Kid Cudi
Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), better known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( KUDD-ee), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He began to gain major recognition following the release of his first official full-length project, a mixtape titled A Kid Named Cudi (2008), which led him to signing a record deal with Kanye West's GOOD Music label imprint by late 2008. His debut single "Day 'n' Nite", having initially been self-published on his MySpace page, would then go on to become a worldwide hit.
The song was later featured on Cudi's seminal debut album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day (2009), which was eventually certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album also included the singles "Make Her Say" (featuring Kanye West and Common) and "Pursuit of Happiness" (featuring MGMT and Ratatat), both of which achieved significant chart success. In 2010, Cudi released his second album, Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, which also attained platinum status and features the singles "Erase Me" (featuring Kanye West) and "Mr. Rager". Later that year he formed WZRD, a rock band, with his long-time collaborator Dot da Genius. Their eponymous debut album (2012) debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart.His self-produced solo album Indicud (2013), spawned the single "Just What I Am" (featuring King Chip). He would continue to produce the bulk of his own records, including the avant-garde music albums Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon (2014) and Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven (2015), the latter of which was led by the grunge-inspired single "Confused!". In 2016, the release of his sixth solo album Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin', was supported by the lead single "Surfin'" (featuring Pharrell Williams). Cudi's joint album with Kanye West, under the eponymous name Kids See Ghosts (2018), was met with widespread critical acclaim. In April 2020, Cudi earned his first number-one song on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart with "The Scotts", alongside Travis Scott. His seventh album, Man on the Moon III: The Chosen (2020), was highly acclaimed and a commercial success, having been certified gold by the RIAA.
Cudi also ventured into acting when he was cast in the HBO series How to Make It in America. He has since appeared in several feature films, including Goodbye World (2013), Need for Speed (2014), Entourage (2015), Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020), Don't Look Up (2021), and X (2022). In addition, he has made appearances on television shows such as One Tree Hill, The Cleveland Show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Westworld. Cudi also starred in HBO mini-series We Are Who We Are (2020). In 2015, he was the bandleader on the IFC series Comedy Bang! Bang!.
His lyrics are often autobiographical and describe his childhood hardships of depression, loneliness and alienation, his struggle with alcohol and drugs into adulthood, and themes of spirituality, heartbreak, dissipation and celebration. Cudi has sold over 22 million certified records in the United States and has won two Grammy Awards from five nominations. He has been often cited as an influence on several contemporary hip hop and alternative acts. He has worked with numerous prominent artists spanning several different genres in the music industry, namely Jay-Z, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, David Guetta, Steve Aoki, MGMT, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, Ariana Grande and Michael Bolton, among others. After signing to GOOD Music, Cudi has since gone on to launch his own vanity labels, the now-dissolved Dream On and current label imprint Wicked Awesome Records.
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