Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: The End of Day

Even five years ago Kid Cudi never would've existed. It's a strange and ecstatic moment in hip-hop that has produced him, a purely quixotic figure who makes only gestures toward the foundations of the genre, yet is embraced as one of its most popular new stars. It has been a long road to get here. Anyone well versed in the discographies of rap's most tireless mainstream innovators (people like Andre 3000, Mos Def, Common, Q-Tip, Pharell and Kanye West) can attest to the hit-or-miss history of experimental hip-hop... as well as the accompanying backlash that usually whips its purveyors back into (a more traditional) place. But Cudi is of an entirely different generation, a simple fact that has helped him tremendously but also hurt him in some ways.

Both sonically and conceptually, Man on the Moon: The End of Day is a peculiar, unruly animal. Electronic music is clearly where the kid's heart is, and a fondness for dreamy guitar and piano pop, as well as a particular strain of synth and percussion-heavy hip-hop, are all on display. The last album made by Cudi's Big Brother and label-boss is the obvious touchstone for songs like "Soundtrack 2 My Life," "Heart of a Lion" and "Sky Might Fall" (one of two tracks Kanye actually produced); but Cudi will have you know that he is also heavily influenced by artists many hip-hop fans may not have heard of, namely the somewhat bombastic electronica musicians Shiny Toy Guns and Ratatat (the latter of which also produces two songs). And ultimately, it's with this general sense of show-and-tell ("Look how eclectic I am!") that the album begins to grate and reveal its shallowness, despite all the ostensible layers.

On the backs of a few influential artists with huge fanbases, hip-hop has come to a place where rappers can have successful careers based not on rapping prowess, but on a cult of personality. The crop of the last two years is largely a cypher-shy set with carefully curated fashion, musical, and pop-culture associations. The fact that the genre has become a bigger, more inclusive tent is surely a good thing, not to mention overdue. But this particular new style-first model is not without its pitfalls, and its sustainability is most definitely not assured (just ask The Cool Kids).

Cudi himself doesn't actually have anything interesting to say. It's a problem brought into hilarious focus by Common's dense, overwrought and finally incoherent "story" narration on the handful of tracks where he makes cameos. Where his predecessors had years of hard-fought, soul-bearing and intensely lyrical hip-hop under their belts before they branched out to indulge more fantastical visions, Cudi is like an actor who skipped to the end of the movie - feigning revelations that it's hard to empathize with or believe in.

Really he's just a navel gazer - first in a particular school of notebook-doodling outcasts ("no, not the duo") with a treasured anime collection, rolling papers and well-worn copies of Meteora and In My Mind. A certain kind of fan loves him for this, but there's no denying the inherent vanity of even the song titles ("Soundtrack 2 My Life," "Cudi Zone" "My World" "Heart of a Lion (Cudi Theme Music)") or the seventh grade confessionals and vague isolation/rebellion that comprise their lyrics - no matter how cool the beats sound.

Excepting the Love Below-lite of "Enter Galactic (Love Connection part 1)," the last half is considerably better than the first. Highlights include the latest single "Pursuit of Happiness" and "Hyyer," which are invigorated by MGMT and Cudi's buddy Chip the Ripper respectively. But for all the artistic claims of its "five-act play" format, Man on the Moon's tepid pastiche mostly adds up to the audio version of a "15 Things" note on Facebook. Hopefully the Kid gets a chance to grow up.

- Reggie Ugwu