Wherein I get pissed about dudes rapping over LCD Soundsystem instrumentals.
On the hook to his breakout hit, “Day and Night,” Kid Cudi describes the song’s forlorn protagonist as a “lonely loner.” I have forgiven plenty of dubious lyrics in my time. Rhyming the same word with itself is largely cool by me. I liked the big picture of “Flashing Lights” enough to ride right by Ye himelf’s “paparzzi/Nazi” couplet. I am totally at peace with the post-Jeezy landscape.
But, using lonely to modify the word loner is felonious. It’s lazy and demonstrates zero respect for the kids singing along over buzzed-out and half-shot factory speakers. It’s no surprise that it is the product of a brain that also seems to think it can blow up by playing Rubik’s Cube with cool reference points like Crookers remixes and 10 Deep-subsidized mixtapes.
I could be totally wrong. Cudi has an undeniable taste when it comes to production. If he steps his Thesaurus.com game up, “Man on the Moon” could wind up being a solid little summer album.
Until then, though, I would appreciate him steering the fuck clear of “Someone Great.”
