After an amicable split with
Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label,
Kid Cudi's third official album landed on Island proper, but it comes off as a label sampler itself, perhaps for the mythical Indicud Records (and that's the marijuana type Indica mixed with the name
Cudi) or Kid Enterprises where the Cleveland rapper executive produces it all. Prime example has to be late album highlight "Beez," where
Wu-Tang leader
RZA brings his own Killer Bees mythos and delivers what could be his anthem ("I don't write songs, Grasshopper/I write sceneries") while
Cudi handles the production and delivers the simple hook. In "Girls," it's merely a matter of framing veteran pimp
Too Short in
Cudi's bud smoker's vision of alt-rap, while "Solo Dolo, Pt. 2" takes
the Kid's theme song and allows
Kendrick Lamar to run with it, all the way to the Left Coast. Elsewhere, there's the delicious idea of surrounding AOR singer
Michael Bolton with cloud rap and EDM beats for the epic "Afterwards (Bring Yo Friends)," or making indie rockers
Haim sound something more like
the Weeknd on stoner-R&B cut "Red Eye," and then there's the small instrumental/lark called "New York City Rage Fest," which is nothing more than middle-album tomfoolery. All those guest shots are worthy bangers, but
Indicud still has some truly Solo Dolo numbers that shine, with "Immortal" turning a
MGMT tune played backwards into
Cudi's best anthem to date, while "Unfuckwittable" is the off-kilter, brain-melting mutant brand of pop-rap that made the Man on the Moon albums such a thrill.
Cudi's said that
Indicud is his
2001, in reference to the
Dr. Dre album, but
Dre was always considered a producer first, and this rapper's shift to producer/rapper is much more sudden and drastic. Still, it's an entertaining, vibrant, and artistically filling album, so consider it a "presents" effort and enjoy the show. ~ David Jeffries