There aren’t many good remixes of Kid Cudi’s “Day ‘N Nite” but Moski’s Switch Up is excellent. The right amount of Future House flair, while still incorporating the best elements of the original make for a banger that shouldn’t be missed.
Kid Cudi has always been a favorite of mine and I’ve been listening to his music since he was underground, well before Day ‘N Nite became a hit. I’ve always felt a special connection with his music. His originality, his realness, touching on issues such as depression and addiction, and the messages within his music.
Crookers is great as well and has released many “underground” like house hits and actually helped make Kid Cudi famous when they remixed “Day ‘N Nite” way back in 2008. The song was so successful in Europe (and eventually America) that it got it’s own music video, even before the original song had gotten a video!
She say she want some Marvin Gaye,
some Luther Vandross, a little Anita
will definitely set this party of right!
Say she want some Ready For the World…
[Check out more similar-sounding songs from both artists at the bottom of this page]
In today’s Throwback Jams post we’ll be revisiting two classic hip-hop/rap tracks from two of the most influential names in current hip-hop music. The first is the timeless classic and one of media mogul, Kanye West‘s breakout singles “Slow Jamz” with back-up from the none-other than legendary performers Twista and Jamie Foxx.
This soulful staple of the genre samples the iconic Luther Vandross’ “A House is Not a Home”. Twista delivers sonically pleasing, rapidly spoken verses, characteristic of his masterful lyrical delivery on “Overnight Celebrity” which came out around the same time. Jamie Foxx channels R&B legends of the past with his back, and foreground singing. Slow Jamz – 5/5
Next up from none other than the “Moon Man” himself, one of his more mellow and chilled-out tracks, but nonetheless an aural masterpiece. Kid Cudi’s “Pillow Talk” exemplifies everything that was right about the “more than just different” rapper out of Shaker Heights, Ohio who came across as that “weird kid in high school who was also talented.” The song features dreamy soundscapes and vocals mixed with playful, hip lyrics (I know you think I’m shady, but….I ain’t gon’ fuckin’ bounce, fuckin’ bounce). Check it out and relax with some of the spacey music Cudi is well known for.
Ever since the first Cudi song I heard, “Heaven At Nite” through a friend of mine, I knew Kid Cudi (Scott Mescudi in the real world) was going to soon be a household name. In fact, coincidentally, a girl I met at a bar here in Atlanta a few weeks back from Ohio tole me she went to Shaker Heights High School with Cudi, was in the same class year and even attended a few parties that he was at.
This source found out of pure serendipity, told me that Mescudi rolled with a big group of friends back then, and most kids at the school thought he was cool. Mescudi was labeled weird and a “stoner kid” in those days.
“Everyone knew that Scotty smoked, in fact him and his friends would always try to get me [and my girls] to come smoke with them…I knew he rapped and did music but never imagined he’d be famous” -Gina
Hold my hand, let’s chase the sun,
we both know something’s begun
nothing feels that real without you
wanna learn so much about you…
This EDM Origins post is on the electronic, dance song “Raindrops” by Stunt, one of my personal favorites in my adolescent years. “Raindrops” channels the energetic dance music and rave scene rampant in Europe and the fledgling soon-to-be-movement in the United States. This came at a time where a few years prior and around the 2000s, it was not uncommon for American electronic producers and artists to release their music on European labels and markets due to the fact the demand was just not there in America. My, how far we’ve come. Take a listen to this pumped up club track and reminisce of those golden years with me!
Next up, from the moon man, Kid Cudi, himself is electro-inspired masterpiece, “Ride 4 U”. With back-up support from the top-notch “real hip-hop” rapper Chip Tha Ripper and the eclectic California-based electronic/rap band, Far East Movement. The beat is simply crack, produced by none other than one of Cudi’s right hand producers, Dot Da Genius. Check the song out, drift off, or simply ride out to “Ride 4 U”…
The Throwback Session [Real Hip-Hop:] For our next throwback segment we go to spacey moon-man, psychedelic funk master, borderline bipolar rapper and rock-starKiD CuDi. Cudi’s musical genius and prowess shouldn’t ever be slept on. Kicking dope rhymes since 2007 the differenter rapper has been hot long before Day ‘N Nite. On “Cudi Get” Cudi kicks it old school with a relaxed, catchy head-bobbing beat. The sample here could not have fit better. Cudi uses no other than the legend J Dilla’s “Wild” as a sample. This masterpiece itself is originally sampled from version of the classic rock song “Cum On Feel the Noize” by Neil Innes & Son.
The result is an interesting flip on the “we get wild/wild/wild” chorus of the original that matches the laidback hip-hop beat. For some reason this song really reminds me of a winter wonderland or something…
Maybe it’s the kid at the end yelling “And that’s the end of my sleighing song!”
Though some may say Cudi may be more “mainstream” these days, who isn’t? I’ve got nothing but love for the Moon Man, he has made some of the most inspiring music that I have heard and felt a connection to…ever. Cudi throughout his career has touched many chords with people like me for being that “different, weird” guy, the “smart, dorky” rapper, the outer-space head, stoner and briefly, coco-indulger. Mr. Rager‘s struggles with life, his family, kid, friends, drugs, past loves, depression and medications are laid out on the table in a way not pitying, but more relatable and as something to learn from. This is in stark contrast to say, Joe Budden whose works (at least around 2008-2009) were much more “I’m whining because I’m depressed!! Aaaah I’m depressed cause I’m not good enough…blah..blah..blah” He had some banging beats but no lyrics that people wanted to hear. If you’re gonna rap about being depressed or down and out, at least make it interesting or funny… not just…sad.
