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Kid Cudi
Background information
Birth nameScott Ramon Seguro Mescudi
Born (1984-01-30) January 30, 1984 (age 40)
Cleveland, Ohio, United States
GenresHip hop, alternative hip hop, rap rock, electro hop
Occupation(s)Rapper, singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, drums
Years active2003–present
LabelsGOOD, Universal Republic,[1] Wicked Awesome
Websitewww.KidCudi.com

Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi[2] (born January 30, 1984),[3] better known by his stage name Kid Cudi (/[invalid input: 'icon']ˈkɪd ˈkʌdi/ KID KUD-ee), sometimes stylized KiD CuDi, is an American alternative hip hop recording artist, singer-songwriter, guitarist and actor. He first gained major attention after the release of his debut mixtape A Kid Named Cudi. In 2009, his single "Day 'n' Nite" reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. "Day 'n' Nite" was included on Cudi's debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day, which was later certified Gold. In 2010 he released his second studio album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, preceded by the release of two singles "Erase Me" and "Mr. Rager". In October 2010, Cudi announced that he would be forming a rock band with Dot da Genius tentatively called 'Wizard', later renamed WZRD. Their self-titled debut album will be released on February 28, 2012.[4] Kid Cudi has sold over 4.6 million digital singles and has worked with Kanye West, Common, David Guetta and other artists signed to the GOOD Music label.[5]

In 2009 Cudi, along with record producers Patrick "Plain Pat" Reynolds and Emile Haynie launched their record label, Dream On, in partnership with Kanye West's GOOD Music and Universal Motown. On February 26, 2011 Cudi took to his Twitter account to announce that the label had been dissolved due to differences. In April 2011, while performing at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom Kid Cudi announced he was launching his own label: "Wicked Awesome Records".

Biography

1984-2008: Early life and career beginnings

Kid Cudi was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in Shaker Heights and Solon. He is the youngest of four children, with two brothers, Domingo and Dean, and a sister, Maisha.[6] His father, a house painter, substitute teacher and World War II Air Force veteran was Mexican-Native American, while his mother, a middle-school choir teacher at Roxboro Middle School, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, is African-American.[7][8] When he was eleven years old, Mescudi's father died of cancer; his passing would have a significant effect on Mescudi's personality and subsequently his music.[8] Mescudi attended Shaker Heights High School for two years, then transferred to Solon High School, and later earned his GED. Eventually, Mescudi studied film at the University of Toledo then dropped out after a year.[6]

It was towards the end of high school that Mescudi first began rapping, inspired by alternative hip hop groups such as The Pharcyde and A Tribe Called Quest.[8] He moved to Brooklyn in New York City to pursue a music career.[2] In July 2008, Kid Cudi released his first mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi, in collaboration with New York street-wear brand 10.Deep as a free download.[9] The mixtape quickly caught the attention of Kanye West, which in turn spawned his signing to GOOD Music later that year.

Kid Cudi was featured on Kanye West's 2008 album, 808s & Heartbreak, singing with West on the track "Welcome to Heartbreak", and helping with songwriting on "Heartless" and "Paranoid". "Welcome to Heartbreak" peaked at #87 on the Pop 100,[10] and music videos for both songs have been released. Cudi was then tipped as an artist to watch for in media such as Rolling Stone, Vibe, The Source, XXL and BBC News's Sound of 2009 poll of up-and-coming acts.[11] MTV News also reported on Cudi on a series of reports MCs To Watch In 2009.[12]

Kid Cudi performing at Central Park Summerstage in New York City, in 2008.

His first television appearance was at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, alongside Travis Barker and DJ AM. On February 17, 2009, he appeared on Snoop Dogg's MTV talk show Dogg After Dark performing "Day 'n' Nite" at the end of the show. Two days later on February 19, 2009, Cudi appeared on BET's 106 & Park with Kanye West to debut the video of "Day 'n' Nite". On March 16, 2009 Kid Cudi performed on mtvU's Spring Break special, and the next day he performed three songs on NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly. He has also appeared as a musical guest on The Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

Kid Cudi also made a cameo appearance next to Solange in the video for the song "T.O.N.Y." in February 2009, and later in The Black Eyed Peas' video for "I Gotta Feeling", with David Guetta. He has also been on two magazine covers, Complex (August/September 2009) and URB (August 2009). Bape awarded Cudi his own t-shirt in September 2009, in reward for his music and past employment there when living in New York City.

2009–2010: Man on the Moon series

Cudi's debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day was released on Universal Motown Records on September 15, 2009[13] and sold 104,419 copies in the first week and charted at #4.[14] The album's lead single "Day 'n' Nite", Kid Cudi's greatest commercial success thus far, charted well both in the U.S. and in Europe. The second single was "Make Her Say" (originally titled "I Poke Her Face"), which features a sample from Lady Gaga's hit single "Poker Face" and performances by Kanye West and Common.[15][16]

On February 25, 2009, Cudi self-leaked a "teaser trailer" [17] for the upcoming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen film using his song "Sky Might Fall" in the background, later he posted that he made the trailer himself and was in talks to possibly make it official.[18]

With Emile Haynie, Cudi produced an exclusive single called "Switchin Lanes" for the video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles, part of its "South Central Premium Upgrade" downloadable content (DLC) which came out March 19, 2009 for the PlayStation 3 and March 27, 2009 for the Xbox 360.[19]

He revealed information about his future plans via his blog, saying that a possible collaboration with Chip tha Ripper could be followed with a collaboration project with electrorock duo Ratatat.[20] During the summer of 2009, Cudi joined rapper Asher Roth for the Great Hangover concert tour.[21] Kid Cudi was featured on the highly anticipated Jay-Z album The Blueprint 3 (2009), on the song "Already Home".[22] In a late 2009 interview, Cudi announced that the follow-up to his debut album will be a collaboration album called Cudder and the Revolution of Evolution. He stated he has already recorded songs with Snoop Dogg, Travis Barker, Clipse, Cage and Pharrell and would also like to work with Drake, Green Day, Kings of Leon, Robin Thicke, The Killers and The Postal Service on the album. Also it was rumored that Man on the Moon: The End of Day will be followed up by a sequel titled Man on the Moon: The Ghost in the Machine and that the Man on the Moon will be a trilogy, but was not been confirmed.[23] Kid Cudi was nominated for three 2010 Grammy Awards for his singles, "Day 'n' Nite" and "Make Her Say".[24] Kid Cudi was featured on Snoop Dogg's re-release of Malice n Wonderland, More Malice (2010), on the song "That Tree",[25] as well as teaming up with Johnny Polygon to remix Polygon's "The Riot Song" which appears on his mixtape, Rebel Without Applause(2010)[26] On April 20, 2010, Kid Cudi announced that the name of his second album has been changed from Cudder and the Revolution of Evolution to Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager.[27][28] On June 11, 2010, Kid Cudi was arrested in the Chelsea neighborhood of the Manhattan borough New York City and charged with felony criminal mischief and possession of a controlled substance.[29] Despite his arrest, he was released and made it to Manchester, Tennessee in time to play at Bonnaroo.

The lead single for Cudi's second studio album titled "Erase Me" featuring Kanye West and produced by Jim Jonsin, debuted on a Cleveland radio station June 30, 2010 and was officially released to Rhythm/Crossover radio on August 17, 2010.[30][31][32][33] The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 169,000 copies.[34] In its second week it crossed the 200,000 sales mark.[35] 2010 also featured Kid Cudi on a number of songs for Kanye West's weekly free music giveaway G.O.O.D. Fridays appearing on "Good Friday", "Christian Dior Denim Flow" and "The Joy", which later became a bonus track on Jay-Z and Kanye West collaborative effort Watch the Throne (2011).

