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After much anticipation and multiple delays, Kid Cudi is back, but not better than ever. “INSANO,” originally set to be released Sept. 15, 2023 but delayed to Jan. 12, is Cudi’s last contract album with Republic Records. The album features many big-name rappers and producers, such as Travis Scott, Lil Wayne, Pharrell Williams, DJ Drama, and more. While Cudi and his fans may agree that “INSANO” is a departure from the signature Kid Cudi sound, whether that departure is positive or negative is up for debate. What Cudi might see as “entering the race,” many fans may see as a surrender to mainstream mumble rap.
The album is composed primarily of songs with lackluster, generic beats and uninspired lyrics. The few songs that do resonate with Cudi’s sound, such as “ELECTROWAVEBABY” and “BLUE SKY,” feel out of place among the more trap-heavy songs. The album’s choice of collaborators is questionable at best and damaging at worst. On many of the songs, such as “OFTEN, I HAVE THESE DREAMZ (with DJ Drama)” and “GET OFF ME (with Travis Scott),” Cudi’s collaborators overwhelm his style, making listeners question whether he is even on the track. While many might argue that this is the point, the album strips away everything that fans love about Cudi’s songs.
While Cudi is generally known more for his unique sound rather than his lyrics, “INSANO” by and large fails to deliver any interesting lyrical content. In previous albums, Cudi typically lyricized his personal struggles with substance abuse, mental health, and processing his childhood, but in “INSANO,” he adopts a boastful attitude that may work for some rappers but definitely doesn’t work for him. Throughout the album, Cudi repeatedly raps about “bad bitches” and how “they mad, haha.” He ad libs more than he raps, and half of the songs sound immature and sonically shallow. This album doesn’t seem to add anything to the repertoire of Cudi classics, which might not have been Cudi’s motivation in making the album, but that only begs the question: What was the point? If Cudi truly saw his older music as him “being [his] creative, weird self,” why would he aim to deviate so drastically? The phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” rings true here.
In an interview on Jan. 18 with Zane Lowe, Cudi said, “I wanna make a rap album that’s not heavily drug-riddled, and not heavily filled with depression and darkness and shit like that, but make something that people are gonna want to put on when they’re getting ready in the morning or getting ready for the club.”
While Cudi definitely accomplished his goal of not making an album full of “darkness,” he could have preserved his sound while changing his lyrics to convey a more positive message. He executes this change fairly well on songs like “ELECTROWAVEBABY,” “BLUE SKY,” “WOW (with A$AP Rocky),” and “FUNKY WIZARD SMOKE,” but the rest of the album falls flat with a major loss of artist identity. Additionally, a large portion of the songs are still heavy with drug references, along with a newer theme of sex and romance.
In the interview, Cudi went on to say that he wanted to make this album for people who “might not have been fans of [his] music like that.” He attempts to reach out to a broader fan base with this album, and while at first it charted at No. 13 on US Billboard 200, it fell to No. 57 the following week and is now, almost a month later, not even charting. While Billboard charts are not everything, they are a fairly good indicator of widespread album success, which “INSANO” clearly does not have.
Ultimately, “INSANO” is an unfortunate reminder of how careful artists must be when attempting to break away from their signature sounds. They must ask themselves whether they are creating a new sound or just producing more of what’s already out there; in Cudi’s case, the latter. While it is important for artists to grow and evolve, it is equally important for them to remember where they came from and what made them great in the first place. Cudi’s disappointing miss is especially unfortunate, considering how much time, effort, and thought he put into what he saw as perfecting this album.
While this is Cudi’s last album with Republic Records, he has confirmed that he is not done with music yet. It will be interesting to see how Cudi moves forward from this album. Will he continue to go down the path that he is on, or will he go back to the drawing board? Fans will be waiting to find out.
