It’s been a long trip through the woods for hip-hop artist Kid Cudi. Or, rather, a long trip to the outer reaches of space and back. Hitting the scene with this 2008 mixtape A Kid Named Cudi, he staked out his place as a new kind of rapper – one less concerned about braggadocio and materialism and more into exploring the inner spaces of his mind. On new record Man On the Moon III: The Chosen, Cudi comes back in a big way, reminding us all why we value his voice so much in the first place. 

In retrospect, it’s easy to see that Cudi is one of the most influential artists of the new millenium. He combined the spacey, multi-colored production of Pink Floyd with the rhythmic drive of hip-hop, and a vocal style that marries rap to singing. (Not to mention his trademark hums). Lyrically, he (along with Kanye West) began the trend of more direct emotional honesty in rap, airing insecurities, hopes, and fears in a way that was truly revolutionary. Even at its bleakest, Cudi offered hope for redemption, and through it all offered a shoulder and balm for a generation of listeners dealing with their own inner demons. In the years since, many have imitated some aspect of his sound, but none get it just right.

Eternal hit “Day n Nite” and 2009 debut full-length Man On the Moon: The End of Day solidified his place as a standard-bearer in the pantheon of modern hip-hop. After his darker yet just as good Man On the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, however, Cudi kinda started to wig out. Far from producing bad music, Cudder simply took his creativity for a walk in the park, moving far away from the mainstream that embraced him. As such for the past decade he’s been only intermittently in the spotlight while producing hit-or-miss releases for a cult audience. It seemed that he was living up to his self-made moniker “Mr. Solo Dolo,” a misunderstood creative who went his own way, yet yearned for broader connection from others.

It started with his WZRD project, an explicitly more rock-leaning album in which he covered Nirvana and padded out his signature sound with fuller guitars and organic drums. Since it was viewed as a side-project by the media at large it was received as a general success, but it wasn’t exactly what hip-hop fans were looking for. Then he undertook to produce himself on the big budget Indicud, which landed with a thud. It was very long and much rawer than the Man On the Moons, and has since been largely written off as overindulgence. Yet it contains a number of very fine tracks, “Unfuckwittable” and “Red Eye” chief among them. Indicud also features some killer verses from Kendrick Lamar and the RZA, and stacks up to be his most underrated album. His next, Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon, went even more under the radar. It’s mostly instrumental and extremely far out, echoing the title perfectly. It’s a late-night album if there ever was one. Again, nothing even close to a single.

That brings us to Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven. This was marketed as even more of a straight rock record than WZRD, which isn’t a bad thing. But the resulting album sucks, a muddle of underwritten songs and poor production interspersed with – I’m not kidding – Beavis & Butthead skits. It really is one of the most disappointing records I’ve ever heard from an artist that I like, and it led many to wonder if Cudi had lost the plot. Shortly after its release he checked himself into a mental health facility for depression and suicidal thoughts, which confirmed that our hero was not in a good place. When he got out he released Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’, which was more in line with his earlier stuff than anything that had come in the interim. Yet it is even longer than Indicud and doesn’t have any stand-out singles, so it was largely ignored by the mainstream. While not as good as his best, it was a treat for those who had stuck with him, yet the broader indifference says much about how the larger culture had left him behind.

The most publicity Cudi received recently was in 2018 when he put out Kids See Ghosts in collaboration with longtime friend Kanye West. They had previously collaborated as part of Ye’s larger G.O.O.D. Music collective, but this was the first time that they explicitly worked together one-on-one. It was a huge success, their two styles complementing perfectly. At the same time, more than half of the hype around KSG was over West, who was going through a particularly manic phase of his ongoing media circus.

So when he announced that he would officially be releasing Man On the Moon III, the world held its breath. Here was an artist who, after a decade of high highs and low lows, was returning explicitly to his reputation making material. Was it an attention grab? In light of past releases, would it measure up to the canonical status of the first two? 

 Lo and behold, it does. Kid Cudi works with the same producers who helmed the first two, but besides pure sonics, he taps into the same dreamy yet catchy, contemplative yet ultimately hopeful spirit that made the prior entries so magic.

As soon as those trademark hums float in on intro “Beautiful Trip,” you know it’s going to be a good ride, and you don’t realize how much you missed the Kid until it starts. True opener Tequila Shots is a propulsive single, and from there we move into the sort of structures and sounds that we’d expect to hear, and that is what makes it so gratifying. Airy melodies support drifting verses, synth and keyboards wash over deep beats. Early highlight “She Knows This” has some serious swagger, and “Dive” bops on a more modern, trappy beat that shows he’s been paying attention to protege Travis Scott. The first half concludes with “Mr. Solo Dolo III,” in which we hear the rapper go deep and deliver some of his best material in ages. The second half begins a little slow but picks up with “The Void.” “The Void” may be the best song on the record, a huge song about letting go of pressures around you and getting into the flow state. Things finish strong from there, with a very complimentary Phoebe Bridgers feature on “Lovin’ Me,” and late night party track in “Rockstar Knights” with Trippie Red. The Chosen concludes with “4 Da Kidz” and “Lord I Know,” two tracks that flow together in a final declaration of purpose from Cudder, and it feels that even though there will always be demons to wrestle with, our hero has come to a good place in which he can look ahead with excitement. 

As he’s already announced the 2021 release of follow-up Entergalactic, I’m excited too. Despite an uneven discography and some ticks that may read as corny to the cynical, Kid Cudi has built a space that’s all his own on the back of restless creativity and broad taste. More than that, his lyrical and personal sincerity put forth a genuine realness that is uncommon for celebrities of any kind. The buzz around Man On the Moon III shows that the music public is receptive too. The record captures the essence of his sound while also incorporating enough modern touches to grab a younger generation of listeners. It highlights that there isn’t too far of a jump from Cudi’s clouds of sound and heart-on-sleeve sentiment to the colorful emo cuts of Soundcloud rap. Its success shows that the mainstream was ready for Kid Cudi’s return as well – partly because he helped make it, and partly because we all at times feel like Mr. Solo Dolo. Let’s hope he sticks around with us for a while.