Just over a month ago it was the ten-year anniversary of the second album in Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon trilogy, Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. Around the same time, Kid Cudi released the trailer for the final entry in the trilogy, and then just a week ago he announced the album’s drop date – December 11.
Man on the Moon III has been a long time coming, as fans expected the third entry in the trilogy quickly due to the first two entries only being just over a year apart from each other. But no, Cudi took somewhat of a detour from his original sound, releasing Indicud in 2013 which featured an eclectic mix of collaborators– what other album can claim to feature both Kendrick Lamar and Father John Misty?– then a sort of prelude project to the final instalment of the trilogy, titled Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon.
After that he had a few other projects, most notably Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven, a sort of grunge-rap album from which he faced the worst critical response of his career, and KIDS SEE GHOSTS, a short collab album with long-time collaborator Kanye West. Now, we finally have Man on the Moon III. How is it? How does it stack up against the first two entries? Is there even a continuity of sound?
Like the first two albums in the trilogy, Man on the Moon III is split into four acts, in this case being titled ‘Return 2 Madness’; ‘The Rager’, ‘The Menace’; ‘Heart of Rose Gold’; and ‘Powers’. Whilst each section is undeniably different to each other, it would make just as much sense for the albums to be divided into two halves instead, as the first two acts have a similar sound, as do the last two.
The first two have some similarities with contemporary trap rap, although with a Cudi twist, resembling the music of Travis Scott in terms of production (interesting that Travis would manage to influence Cudi considering his citing of him as his greatest influence).
Tequila Shots is the first real song of the album– although the thirty-seven-second intro, ‘Beautiful Trip’ is a nostalgic opening with its sampling of ‘In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem)’ from the original Man on the Moon– with the shimmering synths and trap drums setting the tone well as upbeat. The track’s chorus is classic Cudi, featuring his usual humming and slightly off singing, with the phrase ‘can’t stop this war in me’ standing out as one that could easily have appeared in a track from one of the original two albums.
In the second act, the track ‘Show Out’ is also a standout, with the track featuring a posthumous hook from drill rapper Pop Smoke and an incredible verse from London rapper Skepta. Production here is more of a fit for Pop Smoke and Skepta than Cudi himself– the heavier, pounding drums are far from Cudi’s usual, although he manages to keep up, switching to a faster flow.
The second half of the album is closer in style to the sound of the first two entries of the trilogy, featuring dreamier production and more introspective singing rather than the slightly braggadocios rapping of the first half. ‘Elsie’s Baby Boy (flashback)’ is one of these gentler cuts, with Cudi singing and rapping about his childhood and his relationship with his mother; a touching track.
‘The Void’ is an absolute highlight from the album, and my choice for the album’s best track. It combines the best elements of both halves of the album, creating a distorted, nostalgic, emotionally charged yet catchy song. Towards the end of the track, Cudi’s voice seems to fade away, melting into the production’s synths courtesy of the legendary Mike Dean, giving the track a psychedelic quality characteristic of much of the two’s work together.
‘Lovin’ Me’ is a collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers, who had an excellent 2020 with her album Punisher ending up on many publication’s end of year lists. On paper they might seem like an awkward fit – how would Bridgers lay over hip-hop production? – but the two match up perfectly, even singing together on the second chorus and combining their humming efforts in the track’s outro. Oh, and just like with the Kendrick Lamar and Father John Misty combination on Indicud, we’ve ended up with an album with the unique combination of Pop Smoke and Phoebe Bridgers on a feature list. As usual, Kid Cudi doesn’t fear branching out.
Man on the Moon III is a worthy conclusion to the Man on the Moon trilogy. Whilst it doesn’t reach the heights of cuts like ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ from the original album – well, it’d be hard to considering that’s probably Cudi’s best song – and it’s unlikely that any track from the album has the absolute hit potential of ‘Day ‘N’ Nite,’ Kid Cudi has created a fresh project that renews his original sound with elements of his contemporaries.
Words by Jack Oxford
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