Kid Cudi
Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon | Wicked Awesome/Republic
On Feb. 25, Cleveland emcee Kid Cudi became the next musician to ride the wave of releasing albums with little or no warning when he dropped his new album with only a tweet’s notice earlier in the day.
Originally intended to be an EP, Satellite Flight was unexpectedly flipped into a 10-track full-length upon its release. The album serves as an introduction to the next installation of Cudi’s “Man on the Moon” series, which will be revisited for a third time in the near future. This project follows the journey of the aforementioned man back to the moon.
A fully self-produced project results in fittingly spacey sounding beats which feature a refreshing mix of punk guitars and electro-synths. The rapping done on the album is somewhat few and far between with only around four songs having significant lyrics, while the rest of the tracks serve as the instrumental interludes of the flight.
Cudi exceptionally utilizes his signature rap-sing style to lull the listener into the deep space he has created for the voyage. A much more focused and discernably cleaner Cudi is present and very welcome on this project. On the standout track, “Too Bad I Have to Destroy You Now,” he raps, “Rejuvenated. Recreated. Rebooted in a new program,” and later, “Pardon my wizard talk, but I’m elevated. No drank, no tree and I’m levitated.” It is very clear that Cudi has pushed away the substances that controlled his past life and has started turning his focus to the future. He has once again found himself perched on top of the moon, eager to tell us just what it’s like up there for one last time.
Best Tracks: Going to the Ceremony, SATELLITE FLIGHT, Too Bad I Have to Destroy You Now, Return of the Moon Man (Original Score), and Troubled Boy
