Kid Cudi
Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi, also known by his stage name Kid Cudi, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Cudi moved to New York City in pursuit of a musical career, where he first gained recognition for his song "Day 'n' Nite". Initially self-published on his MySpace page, the song became a hit online and served as a catalyst for Cudi to team up with record producers Plain Pat and Emile Haynie to record his first full-length project, a mixtape titled A Kid Named Cudi. Its release helped Cudi rise to prominence and establish a fanbase, catching the attention of rapper Kanye West—who signed Cudi to his GOOD Music label by late 2008.
With "Day 'n' Nite" issued as its lead single, his debut studio album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day, was released to critical and commercial success. It received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America and spawned two hit singles: "Make Her Say" and the diamond-certified "Pursuit of Happiness". His second album, Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, was met with continued success; it received platinum certification and spawned the singles "Erase Me" and "Mr. Rager". Cudi formed the rock band WZRD with long-time collaborator and producer Dot da Genius; their eponymous debut album debuted atop the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart.
His self-produced third album, Indicud peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, was led by the platinum-certified single "Just What I Am", and served as his final release with GOOD Music. It was followed by the tepidly-received experimental albums, Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon and Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven. His sixth album, Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin' saw an improvement in critical reception and was supported by the single "Surfin'". Cudi formed the duo Kids See Ghosts with former label boss West in 2018; they released a self-titled collaborative album in June of that year, which was met with critical acclaim. His 2020 single, "The Scotts", became his first song to peak atop the Billboard Hot 100, foreseeing the release of his seventh album, Man on the Moon III: The Chosen to commercial resurgence and critical praise. Cudi released his eighth album, Entergalactic to coincide with his adult animated TV special Entergalactic; both of which were critically praised. His ninth and tenth albums, the trap-inspired Insano and Insano , followed thereafter. In August 2025, he released the pop album Free.
Outside of recording, Cudi has launched his own vanity labels: the now-defunct Dream On, and his label imprint since 2011, Wicked Awesome Records. Cudi ventured into acting with the HBO series How to Make It in America in 2010, and has appeared in the films Goodbye World, Need for Speed, Entourage, Bill & Ted Face the Music, Don't Look Up, and X. In 2015, he starred as a bandleader in the IFC series Comedy Bang! Bang!. He played a dramatic role in the HBO mini-series We Are Who We Are in 2020. That same year, he launched the production company Mad Solar; its first release was the documentary A Man Named Scott, which chronicled Cudi's career and upbringing. In fashion and modeling, Cudi has partnered with Giuseppe Zanotti, Virgil Abloh, Bape, Coach, Adidas, Calvin Klein, and Levi's on campaigns before launching his own clothing line in 2022.
Cudi has been recognized as an influence on contemporary hip-hop and alternative acts. His lyrics are often autobiographical, describing childhood experiences of depression, loneliness and alienation; his struggle with drugs into adulthood and themes of spirituality, heartbreak, dissipation and celebration. Much of his impact stems from his ability to display vulnerability and address mental health. He is noted for his experimental nature, combining psychedelia, R&B, electronica, synthpop, dance, house, punk and indie rock in his music. Cudi has sold over 22 million units domestically and won two Grammy Awards. He has worked with artists spanning numerous genres, including Jay-Z, Drake, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, David Guetta, Shakira, Ariana Grande, and Michael Bolton.
Early life
Kid Cudi was born as Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi in Cleveland, Ohio, on January 30, 1984. He grew up in Shaker Heights and Solon. He has two older brothers, Domingo and Dean, and an older sister, Maisha. His mother, Elsie Harriet, is an African-American school choir teacher at Roxboro Middle School in Cleveland Heights. His father, Lindberg Styles Mescudi, was a house painter, substitute teacher, and World War II Air Force veteran of African-American and Mexican descent.When Cudi was 11 years old, his father died of cancer; his death had a significant effect on Cudi's personality and music. Cudi attended Shaker Heights High School for two years before transferring to Solon High School. He was expelled from the school for threatening to punch the principal, but later earned his GED. He studied film at the University of Toledo, but dropped out after a year. His subsequent plan to join the Navy did not pan out because of his juvenile police record.
Musical career
2003–2008: Beginnings in New York City and ''A Kid Named Cudi''
Cudi first began rapping in 2003, towards the end of his time in high school, and was inspired by alternative hip-hop groups such as the Pharcyde and A Tribe Called Quest. He later moved to New York City to pursue a music career. After leaving Cleveland in 2005 with $500 and a demo tape, he moved in with his uncle, accomplished jazz drummer Kalil Madi, in the South Bronx. He worked at a couple of Manhattan clothing stores, before eventually sharing an apartment with friend and collaborator Dot da Genius in Brooklyn.In 2006, Cudi ran into his future mentor, rapper and producer Kanye West, in a Virgin Megastore. He recounted in a 2009 SPIN interview, "I was looking at CDs, saw the gleam of a Jesus piece in the right side of my eye, looked up, and it was Kanye West." He introduced himself and offered West some of his music. Cudi later ran into West again while working at the BAPE store in New York, and recalled: "I remember Kanye coming in one time and I was helping him get a couple things. I forgot to take a sensor off of one of the jackets he bought and I had to run out the store to catch him before he left. Pretty funny me chasing after him in SoHo."
