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I don’t understand why CuDi & Dot didn’t officially finish this video for probably the only noteworthy track from the WZRD collabo.  Maybe they sobered up?  This “Teleport 2 Me, Jamie” music video is unfinished and will probably get pulled from all major sites.  But this post is merely a echo that it once lived.  Props to Walter, it’s a really amazingly cool video.   If you like the track, please go buy it here!

Directed by Walter Robot

KID CUDI & DOT DA GENIUS RELEASE THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR “TELEPORT 2 ME, JAMIE” OFF THEIR ALBUM “WZRD” — WATCH THESE VISUALS NOW !! **

Like most people, I first heard of Kid Cudi through his single “Day N Nite” It was catchy, it was mellow yet subliminally lyrical, and more importantly he was the first new hip hop artist I’d seen sign to Kanye’s label that seemed capable of any sort of success. Maybe I was still riding off the hype that the near flawlessness of Ye’s Graduation album had provided, as well as 808s and Hearbreaks being surprisingly good for a left field album, but I was convinced that the next thing to come out of Kanye’s camp was going to be nothing short of a musical masterpiece. Plus after hearing “A Kid Named Cudi” mixtape and “Make Her Say” I felt that Man on the Moon was going to be incredible.

In Cudi’s defense, I did come to find the album to (musically) be incredible… eventually. But at first I hated it. The dialogue swirling through my head was something like this: “ What kind of sampling is this?? “Simple As??” What the- Did this dude just drawl through his raps?! Is he really this emo? I just don’t-” and so on. After listening to it two or three more times just to make sure that I hated it as much as I thought I did, it really wasn’t bad at all. My biggest initial issues was that it was so different from the soulful feel you were used to hearing from Kanye, Common, John Legend, and that it lacked the introspective subject matter that came so easily for said three. But Cudi simply is not that kind of artist. With that being said, Man on the Moon was still being played in my Car for nearly a month.

Fast forward to Man on the Moon II, and it was a similar situation. Gone were the electric guitar riffs of “Pursuit of Happiness” and in was the “sitting alone in a dark room” sound of “Maniac” It wasn’t a complete departure from his “sound” but, like the first album, it took some getting used to, and even now there are some songs that are just too mopey for me.

But now we have WZRD, an album that Cudi at least had the courtesy to tell fans beforehand that he was again going to be switching up the sound for something more rock influenced. I, again, was sure I was going to initially hate it like his previous albums but grow to love it. Also he seemed to be taking the rock thing more seriously than Lil Wayne, who still managed to put out a subpar/slightly decent rock album(say what you want but I will forever love Prom Queen),So I had faith Cudi would deliver. Let’s see how right or wrong I was.

1.) The Arrival- I found it a bit odd that an album that’s only 11 tracks long would have a track completely devoid of vocals. With the way The Arrival is set up, You would expect Cudi to say something, the significance of the words notwithstanding. Instead we get nothing but instrumentation, so I really have nothing to say about this one.

2.) High Of Life- You’d have to be one of those people who listen to music “Just for the beat” not to have known that Cudi used to do drugs. The man introduced to the world as the lonely stoner has  been pretty open about his drug usage over the years, even the liquid cocaine. He’s also been equally vocal about his recent sobriety, and High Off Life is Cudi’s musical fist pump to that achievement. It’s also a pretty good song and seems to set the tone for the rest of the album. “Hey world, this is me being creative WITHOUT drugs…. F**K Yeah”

3.) The Dream Time Machine- One thing I also have to mention about Cudi is that he’s definitely leading the pack of rappers who seem to rap less and less with each new track, which is a shame since he’s actually pretty good at it.The lyrics for this song could not have taken more than a decent sized paragraph on paper but it’s really the melodious beat that carries the bulk of the song. This is something you would expect to hear on either of the Man on the Moon entries and it works well again here though not being quite the “rock influence” I was expecting.

4.) Love Hard- Off Key “singing” be damned I really enjoy this song. It’s a very blunt song about love that undeniably has a rock influence on the instrumentation. That is until the song breaks down halfway through into an Embrace the Martian esque beat that takes you from your imaginary mosh pit to a dance club in a matter of seconds, but still seems to mesh well with the overall song. I’d be very surprised if this song doesn’t become a single at some point.

5.) Live and Learn- Another song that may have you questioning why this album wasn’t simply made into a Man on the Moon III. The “where did I come from  moon planet” lyrics are within the same vein of what we’ve heard from Cudi before, and it’s not like he’s never made a psuedo rock track before this album ( Erase Me comes to mind) Nevertheless it’s still a good track.

