Working with producers Haynie and Ratatat, there's also this distinctive new wave flavor to many of the songs included on Moon, edging closer to indie rock in many cases where the instrumentals are concerned. Tracks like "Simple As." and "Sky Might Fall" sound like they could've had nearly the same sonic outcome had they been performed by West instead of Cudi. Man On The Moon can border on sonic thievery at times, working at a slow, deliberate pace that is not unlike what Yeezy broke the mold with on 808's. As was mentioned earlier, Cudi was working under the tutelage of Kanye West, one of the most singular voices in hip-hop from both a writing and production standpoint. Both albums achieved both commercial and critical success, but which one will win this battle of the debut albums? Let's get into it! ProductionĪs far as helping hands on freshman projects go, both Kid Cudi and Wale had an embarrassment of riches at their disposal when it came time to fashion their proper full-length debuts, outside of mixtape culture. Cudi found himself sandwiched between two highly-regarded Kanye West releases on GOOD Music, positioning himself as a rapper who was after some long-form artistic integrity, rather than being focused on chasing that hit radio single (which he ended up getting anyways, once Crookers remixed "Day 'n' Night"). The DMV native's LP was distributed with the help of Interscope Records, a name that has had many storied acts from the pantheon of hip-hop associated with it over the years. Released two months apart, Cudi's Man On The Moon: The End Of Day officially made its way to the music marketplace on September 15th, 2009, while Wale's Attention Deficit bowed on November 10th. The project, whose title played on the fact that Wale was mostly known to mainstream audiences for his feature work at the time, foreshadowed his hunger to take that next step, along with Cudi, out of the dusty confines of the cult scene he operated in and make his first move towards stardom. His follow-up, 2009's Back To The Feature, made even more industry pundits take notice of a man who poised to assume the role of a hip-hop leading man. Wale the gifted intro full song tv#Then, in 2008, Wale gifted hip-hop heads with the Seinfeld-inspired Mixtape About Nothing, which linked the TV show's honest dialogue to his similarly filter-free lyrical style. His debut album was soon one of the most anticipated commodities the rap game had to offer in 2009.Īs for Wale, his name had been floating in and out of music industry circles as far back as 2006. His first big slice of exposure to a wider audience was at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, where he performed a remix to Justice's "D.A.N.C.E." that was off his mixtape 100 Miles. Suffice it to say, the music world was quickly becoming familiar with Cudi's work. He even co-wrote the tracks "Heartless" and "Paranoid," as well as others, for Kanye's 808's and Heartbreak LP. It was a significant move that predates the streaming world we live in now where artists get paid, yet barely anyone buys physical copies of mixtapes anymore, digital or otherwise. However, where money was lost, a career was gained in the end, after Kanye West took notice of the tape and, as their relationship grew from pleasant acquaintances to something resembling a mentor-mentee situation, eventually signed the young emcee to his GOOD Music imprint. Wale the gifted intro full song free#In July 2008, Kid Cudi dropped A Kid Named Cudi, releasing the project as a free download. As a result, they've both accumulated fan bases that are unfailingly loyal, even in the face of critical bewilderment as time has trudged on into the 2010's.Īt the time, both rappers were coming off of mixtapes that propelled them to the front of the underground conversation. The former, hailing from the city of Cleveland, and the latter, a native of Washington, D.C., followed surprisingly similar career paths to score eventual debut albums that were both warmly received on their own, but also pointed to sustained success in the music industry, as both Cudi and Wale have carefully honed their respective sounds and chartered their own distinctive courses through hip-hop music in the years since. Alongside the likes of Asher Roth, B.O.B, Ace Hood and Curren$y, two now-familiar rappers were introduced to a mainstream hip-hop audience: Kid Cudi and Wale. In late 2008, XXL revealed to the world the names who would make up their 2009 Freshman Class. Two rappers who will be forever linked battle it out, eight years after their debuts.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |