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Interview: Kid Cudi

Space is the place to be.

The club is so last year, and the 'hood is so early '90s. If you want to rap these days, you have to be able to float like a stoner and sting like a space monster…or something like that.

Hence, Kid Cudi's phenomenal debut, Man On the Moon: The End of Day. It's unlike anything else out there. Cudi's got the brain of an emo kid, the heart of a soul man and the flow of a legendary MC. Welcome to the future; welcome to Kid Cudi.

He doesn't rap about how many chicks he's banged or how many times he's been shot. He raps about how depressed he is that his dad is gone, how many girls have blown him off, bad weed and how he just wants to leave this planet and go somewhere where he'll be understood. Is it just a sign of the times? Is it the beginning of a genre? Is it a classic? Only time will tell…

For now, Kid Cudi talked to ARTISTdirect.com about being an individual, balancing his music career with acting on HBO's How to Make it in America and sequel to Man on the Moon.

Was it hard putting yourself out there so honestly?

Yes, definitely. That was also the key to this album though. I was like, "There are certain things I'm going to hold back on, and certain things I'm not going to hold back on," but it was important for me to go in deep. I couldn't hold much back. I really wanted to say a lot.

Did you record that uplifting closing anthem, "Up, Up & Away (The Wake and Bake Song)" last?

Actually, I did record that towards the end [Laughs]. I needed an ending. I felt like the album didn't end properly with "Higher." It felt like it needed that last scene. The album needed that love story where you see the girl and the guy kissing and they walk off holding hands. It's that type of feel-good ending to a movie. When you hear "Up, Up & Away" come on, you feel like that's the credit roller. It feels like the end of the movie, and you get that vibe.

Will Man on the Moon have a proper sequel?

I've got a lot more living to do before I can start putting that joint together [Laughs].

Is it difficult balancing music and acting or does it all flow from the same place for you?

It's all flowing from the same place by itself. We knew the album was coming out in the fall. We knew were shooting the show in the fall. We knew we were going to have down time because the album was done. I really wanted to focus on the acting. I didn't want to spread myself too thin. I'm going to do some shows here and there on the weekend when my schedule permits. It's one thing after another. When I was done working on this album, I wanted to focus completely on acting. When I'm done filming the season in December, I want to start focusing on the next project.

Is this a "catharsis" record for you and your fans?

When people are in certain moods, I want them to grab my CD, put on those songs and help them get through certain things. I want this to be like pages from my diary brought out in audio format. I want people to feel like they're not alone when they're dealing with things. That's what this album is. It's the true essence of what my dreams are like. It's like I brought you into my world from beginning to end.

—Rick Florino
09.18.09