Kanye West Kid Cudi | Kids See Ghosts

Family Average: 5.6/7

Here we are everyone, back at it again with the family, some tunes, and a new friend. Bryce Parsons joins us today with his lovely addition to the listening list "Kids See Ghosts" . Side note: Bryce also runs an incredible comedy group that you can check out here

But these reviews are NO JOKE. Listen along Spotify as you check out what we had to say:

"Feel the Love" & "Fire", great way to open the album. Raw poetry mixed with inventive riffs. The layering of words, vocals and music, is especially powerful on "Fire".   Then "4th dimension" just said Kayne to me. His style and crazy energy were strong here. The way the lyrics were set to such mesmerizing melodies should help it's appeal to non-rap fans, (Dad?). "Free" kind of reminded me of the band "Living Colour", just slowed down a bit. The same type of energy & intensity though.

I love how they dive into songs and then just figure it out. It gives the album a "live" quality. And of course, its Kayne so you just can't look away, add in Kid Cudi you don't want to.

6/7

I’m a big Kid Cudi fan, so I was excited for this album but didn’t know which Cudi I was going to get. Aside from Pusha T’s out-of-place first verse on the very first song, this album is a near perfect return for Kid Cudi post-rehab, and a solid project from Kanye. ‘Feel the Love’ had to grow on me, but after several listens, Kanye’s wild yelling, along with the hypnotic chants from Cudi, make this a song I can play over and over again. Overall, the album (especially the last 4 songs) do a great job of telling the story of two troubled individuals on the path to redemption. When the cathartic harmonies in ‘Freeee’ hit, I was hooked, and the album never let me go after that. This song in particular does such a good job at blending the simplicity of the lyrics and complexity/depth of the production (that little synth run that keeps popping up at the end?!!?) together seamlessly. ’Reborn’ might be my favorite song this year, and along with ‘Cudi Montage’, are so reminiscent of Cudi’s first two projects that the nostalgia smacked me in the face. There’s a funny tweet I saw that says “Kid cudi verses really have you feeling new emotions like happsad and joypression”, and it’s so accurate, it feels like a personal attack.

I’ve waited a long time for an album like this from Cudi, and my only complaint is that I wish it was longer, and even more Cudi-er.

6/7

Wow okay major apologies because I, in my haste, actually listened to the wrong album! That being said Kid Cudi was on the album that I listened to sooo let's not think I completely dropped the ball on this one. As a matter of fact, it's incredible how much my original review still applies. That’s not me being lazy and wanting to use the bit I wrote before, I swear.

Until today I had not checked in on Cudi. After "Wizard" the two of us kind of lost touch. I moved on to different things. However, after the quick refresher I had listening to his older album I was kind of excited to hear the actual new album. It did not disappoint. 

In my original review, I wrote how there's a spectacular use of sampling that creates this eclectic, kind of collage, feeling that I'm often drawn to. That still holds true. What is it about layering in old recordings that just make things sound so much cooler? Notable samples that I wanted to point out include that wacky strung out guitar loop that popped up at the ending of “Fire”, and the wacky swing music fella that came in on "4th dimension", once again proving that electro-swing could be cool if every other entry to the genre was not complete trash. I was also happy to find some really amazing punchy, distorted drums at the ending of the opening track, “Feel The Love”.

Okay well to wrap this up I would say I  liked this a hundred times more than the crappy bootleg mixtape that I listened to earlier today. Hearing the two side by side shows how this artist has matured leaps and bounds, to the point where he can comfortably share an album built up by someone with a crazy wicked imagination like Kanye.

6/7….again

Cudi reappeared into my life on “A$AP Forever REMIX” and god he just makes me so fucking happy. This latest collaboration is no exception.

He came back so gracefully, with so much raw real emotion, power, and passion. And then you have the Kanye West factor. I disagree with a lot of who Kanye has become, but I will say that anything produced by him will be masterfully beautiful. “Fire”--That iconic Cudi humming yesssss, as Kanye is spitting aaah so perfect. Cudi’s voice itself is unique, recognizable, moving, and now you can add nostalgic. He just makes you feel likes its always gonna be sunny outside.

Both of them as artists and the way they were fit together in this album just worked so well. Every sample, drum, noise, there’s not a beat out of place. And I just have to point out “Reborn”- that undeniable Cudi style, but with a touch of Kanye,  flavored with progression.

Please stay a while Cudi.

6/7

Let’s just say this is not my preferred music. I do not appreciate rap, as a matter of fact a really abhor it. Okay, I just had to get that out there. So with "Kids See Ghosts" I really tried to find something, anything, pleasing to the soul and I am pleasantly surprised to say that I did like some of it. Small glimmers of sunshine in the darkness of rap music.

Here are the highlights: “feel the love” had a nice reggae vibe to it (before the traditional rap kicked in). “4th dimension" was playful and fun, it had a real swing sound, sort of a Louis Armstrong, feel to it. “Free Ghost” was the closest resemblance to what I would consider to be music. I actually liked the entire track. The final highlight for me was “Reborn”, which had a Beach Boys piano vocals vibe. I also actually liked that one quite a bit.

Maybe I am coming around, or maybe i’ve had just the right amount of vodka. Anyway Mick Jagger once said “ you cannot take country music seriously". Maybe rap is like that to me, all it takes is to listen to it with a light heart.

5/7

I was skeptical about this because Yeezus / Ye / Kim’s husband has been on a torrent of music releases lately. He’s come out of the Kardashian woodwork, producing and sticking his foot in a bunch of new projects — most notably his own, ye. That album didn’t win me over, but this one did. I think Kid Cudi breathes some serious life into the project, knocking West down a peg or two as the innovator. That being said, this album re-establishes Kanye’s ability to just play and experiment  -- especially on “Feel the Love,” where his screaming vocals just annihilate the trippy vibe. It is short, sweet, and downright eclectic. There’s a bit of grunge worked through and some wild samples (anyone catch Marcus Garvey and Kurt Cobain in there?), but overall it feels like a fun and psychedelic opus in their respective catalogues. It’s worth a listen and will definitely resonate with a lot of people.

So Kanye, in the immortal words of Kris Jenner:  “You’re doing great, honey.”

5/7