Kids See Ghosts Review

Kid Cudi and Kayne West released a new album.

If you went to high school anytime from 2008 through 2014, these words are enough to send tingles down your spine.

Kid Cudi was able to connect to a generation of moody teenagers with classic albums like Man on the Moon and Man on the Moon II. These albums featured songs that bared Cudi’s raw emotions and darkest insecurities plain for the world to see. Cudi’s openness packaged with the slick production and guidance of Kayne West ensured the staying power of their music. Unfortunately, after a period of mental illness, Cudi’s music descended into mediocrity and with culminated with the 2015 atrocity Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven.

Now I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Kids See Ghosts proves the duos were and remain a force for making emotionally driven art and music.

Here are my three favorite things about the album.

1. Brevity. At only seven tracks and 23 minutes long it is easily digestible in one sitting. Like an effectively edited essay, Kids See Ghosts trims the excess away and delivers its message in a lean and punchy format. Themes of alienation, loneliness, despair, and triumph shine through the music. The typical generic rap trappings of wealth, sex, and meaningless violence are not present to water down the album's focused vision.

2. Emotional Immediacy. The duo is open about their struggles in life and they leave no trauma unrevealed. Lines like, “And nothing hurts anymore / I feel kind of free” remind me of "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd.

3. Raw Sound. This album is dissonant, which works well with the subject matter. Kid Cudi’s trademark off-key singing emphasizes the aforementioned emotions. The rough edges are intentional. Kayne is a notorious perfectionist, so for better or worse, every sound on this album is meticulously placed.

However, this album has weaknesses.

Some songs are aimless. Songs like “Free” and “Feel the Love” lack clear structure and direction. While this is may not be a negative for some people, I found myself lost amongst verse and chorus, wondering when the song was going to end. Without defined rising action and climax these songs became disorienting.

The album falls into the common trap of romanticizing mental illness. Cudi and Kayne are open about struggling with depression and Bipolar Disorder, respectively. However, instead of portraying these illnesses as the debilitating disorders they actually are, the duo seems to use them to feed into the “tortured artist” trope. 

Conclusion: This album is as flawed as the two men who made it. Give it a listen anyway.