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Written by Andre Grant

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Kanye West's 808's and Heartbreak has given rise to a genre I politely call “emo” rap.

I'm not trying to sit here and say that the feelings Kanye pulled out of his soul on 808's wasn't genuine. In fact, it was a refreshing almost sobering coup d’état to hear someone bare his raw fragility on a hip hop record. But, what at first seemed as a one time maraud through one persons grief and anguish is turning into a full-fledged genre.

Recently, if you recall, a polished “emo” incantation called “So Far Gone” by Drake hit the ground running on blacktop paved by 'Ye to utter success and people still don't know what to make of it. Enter Kid Cudi's “Man on the Moon”. With beats ranging from caramel synth pop (“In my dreams”) to whispery minimalist rap (“Day & Night”) by MGMT and Ratatat as well Kanye amongst others I was expecting more of a confessional. You know, a fleshing out of his mixtape work where he was both playful on songs like “Cleaveland is the Reason” and sort of adorable on “Pillow Talk” as well as somber on “The Prayer”.  

Instead, I received a sort of lonely fairy tale where Cudi moans “ Your in my dreams I can have anything that I ever wanted/ I can think of anything and everything that I never needed/ Right in my dreams..”. Theres nothing wrong with this. However, I expected Cudi to show his full range here on his first album. I mean, how are we to truly appreciate the “lonely stoner” if he never really triumphs? How can we root for the dreamer if we are never really allowed into the land in which he dreams?

I'm going to hesitate here to call him a hipster or even a hipster in training because I believe him. He mourns his father here and although some of his lyrics get a bit generic, “little homie in in the room, in in the room, boy on the moon.”  I think he's being honest and that’s most of what this genre demands.

There's enough goodness on this album to keep you coming back for multiple plays and its the sort of album that grows on you. So, I'll continue to bump “In my dreams” , “Enter Galactic” and “ Day & Night” and hope for a little bit more to ruminate about on his next endeavor.

3.5 out of 5

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