2011-present: New direction and WZRD

Main article: WZRD (band)

In October 2010, Cudi announced that he would be forming a rock band with Dot da Genius tentatively called 'Wizard'.[36] However, in early 2011, he announced that he would be releasing a mixtape prior to the rock album.[37] On February 26, 2011 Cudi took to his Twitter account to announce that Dream On, the record label he launched back in 2009 with partners Patrick “Plain Pat” Reynolds and producer Emile Haynie, has been dissolved.[38] However in an interview with Complex Magazine he explained they were still on good terms: "I wanted to try something new, and I wanted to take control of things myself. Those are still my guys, Pat and Emile, and I'm still going to work with them in the future. When we start working on Man on the Moon III I’ll be calling them up to see if they want to be a part of it. I know Emile is definitely down. We had an issue, but we’re men and we were able to figure it out and move forward. There’s no hard feelings."[39]

In March 2011, Cudi announced that a music video for "Marijuana" will be released in the spring,[40] followed by a music video for "Mr. Rager" in the summer of 2011.[40] As well as a short film inspired by his song "Maniac" with Cage, directed by Shia LaBeouf[41] will be released in October 2011.[needs update][40]

In April 2011, while performing at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom Kid Cudi announced name of the record label he is launching. The new label, which he will be releasing his third studio album on is called “Wicked Awesome Records”. He also renamed his band on the same occasion to '2 Be Continuum' renaming it from the original 'Wizard'. Kid Cudi explained his reasoning saying: "I needed something more original, something different, but it’s still wizardry at its finest."[42] On August 12, 2011, Kid Cudi released the music video for "No One Believes Me", directed by Fright Night director Craig Gillespie. Although the song was recorded as a collaborative song with Dot da Genius, the single was released under Kid Cudi's name.[43] On August 21, Cudi announced that he is no longer releasing the mixtape A Man Named Scott so that he can focus on his rock project and his third solo album Man on the Moon III.[44] Kid Cudi released a video for Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager's title track "Mr. Rager" on September 8, 2011. The video has received all-positive reviews from critics and fans alike.[45]

Despite saying he will not do many more features for other artists in Complex magazine's October/November 2011 cover story,[46] he appeared on Bryan Greenberg's second studio album We Don't Have Forever (2011), Travis Barker's Give the Drummer Some (2011), The Knux's Eraser (2011), and Wale's Ambition (2011) respectively.

On October 30, Cudi released the Maniac, a short horror film co-starring Cage and directed by Shia LaBeouf, through his blog.[47]

On November 13, 2011, a previously unreleased mixtape of material Cudi had recorded from 2002-2003 titled Rap Hard was released. On November 18, 2011 renamed his band, for the second time to 'WZRD'.[48] He also announced that the upcoming rock project will be released on his 28th birthday, January 30, 2012.

In late 2011, Cudi was mentioned in a viral video by Ben Breedlove about his near death experiences. [49] After Breedlove's death on December 26, 2011, Cudi commented on his thoughts about inspiring the young kid. "I am so sad about Ben Breedlove," Kid Cudi wrote on his Tumblr blog. "I watched the video he left for the world to see, and him seeing me in detail, in his vision really warmed my heart. I broke down, I am to tears because I hate how life is so unfair. This has really touched my heart in a way I cant describe, this is why I do what I do. Why I write my life, and why I love you all so much. Life is really f---- up sometimes, but I know Ben is at Peace, and I hope he gets a chance to sit and talk with my Dad. We love you Ben. Forever. Thank you for loving me. To Ben’s family, you raised a real hero, he’s definitely mine. You have my love."

