Album Review: Kid Cudi & Dot Da Genius - WZRD - RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture

Years from now, when we inevitably discuss Kanye‘s best albums, College Dropout will be mentioned. So will Late Registration, and perhaps Graduation. 808s & Heartbreak won’t be on that list though. The response to Kanye‘s brief deviation from hip-hop was a collective “meh,” like a parent patting their child on the back after that child shows off their relatively mediocre piece of crayon artwork. We listened to it, nodded our heads, and forgot about it. It never felt right. Such a gifted rapper trying his hand at something that T-Pain or any gifted R&B singer already did much better? It just seemed like a waste of part of his career. The sentiment over Lil’ Wayne‘s Rebirth was the same, albeit much more negative. The album sold solely off of Wayne‘s namesake, but reviews killed it. Why is the self proclaimed “best rapper alive” trying his hand, poorly, at punk rock?

It is a similar question that must be asked of Kid Cudi‘s latest project, WZRD, a sort of futuristic rock/punk rock/hip-hop love child. Many of WZRD‘s songs, like “High Off Life” and “Live & Learn” pair Cudi’s slightly off key vocals with guitar riffs full of minor chords, and the results can be hard to listen to. Tracks that do come together and sound like actual rock songs (“Love Hard,” “Brake,”) seem like they’ve been done already (and a whole lot better) by the more talented bands of yesteryear.

A set of three tracks towards the end of album (“Teleport 2 Me, Jamie,” “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?,” “Efflictim”) do what they can to save the project from overall mediocrity, but the question lingers: What was the point? Cudi, so deft at creating captivating melodies, catchy hooks and a unique style of rapping, seems lost here, just as WZRD will be lost from his discography. No song here excites, gets the blood going, or makes this album a memorable one. Cudi should get back to doing what made Man on the Moon: The End of Day, such an incredible album: making music that he’s good at.