One of the best tracks off of Wiz’s self-released EP: Deal or No Deal
I went out and bought Wiz’sDeal or No Deal, and still have no regrets. It felt good to support an artist I knew was going to make it big once enough people heard his sound. Most of his fans today are preoccupied with Wiz’s new songs, or only know his radio bangers (a la Black & Yellow; We Dem Boyz), but Wiz has been churning hits and industry shaking releases since around 2005. Deal or No Dealwas his first independently-released album, meaning Wiz had a lot of control over the album and you can really hear it in its sound.
It’s smooth, it’s polished, its got that laid-back stoner vibe Wiz was originally known for and wasn’t anything too flashy. Compare to his following EPRolling Papers, an album that while good, had more than a few songs the label probably forced Wiz to do and just had more songs that did not match his previous style. Wiz later commented in an interview, after the interviewer commented Wiz had said “[he had] wrote a couple lines about [Rolling Papers] in which you[Wiz] said, ‘maybe [if I had more control], [I] would have done things differently [with the album].” Leading Wiz to explain to the interviewer that his true fans would stick with him and should know that album was like an “experiment” and that his long-term success could not be predicted from a single album (and his first on a major label). Wiz predicted his future right as shortly after Rolling Papers he began to soar in popularity: Papers‘ “Roll Up” was a mainstream-hit, “Rooftops” with Curren$y became a rap classic, and “On My Level” featuring Too $hort became a party-favorite. This interview was later sampled in one of Wiz’s mixtape songs as an outro.
He was a Pittsburgh treasure/secret, and peeping his early mixtapes (How Fly, Show and Prove, etc.) showed me that Wiz would be an artist to watch. Like Kid Cudi and Dot Da Genius, Wiz also had a very creative synergismwith his main producer and others of his crew, like Chevy Woods,Sledgren and Jeremy “I.D. Labs.” Though I am no where near the fan of Wiz as I was back in 2008, after watching him show up on radio, then TV, then the numerous concerts around Atlanta (he performed at The Masquerade a ways back and a few years later performed with Young Jeezy at Emory University. I snuck into that show and ultimately my favorite performance of his before I considered him as the superstar he is now. Kush & Orange Juice launched his career and his performance with Juicy J [at Atanta’s Masquerade] proved that “bands” willmake her dance! (Below is another one of Wiz’s hit “indie” songs before he blew up) “In the Cut” sampling Frou Frou‘s “Let Go”.
Cudi has been just about everywhere a musical artist could go. He started indie. The lone black guy trying to come up in the independent rap game, rapping over tracks sampling electronic music akin to the likes of Frou Frou (worth nothing, Wiz later did the same sampling Frou Frou on “In the Cut” from his legendary mixtape release Kush & OJ).
Cudi, the ‘duder’ himself a.k.a. Mr. Rager, and Mr. Moon Man, has come a long way from his days of rapping over spacey, trippy, completely mind blowing beats. Cudi really has 10 x Deep, Plain Pat and a host of other supporters to thank for his jettison into the mainstream. They helped him release his first mixtape Man on the Moon which became one of the most iconic mixtapes of the 2007-2009 era. Smooth vocals over the heavenly ethereal Nosaj Thing sample in “Man on the Moon” is a life-changing song (especially after seeing it live).
Cudi’s rap albums did not disappoint either, though became less and less original than the last. I supported his first full length CD which had some decent new songs, but many from his mixtape. Nonetheless Cudi was fresh, new and looking to be the light of hip-hop. Until he began to start doing more features than actual music (*ahem Kanye, 88 Keys *ahem) and by the time CuDi got back to where and when he could focus on his self, he would release WZRD. An ultimately forgettable mix of “cuder music” with pop/alternative rock, which received very mixed reviews. Kid Cudi’s latest album (reviewed here) was not as bad but still doesn’t live up to the initial hype and promise we were given for a completely different rapper, black man even, one from outer space, who doesn’t mind rapping over a Led Zeppelin sample or focusing on atmospheric sounds over driving EDM beats or common street rap hits and hi-hats.
Hit electronic act Major Lazer, the collabo team of Diplo and British DJ, Switch has released a new track featuring rising superstar DJ, DJ Snake (of “Turn Down for What” and “You Know You Like It [Remix]” fame). We’re left with a nice chill electronic tune with a few trappy snares and rhythms. Check it out above and check out another, lesser-known bass/grime remix by Switch and Sinden below, and below that the same remix featuring rapper KiD CuDi.
KiD CuDi released Satellite Flight: Journey to Mother Moon with few hours notice on Twitter and exclusively on iTunes.
The album features many of the dark, space-like overtones and sounds Cudi is known for.
Following the Beyoncé marketing/distribution model Cudi released the album two months early, without any promotion and mainly just by informing his followers on Twitter the album was now available.
Standouts include the rock-influenced, WZRD reminiscent “Going to the Ceremony,” and the more spacey, deep tuneage of “Destination: Mother Moon”, “Satellite Flight,” and “In My Dreams 2015.”
“Copernicus Landing” also channels this spirit and the more beat-influenced ride through intergalactic soundscapes of “Too Bad I Have To Destroy You Know,” is what we have come to expect from the Moon Man.
The album is a good listen all the way through and reminds one of his last album Indicud with elements of the Man on the Moon albums and his WZRD project.
If this album release is successful, we are bound to see more artists “suddenly” releasing albums and more no-marketing, direct-to-fan approaches, which for Beyoncé worked incredibly well. Not good news for promotional agents, but great news for music artists and their fans alike.
LUMiNOUS Musings 