"Man on the Moon" Review

Okay here is my impressions of Kid CuDi's new album "Man on the Moon: The End of Day".

I'll start off by saying it's good. Very good. His beats are fantastic, he has great lyrics (so witty), and his guest artists are great (ranging from Ratatat to Kanye to MGMT to Common). Of course he has hip-hop and R&B songs but the album is not limited to just these two genres. He goes into a more pop/rock tune with "Up Up and Away", which heavily relies on the acoustic guitars to keep beat and a great electric riff in the background. And "Pursuit of Happiness", which features MGMT and Ratatat, has a strange mix of electronica and hip-hop with a rocking chorus sung by the guys of MGMT.

Of course his obvious first single is the ever popular "Day n' Nite" which has been out since early this year (that is unless you have had his demo cd, which i recommend finding. There are some great unreleased tracks that may never surface again.) I'm not at all claiming this is a bad song, but it's nothing new and it could easily overshadow some of the better deep cuts off the album. Take for example "Soundtrack 2 My Life". One of the first songs, great loop going through the song and it feels real. The lyrics really feel as if it coming from his soul; heartfelt, yet very ironic, playing against the stereotypical rap star.

He does have some good music (that i feel would be prime remix material) that are really good for dancing to. Prime example: "Heart of a Lion (Kid CuDi Theme Music)". It's quick beats and great base-line make for a good song, but it does have some very passionate lyrics behind it.

Overall the album has a strong flow to it. Changing from a slower song to a quicker paced one can sometimes throw you off a bit, but the songs flow together well. And one of the really interesting things is at the end of some of the songs he has a story, metaphor, whatever you want to call it that continues as the album progresses.

I'm really not a big hip-hop or R&B listener, but CuDi was one who really caught my interest a while before this album came out and he is definitely one to be looking out for as a rising star making his way up to the ranks of the people he worked with on the album.