Last Friday, Kid Cudi dropped the 3rd and last installment of his beloved trilogy Man on The Moon Vol. III: The Chosen. Over ten years after releasing the first two installments—The Legend of Mr. Rager (2010) and The End of Day (2009) — responsible for putting Cudi on the map, he is coming back to “Overcome the darkness plaguing his life”.
The decorated artist brings back his evil alter ego Mr. Rager and his fight against him for peace and happiness to create 18 tracks split into four acts.
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- Return 2 Madness
- The Rager, The Menace
- Heart of Rose Gold
- Powers
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Kid Cudi is especially known for his themes of mental health that many teens and young adults relate to. One of his most notable songs that helped boost his impact was Day N’ Night , where Cudi talks about his night terrors always keeping him up. In the third volume, he takes us on a emotional trip to discover the power we have over our happiness.
Cudi’s Underlying Themes
Throughout the album, Cudi hits on themes of a battle within himself against “The Rager”. Claiming in the the first full song of the album Tequila Shots that he “Can’t stop this war in me”. It is a tug of war between good and evil fighting for Kid Cudi.
He ends up later on in songs like Lovin’ Me (Feat. Phoebe Bridgers) accepting the man he sees in the mirror and putting the “hell inside” in its place.
Instrumentals and Producing
The music composition and flow of every song is lined with trap 808’s mixed with the electronic synths to make a futuristic environment. Kid Cudi sticks to a fast pace for most of the album with the some songs breaking away and having live drums and guitar like Mr.Solo Dolo III.
The artist brings together the same executive producers–Dot da Genius, Plain Pat, Emile Haynie, and Mike Dean–that worked on the previous MOTM projects. Features include Pop Smoke, Trippie Red, and Phobe Bridgers.
Overall Review of the Album
The overall vibe is an escape to another planet, but I don’t think the album itself could ever top the impactful voice the previous installments had for people at the time. It has some great songs to go crazy to, as well as ones that you can listen to while vibing in your room late at night.
This album was still amazing in its own right and has unforgettable tracks I will be playing for years to come. Kid Cudi showed us a side of himself that managed to release his inner demons, which was the purpose of the previous two Man on the Moon.
My Top Five Tracks for the Album (No Order)
