Kid Cudi will be gracing Australia’s shores this month as part of Good Vibrations festival, and the Cleveland, Ohio native is excited as any festival punter.
“I've been waiting to come back to Australia, like I've been fiending. You don't even know, I've been waiting so long to get back out to there.”
Cudi's reputation has been steadily improving for the last couple of years thanks in no part to attracting the attention of Kanye West. A signing to West's label GOOD Music followed from Cudi's debut mixtape, 'A Kid Named Cudi', along with a slew of collaborations with artists such as Lady Gaga, Common, Snoop Dogg and Jay Z.
With the overall buzz and star status of this magnitude, it only seems natural that Cudi would try his hand at acting. He describes how it has always been a personal passion alongside music. "I've been shooting an HBO show (‘How To Make It In America’) and chilling with family in between. It's the same people that did ‘Entourage’; it's a really dope show man. I can't be more excited than I already am. Trying something different outside of music, I feel like a new man. Movies are something I've always been passionate about, it was actually my first real passion."
The project is Cudi's first foray into acting and apparently his only one for the foreseeable future. "This is the first project so far, I'm just focusing on that. I'm just trying to take my time. This show is a big deal, I've signed on for six years. It's gonna be a really dope thing, it's going to keep growing. I think a lotta people are going to be fans of it."
So, will this have any ramifications for Cudi's output in the recording studio? He goes on to explain his ethos towards a dual career.
"I'm definitely just trying to balance out both, take time for each thing. Right now I'm taking the time for the acting and then when I'm inspired to do another album, I'll be doing it."
Cudi's debut album, 'Man On The Moon', is without doubt an unconventional take on hip hop, featuring unexpected guests such as MGMT and Ratatat, a great deal of vocalising and left-field production. Cudi goes on to describe the purpose of his debut album.
"Yeah, that was definitely my main goal. I was really happy it came out the way it did and that people were appreciating it. That was the most exciting part to me. I wasn't trying to focus on how many albums I was going to sell or anything like that. I was just excited that people got it and understand it."
Potent excitement and an indie mentality seem to be the hallmarks of how Cudi operates as an artist. He also displays an admiration for indie artists and how they approach their music. Cudi was immensely eager to collaborate with both MGMT and Ratatat, and also surprised by the sway he holds these days.
"I'm a huge fan of each group and to have them on the album, I was bugged out. I always wanted to do a song with Ratatat and then I was like, wait a minute, I can just ask them now. I'm at that point in my career where I can reach out to other artists and collaborate. The Ratatat collab came first. Then with MGMT I asked my A&R to reach out to their people; they responded and we got in the studio and made it work."
However, Cudi is conscious of the drawbacks to the high levels of management involved in major record labels. He espouses strong convictions pertaining to the effect of commercialisation on artist’s music.
"Once an artist goes mainstream, you tend to notice those changes by the industry and the label. All these bands stay true to themselves, to their sound, their content and their fans and that inspired me to keep the same thing rolling with my music. My fear was that my fans would grab my album and think the mixtape was still better. I wanted people to only have good things to say."