In January 2012 Cudi appeared on two songs off Chip tha Ripper's mixtape Tell Ya Friends, "Ride 4 You" which also featured Far East Movement and "GloryUs" which credited the duo as they are collectively known, The Almighty GloryUs, which led to speculation that a project from the two was underway. On January 31st, Cudi announced through his twitter feed that he had completed Man on the Moon III and that his next album was the collaborative effort with Chip tha Ripper.[50] In 2012 Cudi was featured on the soundtrack to the film The Hunger Games, crafting an original song for the film titled "The Ruler & The Killer". Cudi wrote on Twitter, "I could not have done it with out my producing partners on the project for the film, The legendary and Godly T Bone Burnett and Greg Wells!", referring to "The Ruler & The Killer"[51]

While working on WZRD, Cudi claims he had writer's block for almost 5 months because of his new sobriety. Something that never has happened to him for such an extended period of time. According to Kid Cudi, bands that inspired the album include Electric Light Orchestra, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and Pink Floyd. The album includes a song titled "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", a cover of the same titled song by Nirvana who in turn was inspired by blues guitar legend Lead Belly's rendition of the traditional folk song.[52]

Acting career

Kid Cudi starred in the new HBO comedy series How to Make It in America until its cancellation after 2 seasons. He is credited under his real name.[53]

Personal life

On March 26, 2010, his daughter, Vada Wamwene Mescudi, was born.[54][55]

Discography

Main article: Kid Cudi discography
Studio albums
Collaborative albums
Mixtapes
  • A Kid Named Cudi (2008)

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Kid Cudi

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
2011 MANIAC Serial killer Short film
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2010 One Tree Hill As himself Episode: "Lists, Plans"
2010 – 2011 How to Make It in America Domingo Brown Major supporting role

