Kid Cudi's "Entergalactic"

 The Intro

Hey guys, so it’s been a good while since I’ve written anything on here. I’ve been so busy with life and school, and to be honest, I’ve just waited to find something that’s made me want to hit the keyboard and talk about something. However, I decided to break my hiatus and watch Kid Cudi’s “Entergalactic” movie that was released on Netflix, but I decided to give the album a listen as well.

Before I go into my thoughts on both projects, I think it’s first important to talk about Kid Cudi and where I see him right now in his journey. As I’m sure you guys know, Kid Cudi has always been seen as one of the great influential artists of today’s hip hop generation. Starting with his mixtape “A Kid Named Cudi”, Scott Mescudi broke barriers by using hip-hop to talk about his vulnerabilities as a man chasing his dreams and finding his place in life. I personally didn’t get into him until my undergraduate years in Santa Barbara where my roommate would always find the perfect song to play during every hangout. It was at that moment when “Kids See Ghosts” came out and my brain was consumed by the addicting humming sounds that Cudi mastered so easily. After having the privilege of seeing both him and Kanye perform live, I knew that this artist was something special. While I seemed to have taken a backward approach with Kid Cudi by listening to his newer projects first and then backtracking, I think it was awesome to be able to listen to “Man on the Moon III: The Chosen” with old and new fans alike when it came out. 

In numerous interviews, but particularly the in-depth one with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, I saw a healthy Cudi going over his troubles in his past and addressing his want to see more in the future. I saw a figure that went through a lot of confusion in his prior years but still is willing to see a brighter future after witnessing a pandemic and dealing with his personal demons as he dedicates himself to being the best father to his daughter. I really enjoyed hearing him talk about all of this with Zane because I think it’s really important to see genuine artists in the hip-hop/rap world that do more than just talk about what we stereotype to be the topics of conversation in the genre. I wanted to talk about all of this first because I remember him teasing “Entergalactic” at that point in time and I think all of this made his project more hype. Seeing a much better Cudi 2.0, I couldn’t help but daydream about how wicked the project was going to be since it was going to be both a movie and an album duo. But that all being said, let’s get into it.

The Movie

So I just finished watching the movie this morning, and I gotta say… not bad. Was it a masterpiece hanging next to “The Godfather”, deserving of non stop praise as it broke barriers on what a movie should be like? No, but I don’t think that’s what Kid Cudi was going for with his work. I watched this movie and the biggest takeaway that I got was seeing another aspect of an artist who loved creating stories through his vibrant imagination using vocals and colors. Cudi has always been an artist that had special ease in creating images in his audience’s head by utilizing themes of space travel and galactic conquest in his music to capture his pain and passion for wanting to be someone special in life. I think this movie captures Cudi’s talent, and there were specific aspects about this film that made me see it. For one, I really loved the animation style of this movie. Similar to what I saw in “Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse”, I enjoyed seeing the comic-esque visuals capture the nerdy influences that clearly inspired how this movie came about. Seeing the onomatopoeia coming out in the words when there’s a dramatic scene made it more special, and seeing the shading in certain frames switch around to create moods in specific moments made the overall movie a vibe. I liked looking around the corners of my screen to see if I could find some special easter eggs that were meant for fans to dissect or seeing the expressions of characters change with flavor when there were fun conversations to listen in on. 

Another thing I really enjoyed about this movie was the characters and the unique presence each one had in the film. I had a blast listening to the protagonist Jabari’s conversations with his friends throughout the movie because they were so reminiscent of my hangouts with friends. Their dialogue was super chill as it replicated what “bro chat” is usually like: whimsical, fun, and sometimes just plain stupid. However, on the contrary, I loved seeing the female protagonist Meadow’s persona and her interactions with her side of the world. She had a unique charm to her that was shown physically through her eye shadow and her camera and also emotionally as you see her expressions as she talks to the diverse population of New York. There wasn’t anything crazy about the dialogue of this movie, and it broadcasted this overall casual feel that I think pushes the movie in the direction that was intended. I definitely saw Kid Cudi in this movie, and while it wasn’t a masterpiece meant for critical dissection, I think it was a fun time. 

The Album

I think the album wasn’t really an album but really a soundtrack that complemented the movie. And man did it do a great job at doing that. I really enjoyed hearing the songs scattered across the movie, and I think each song that appeared did a really good job at capturing the mood of the movie at that point. Cudi’s tracks in this project, in my opinion, made the highs more personal as a fan of his music and the lows just a tad bit more emotional. I think this soundtrack does justice when attached to the film because if you were to look at this album as a stand-alone project, it would definitely feel a bit more empty compared to the quality seen in Cudi’s previous albums. However, every song with Ty Dolla $ign and Don Toliver is great, and there are certain instrumental tracks that on their own create their own mini atmosphere. 

Final Thoughts

I think there was a reason why I felt so compelled to talk about “Entergalactic”. When it comes to media that artists create outside of their sphere, it can come off as a hit or miss for me. While there are some exceptions like Donald Glover and his ability to literally create gold out of everything, there has been a gap between artists being able to create what they’re great at like their music, and their ability to transition it properly into the other projects that they have interest in. I’m a huge Travis Scott fan, and I can tell you that while his documentary “Travis Scott: Look Mom I Can Fly” generated so much hype and energy… it was pretty lackluster. And it sucked having to admit that because I really wanted to see the amazing energy I saw in his music to transition into the movie, but unfortunately, I didn’t. I hate to say it, but I think a reason for me feeling like this towards certain projects that artists create could be me seeing the lack of effort mixed with a confusing vision of things that were supposed to come about. 

However, I don’t see that issue here with Kid Cudi. I see his vision, I see his fun, and I see the effort that was put into just creating a fun experience. There’s no standard in mind, and there’s no bar to reach for in order to satisfy his audience. It really gave me the perception that Cudi just had a dream to create something entertaining, and he worked with a team to create a movie that captured it. On top of that, Cudi decides to take it a bit further by creating his own soundtrack to his movie that contains his distinctive sounds and flows as an artist. This to me is really important to acknowledge because we live in a world where artists have the ability to do so much more than make music. While I don’t want to make it sound like these artists have to do a great job every time they experiment, I think it’s important to give praise when you see it done nicely. In this situation, I see an artist having a clear vision of what he wanted to create, and did a great job at translating his thoughts onto a canvas for us to watch and listen to. I hope this becomes a trendsetter for both musical artists and the general public to honestly create their own artistic experiments and put in more than just the initial thought. Draw it out, think about it, and dedicate time and energy to creating something that you would be proud of. Cause then you end up with experiences like these that you can’t help but smile after when the curtain closes. Thanks for reading!