6.) Brake- one thing about this track is that it bangs, hard.

Translation: "that's what she said"

In fact, it bangs so hard that you can almost tune out Cudi as he continues to drawl out what seems to be one very long sentence. Almost. Even with such a great beat it doesn’t change the fact that Cudi sounds like that one drunk guy at a karaoke bar who’s ruining the words to a really good song and shows no sign of stopping at the expense of your ears. So it’s hard for me to call this song good or bad, it really depends on the tastes of the listener.

Cudi never said that he gave up liquor

7.) Teleport 2 Me Jamie- So imagine seeing Kid Cudi say that he’s dropping an experimental rock influenced album. You raise an eyebrow because you remember the last time a rapper dropped a rock album and how much of an overall disaster it was, and you can’t help but wonder how Cudi plans to do better than that. Nevertheless you keep an open mind and when Teleport 2 Me Jamie is released as the first single, you press play not quite sure what you’re about to hear. Was I the only one who thought “What is this??” And after two or three listens I still can’t shake that question because I have yet to find the answer.

I get that it’s an ode to an ex girlfriend, but other than that, you know musically, I don’t like it at all. It actually sounds out of place on this album and having it be your lead single is a questionable decision to say the very least. First truly skippable track of the album.

8.) Where did You Sleep Last Night? -Apparently this song is a cover of a song that’s been covered hundreds of times over by other artists, most notably Nirvana. Apparently Kid Cudi was convinced, either by himself or group of yes men, that he had the pipes to cover this song. Apparently he conveniently forgot that he can’t actually sing. But what’s also apparent is that this song should’ve never made the album.

This is kind of what I pictured while hearing this song

9.) Efflictim- “If I was dead, would that have an effect on your life?” that’s pretty much the message of the song and it delivers on multiple angles. First and foremost, it’s a pretty somber topic but handled with a certain lightness that stops it from being truly depressing( Maybe it’s the Mmm Mmm Mm’s between each hook) This is the sort of artistic expression that can be appreciated on an album like this. If I find out that Cudi axed more records like this in favor of the two tracks that preceded it I will hold it against him forever and never let it go, kind of like with Lupe and the entirety of the Lasers album( *cranks Dumb it Down up to ignorant levels)

*thinks about "I don't wanna care right now" and shudders*

10.) Dr. Pill- I get the concept of Dr. Pill but I’m not fond of the execution. Again, Cudi can’t really sing so in the instances where A.) the beat can’t carry him or B.) He can’t harmonize his way through it, then his vocals fall flat. In this instance they’re pretty grating on the ears. 9 times out 10 I’d skip this track.

11.) Upper Room- This actually sounds like it could be the intro for something else, not so much an outro, and I hate to sound redundant but upon reaching this track, my ever reliable phrase of “this album should’ve ended X number of tracks ago” again holds weight. Either that or Efflictim should’ve been made the last track as nothing after it really tops the subject matter. You may feel differently but this is a track that won’t be making it onto my iPod.

Overall, It’s a bit difficult to give a clear cut rating to this album. There’s more good than bad, but for 11 tracks, including a wordless intro, you’d think, as a listener, that you’re getting an almost unquestionably dope project rather than something that teeters between “Ehh” and “Pretty Good” And since it is so short, there’s more of a chance of you picking a handful of songs that you like instead of appreciating the album as a whole. I’d give this album a higher rating because of Cudi’s willingness to experiment, which I can always appreciate from any artist, but at the same time most of the songs on here aren’t really too different from stuff we’re accustomed to hearing from him. It’s a solid 3 out of 5.

Tracklist:

1. “The Arrival”
2. “High Off Life”
3. “The Dream Time Machine”
4. “Love Hard”
5. “Live & Learn”
6. “Brake”
7. “Teleport 2 Me, Jamie” feat. Desire
8. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night”
9. “Efflictim”
10. “The Upper Room”

According to his Twitter page, Kid Cudi’s latest album, WZRD, is set to drop on February 28th. This is to be his first full album since he reportedly quit smoking, according to Cudder’s Twitter, and, also according to his Twitter, the album is going to include zero obscenities.

This going to be Cudi’s first album altogether since he dropped “Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager” back on November 9, 2010, and that album was certainly no flop. I thoroughly enjoyed that album, as did most of his fans. Cudi is a whole different type of genre; not quite hip-hop, not quite R&B… Just about the perfect mix. And I hope this album exemplifies that.

Listen to & check out lyrical analysis of the two songs Cudi’s already dropped off WZRD, on RapGenius:

Brake

Teleport 2 Me, Jamie

Pre-order WZRD here.