Kid Cudi: Hip-hop’s Favorite Big Bro

Ray Bellville 

Music Journalist (Rap/Hip-hop) 

During Black History Month, I’d like to acknowledge a hero who has saved many lives and many people from themselves. In 2008, the world was introduced to Kid Cudi, a man out of Cleveland pursuing his career with a chip on his shoulder from his father’s sudden passing due to cancer. Navigating through his life in his attempt at success, he ran into Kanye West, and from there, we were introduced to the legend that is Mr. Rager.  

Genre Bending 

Cudi’s production was unseen at the time, prioritizing an atmosphere that felt like every album brought you to space with distortion, dark melodies, and galactic synthesizers. His breakout hit, “Pursuit Of Happiness”, a collaboration with the indie-rock band MGMT, saw the potential of an alternative rap style. His genre-blending of rock, indie, punk, and electro-pop was a key influence on the sound of the modern era. His vocals played a key role as he often had very melodic singing and humming in his songs. Along with Future and Young Thug, these 3 started the push of “mumble rap” and “sad rap”. 

Influence 

Mostly carried on by the SoundCloud era that saw artists like Lil Uzi, Juice WRLD, Trippie Redd, and XXX that began to express themselves over more rock-sounding beats, especially pushing the “Rage”. Travis Scott has shown much due respect to Cudi as his biggest influence, which is clear to see through Scott’s humming and various songs that attempt to. The vocals also tended to stray from rapping, with bars focused on lyrics and flow that resemble singing. The beats, bouncy and energetic, add life to the track as the production turned experimental. 

Vulnerability 

Hip-hop has historically been a place for artists to spill their emotions with the lyrics they jot down, or the sounds produced by hi-hats and chords. However, many artists who did just that were scorned, slighted, and often blackballed by the media and other news outlets. By failing to keep up the image of the “mainstream rapper,” most found it hard to achieve success. Cudi had a brash introduction as a hipster/skater who wasn’t “hard” by any means; instead, he was vulnerable, often rhyming about his thoughts through a transparent window to his soul. Often, he described his battles with drug addiction and depression that would lead to suicidal urges. Being so open about his mental health, he was a prominent member to constitute to the rise of mental health awareness during the 2010s. 

Philanthropy 

Although he had his own issues to handle and control while maintaining stability, he also checked into rehab openly in 2010 for depression and suicidal urges. Causing him to become a very powerful voice to speak out on your psyche. 2025 saw the launch of The Big Bro Project, which aimed at helping the youth and young black men to deal with depression and other mental health issues. A topic that wasn’t covered much in music, especially in the black community, Cudi was needed to break the mold, and his vulnerability was felt around the world. Celebrities like Pete Davidson would go on to say in an interview with The Breakfast Club that Cudi “saved his life”. I can’t help but also thank Cudi for giving me art to confide in, as life is throwing stones your way.