Kid Cudi Confirms Release Date for Indicud Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 03.06.2013
Cudi talks about being in a more positive place and more...
Kid Cudi recently spoke with Billboard about his upcoming LP Indicud and confirmed the release date as April 23rd. Check out the highlights:
On being in a better place than he was for his last LP: "I always try to push myself to the next level with everything I do. Since I've been in the business, critics have known that about me. When I started working on "Indicud," I just wanted to bring more energy into my sound. Most of my old music was driven towards relaxed, chilled out smoke music. And that was my goal first coming in. Now it's like, "What's a side of me that people haven't seen?" The only time people have seen me on up-tempos is on remixes or some shit. So I just wanted to take the energy to the next level. That ultimately inspired the subject matter. It was a chain reaction. With the up-tempos came more positive lyrics. It just brightened up the whole shit."
On the moment when he got hit with positive energy for the album: "It just hit me one day. It's true to the lyrics. It was definitely something that just kind of popped up. I'm pretty sure it was a gradual transition over time and growth. When it came time to start making records and expressing myself, I was totally in a different mindset. And all the other stuff that I had done previously, I was in a state of… distress or depression or isolation, whatever it was. And that's how those songs came about. But this was a whole other thing for me. I can't recall a specific moment. It just happened one day when I was starting to write my songs. That's when I start to have my reflective moments. And then I was like, "Wow, I really am in a different space." I came up with that hook first. And then I'm like, "Why did I come up with that hook? ‘Immortal.' What am I saying here?" I have all these revelations as I'm writing. Each song is like a chapter of my diary."
On producing the first three singles: "Working on this album made me realize that I just have a knack for creating music. It's a gift. And there's no denying it. "Just What I Am" took me all of 10 minutes to make. "Immortal" maybe took 30 minutes. It's not hard for me. "Indicud" is almost what my first album should have sounded like, had I really been able to channel all of the ideas I had into music. That's the beauty of this album. The ideas are coming straight from me and me only. It's exactly what I want to the T. I went out of my way to make "Immortal" sound perfect. "Immortal," "Just What I Am," and "King Wizard," those are perfect beats. Not a lot of people can perform on them. I say that meaning they're tailor-made for me. That's the cool shit. Those three songs are three different types of energies. But they're still cohesive in sound. That's how the entire album is. There's not one break in the album. You're always hearing something. It goes from one beat to the next and you're rocking. It's one long experience that does not stop. Once it goes, it's gone. So I don't know how I got so good. I explored the production side of things. I guess I'm just ill with it. [Laughs]"
On sampling MGMT's "Congratulations": "I'm not that big a fan of sampling. But I feel like if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it to where it's more of a reimagining of a track. The songs that I do utilize samples on, most of it you wouldn't even be able to tell what it was unless I told you. Like for "Immortal," most people wouldn't know that was "Congratulations" unless I said anything. It's almost unrecognizable. It doesn't sound like I just chopped up a bunch of shit. There were a lot of technical things that I went in there with my engineer and did where I filtered out the sample, took away the drums and turn up the melodies in the sample. I knew what I wanted. It was always an idea of mine to sample one of MGMT's songs. "Congratulations" was perfect. I'm really happy that they cleared it. It's one of the songs that I had been waiting for people to hear."
On not being a major radio artist despite being signed to a major label: "I'm in a space where I can do what I want and I have a fan base that's interested in that. That's really fuckin' awesome and rare. I don't have to stress out about most things that the average artist has to deal with, promoting and getting motherfuckers up on it. I never once came in this game with a façade or trying to wear a mask or cape. I've always been like "Hey, I'm a human being. This is what time it is." No filter at all. And kids basically locked in with me. So [fans don't say], "Oh, he's my favorite musician." It's, "This is our boy right here. We know that he's for sure been through it and survived. We've been rooting for this dude. We know who he is through the music. We going to ride for me." All I know how to do is be Scott and create the cool shit that I like to make and hope for the fuckin' best. Swing for the fences, you know? And that's a ballsy way to approach things. But I don't demand or need the things that most artists need to feel good about my craft. I don't need to do interviews all the time. I don't need to put videos up online all the time so you can see my face. I don't need to put out a song every two weeks in order to feel relevant. I'm comfortable with myself as a musician. I know music is of a certain quality. It will please the people that it needs to please. And at the same time, hopefully I get some new fans. That's always the goal, too. That's why we evolve and switch it up. I'm always trying to get more people converted. I know some people haven't really given me a chance full on. I'm not going to stop until I have more people on board. I have a message and it's really important. I'm not going to stop. I'm totally locking in. My fans know I put my heart on these records. My fans know it's not no bullshit."
