Kid Cudi showed on The End of Day and sparingly on this album. It seems like this album really didn't need to be 17 tracks long. Easily could have cut a couple tracks like this.
Verdict: 6/10


Track 10: The Mood
This beat is sinister. That is the best word I could use to describe it. I mean damn, this beat is pretty interesting. I think if this song just had some generic beat I probably wouldn't like it, but the beat and the lyrics sync up pretty well. It ends up being a very tightly woven track. It manages to work, where given any small change, it probably wouldn't.
Verdict: 8/10


Act IV: The Transformation


Track 11: Maniac
Where to start on this one. The Cage feature? The inexplicable St. Vincent sample? It is stunning to me that this song exists at all. Such a weird intersection of artists that you wouldn't think would ever all be in the same room together, let alone be featured on one song. But after saying that, I should also say that I like all three of these artists, and while it's certainly a strange and somewhat off-putting song, I like it.
Verdict: 9/10


BREAK:
The St. Vincent song that Cudi samples in this song, just so you can understand how strange this is.



Track 12: Mr. Rager
Title Track! This is a bit more laid back than we are used to seeing Kid Cudi, but it actually fits him on this track compared to some of the other slower tracks so far. (Can I just say, on a side note, that reviewing this album is like running the music critic equivalent of a marathon.) Maybe it's the pace of the drums combined with Cudi's vocals, but this song sounds very well synced up.
Verdict: 8/10


Track 13: These Worries
Haha yes. I think I'm just going to post the lyrics to the first like 30 seconds of this song:

"Yeah the crazy the wizard

So much whiskey all in my liver
I really like the punch it delivers
Makes me warm while I high five sinners"

It's nice to know that me and Scott both have an affinity for whiskey. That alone makes this song at least an 8. But you know what? This is a pretty good, sort of depressing, track. Getting back to the introspective style that Cudi is so good at. Mary J. Blige is back again, and this time she is more properly utilized.

Verdict: 9/10

Track 14: The End

"The End" is something of a slow burner. GLC and Chip tha Rapper start the song out, which is probably why the song takes a while to build. There is nothing wrong with either of these artists, but they certainly aren't Kanye, Common, or any other higher class feature Cudi could have probably got for this song. Nicole Wray, who apparently sings the chorus, sounds like she could have sang the chorus to a Wu-Tang member's track back in '96. In fact, that's kind of what this song reminds me of. It has a very old school feel both musically and lyrically. On top of that it is pretty damn depressing. By the end of this song, I ended up actually liking it more than I originally thought I would.

Verdict: 8/10

Act V: You Live & You Learn

Track 15: All Along

Man, this denouement is getting really depressing. Cudi just repeats how he thinks he is going to be alone the rest of his life in "All Along". So yeah, depressing. But the beat is really good and fits the subject matter. Just so, so, depressing. I really like the use of strings on this song. Also, let's face it, I really like depressing songs.

Verdict: 8/10

Track 16: Ghost! 

Another song about being alone. Man Cudi, get some friends. I guess this one is more fleshed out than its predecessor. It's more about Scott realizing that he just doesn't fit in with the people he hangs out with, and he's actually trying to figure out what happened. Pretty much he wants to know how he became a ghost (I guess that's why the song is named that, huh). Beat is good, not great.

Verdict: 9/10

ONE MORE BREAK:
Another ghost song

Track 17 (FINALLY): Trapped In My Mind

This is pretty much Cudi's equivalent to a "The Good Times are Killing Me" track. The beat reminds me of the Shining for some reason. Interesting little distortion on Cudi's voice gives it a good thematic link with the track name as well as the lyrical content. Good way to end the album, but wouldn't it have been easier to put the song actually named "The End" as the outro track? Just sayin'...

Verdict: 8/10

Cohesiveness Score: 10/10

This album has acts. that is pretty much all you need to know about how cohesive in concept it is.

FINAL SCORE: 140/180 = 7.8 (If anyone wants to check my math that would be nice)

Final Thoughts:

This is a good album. I really wanted to like it more. But it is probably about 4-ish songs too long, and because of these couple of throwaway songs, it suffers as a whole. Saying that, I would still certainly recommended it. I think the fact that there is no 10/10 tracks on this album explains that while it is really awesome to have a conceptually strong album, you need to have some strong stand out tracks in there as well.