References

  1. ^ Kid Cudi Announces New Album And Record Label Name | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales. HipHop DX. Retrieved on 2011-04-26.
  2. ^ a b Birchmeier, Jason (2009). "Kid Cudi > Biography". allmusic. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
  3. ^ Kid Cudi (February 2, 2009). "we baackkkkkkkk". KidCudi.com. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  4. ^ http://twitter.com/wizardcud/status/137539161665183744
  5. ^ Wolgamott, Kent (July 7, 2011). "What You Need to Know About Kid Cudi". JournalStar.com. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  6. ^ a b Soeder, John (June 27, 2009). "Before he became the most buzzed-about rookie in the music business, Kid Cudi was a kid from Cleveland with big dreams". The Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on May 13, 2011.
  7. ^ Smith, Angelique (2009-03-10). "Kid Cudi's Not-So-Dark Alter Ego Revealed!". MTV Newsroom. MTV News. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  8. ^ a b c Hoard, Christian (17 September 2009). "Kid Cudi: Hip-Hop's Sensitive Soul". Rolling Stone. p. 40Template:Inconsistent citations{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  9. ^ 10.Deep Presents: Kid Cudi – "A Kid Named Cudi Mixtape"
  10. ^ "Billboard Pop 100 Chart Positions". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-01-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "BBC Sound of 2008: The longlist". BBC News. 2008-12-05. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  12. ^ Roberts, Steven (2009-01-08). "Kid Cudi". MCs To Watch In 2009. MTV News. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  13. ^ Kid Cudi: Man On The Moon Released
  14. ^ Jay-Z Tops Album Sales Two Weeks In A Row
  15. ^ Reid, Shaheem (2009-05-27). "Kanye West 'Inspired' By Lady Gaga's 'Face' For Kid Cudi Single". Mixtape Daily. MTV News. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  16. ^ Roberts, Steven (2009-07-20). "Kanye West, Common Lend Kid Cudi Bicoastal Support In Video". MTV News. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  17. ^ Kid Cudi self-made Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Teaser Trailer
  18. ^ Roberts, Steven (2009-03-04). "Kid Cudi Has 'Eureka' Moment With 'Transformers' Trailer". MTV News. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  19. ^ "Midnight Club: Los Angeles South Central DLC Kid Cudi Exclusive". Rockstar Games.
  20. ^ Kid Cudi (2009-05-02). "Features". Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  21. ^ Roberts, Steven (2009-07-17). "Kid Cudi, Asher Roth Want Hangover Tour To Be A 'Movement'" (mdy). MTV News. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  22. ^ "Blueprint 3 Track-List" (mdy). Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  23. ^ Kid Cudi Interview with Honey Magazine – Dat New 'Cudi'. Datnewcudi.com (2009-08-25). Retrieved on 2011-04-26.
  24. ^ Kid Cudi receives Three Grammy Nominations
  25. ^ Kid Cudi Featured on Snoop Dogg’s “More Malice”
  26. ^ Kid Cudi Featured on Johnny Polygon's "Riot Song"
  27. ^ Kid Cudi (April 20, 2010). "Lend Me Your Eyesssss". KidCudi.com. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  28. ^ "Kid Cudi Makes Changes To His Album... Again!". MTV UK. April 21, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  29. ^ Rodriguez, Jayson (June 11, 2010). "Kid Cudi Arrested". MTV News. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  30. ^ Rodriguez, Jayson (2010-07-01). "Kid Cudi Debuts 'Erase Me,' With Kanye West, On Radio - Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
  31. ^ Koroma, Salima (2010-07-22). "DX News Bits: Kid Cudi, Lupe Fiasco | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales | HipHop DX". Beta.hiphopdx.com. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
  32. ^ "Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Arbitron Ratings, Music News and more!". FMQB. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
  33. ^ Kid Cudi Plays Bonnaroo Despite New York Arrest. Billboard.com (2009-09-14). Retrieved on 2011-04-26.
  34. ^ Jacobs, Allen (2010-11-17). "Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 11/14/2010". HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group.
  35. ^ Jacobs, Allen (2010-11-24). "Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 11/21/2010 | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
  36. ^ Kid Cudi Forms Rock Band Called Wizard. Ballerstatus (2010-10-29). Retrieved on 2011-04-26.
  37. ^ a b Kid Cudi plans rock album, announces A Man Named Scott mixtape « Consequence of Sound. Consequenceofsound.net (2011-01-28). Retrieved on 2011-04-26.
  38. ^ "Kid Cudi Splits With Manager, Launching New Label". 2011-02-27. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  39. ^ "Kid Cudi: Puzzling (2011 Cover Story)". Complex.com. 2011-09-19. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  40. ^ a b c http://twitter.com/#!/wizardcud/status/44090919305224192
  41. ^ Roberts, Steven. (2010-11-05) Kid Cudi/ Shia LaBeouf Picture Leaks Online – Music, Celebrity, Artist News. MTV. Retrieved on 2011-04-26.
  42. ^ Kid Cudi Announces New Label & Band Name
  43. ^ No One Believes Me Amazon
  44. ^ "Cud Life: Mixtape". Cudlife.tumblr.com. 2010-05-25. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
  45. ^ TheCommissionChannel (2011-09-08). "Kid Cudi - Mr Rager ( Music Video) RARE EDITION". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
  46. ^ "Kid Cudi: Puzzling (2011 Cover Story)". Complex.com. 2011-09-19. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  47. ^ "MANIAC Directed by Shia LaBeouf Starring Scott Mescudi and Chris Palko". 2011-10-30.
  48. ^ "Twitter / Scott Mescudi: News update! Me and @DotDa". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
  49. ^ Sacks, Ethan (2011-12-29). "Kid Cudi touched by teen fan's video farewell". Daily News. New York.
  50. ^ "3rd album finished. Chip next, then my 4th". Twitter. 2012-01-31. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
  51. ^ "Kid Cudi Discusses "The Ruler and Killer" from The Hunger Games Soundtrack". DatNewCudi. 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2012-03-02.
  52. ^ DP (February 14, 2012). "Kid Cudi & Dot Da Genius Host "WZRD" Listening Session in LA". DatNewCudi. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  53. ^ HBO. "Kid Cudi in How to Make it in America". Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  54. ^ Photo: Ladies and gentleman, I think its time you all meet the #1 love in my life. The lil lady thats kept... Twitter. Twitter.com (2012-01-12). Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
  55. ^ She'll be 2 March 26th....were gonna hit up a bar and celebrate :) Twitter. Twitter.com (2012-01-12). Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
  56. ^ Kid Cudi announces a Fall 2012 release of his 3rd studio album « Cud Life. Retrieved on 2011-07-13.
  57. ^ "Tweet 126770388121292800". Twitter. October 19, 2011.

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