In 2007, Kid Cudi's song "Day 'n' Nite", began being featured on several music blogs, after having initially uploaded the song to his MySpace page. This early work caught the attention of West via his then-manager Plain Pat, subsequently leading West to sign Cudi to his GOOD Music imprint later that year. In July 2008, Kid Cudi released his first mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi, in collaboration with New York street-wear brand 10.Deep as a free download.
Kanye West first called upon Cudi to reference hooks for American rapper and mogul Jay-Z, and while in the studio Cudi and West went from working on The Blueprint 3 to West's R&B-esque 808s & Heartbreak. Cudi's assistance on the latter includes co-writing credits or vocals on "Heartless", "Welcome to Heartbreak", "Paranoid", and "RoboCop". Kid Cudi was a prominent songwriter and featured artist on 808s & Heartbreak, with "Paranoid" and "Heartless" being released as singles, while "Welcome to Heartbreak" charted as an album cut and peaked at number 87 on the Pop 100.
Kid Cudi's first television appearance was at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, alongside Travis Barker and DJ AM. Cudi was promoted as an artist to watch for in media such as Rolling Stone, Vibe, The Source, XXL and BBC News's 2009 Sound of poll. MTV News reported on Cudi on a series of reports titled "MCs To Watch In 2009".
2009–2010: ''Man on the Moon'' and ''Man on the Moon II''
In late 2008, Cudi was revealed to be included in XXLs 2009 annual Freshman Class. He was featured on the cover alongside fellow up-and-coming rappers Asher Roth, Wale, B.o.B, Charles Hamilton, Cory Gunz, Blu, Mickey Factz, Ace Hood and Curren$y. On February 17, 2009, he appeared on Snoop Dogg's MTV talk show Dogg After Dark, performing "Day 'n' Nite" at the end of the show. Two days later on February 19, 2009, Cudi appeared on BET's 106 & Park, alongside Kanye West to debut the music video of "Day 'n' Nite". On February 25, 2009, Cudi self-leaked a teaser trailer for the upcoming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen film, using his song "Sky Might Fall" in the background; later he posted that he made the trailer himself and was in talks to possibly making it official.In February 2009, Kid Cudi also made a cameo appearance next to Solange in the video for her song "T.O.N.Y.". On March 16, 2009, Kid Cudi performed on mtvU's Spring Break special, and the following day he performed three songs on NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly. Cudi teamed up with partner and record producer Emile Haynie, to produce an exclusive single titled "Switchin Lanes", for the video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles, part of its "South Central Premium Upgrade" downloadable content, which came out March 19, 2009, for the PlayStation 3 and March 27, 2009, for the Xbox 360. He has also appeared as a musical guest on the Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live! In June 2009, he made a cameo in Black Eyed Peas' video for "I Gotta Feeling", alongside David Guetta, where the two met for the first time and subsequently recorded their international hit "Memories". In 2009, he had also been on two magazine covers, Complex and URB.
He revealed information about his future plans via his blog, saying that a possible collaborative album with Chip tha Ripper could be followed with a collaborative project with electronic rock duo Ratatat. On May 5, 2009 Iranian-American progressive house DJ Sharam, released "She Came Along", the lead single from his debut studio album, Get Wild. The song, featuring Cudi, charted for 15 weeks on the Bulgarian Singles Top 40. It entered the chart on position 40 on week 30/2009, and its last appearance was on week 44/2009. It peaked at number 11, where it stayed for one week.
During the summer of 2009, Cudi joined fellow up-and-coming rappers Asher Roth and B.o.B, for 'The Great Hangover' concert tour.
In late 2009, Kid Cudi was featured on the highly anticipated Jay-Z album The Blueprint 3, on the song "Already Home". On September 14, 2009, BET premiered their Rising Icons profile of Kid Cudi. During the 30 minute show Cudi performed "CuDi Zone", "Mr. Solo Dolo", "Day 'n' Nite" and "Make Her Say". Cudi also discussed his childhood, his move to New York to begin his career as an artist and more.
Cudi's debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day, was released on Universal Motown Records on September 15, 2009 and sold 104,419 copies in the first week and charted at number four. The album's lead single "Day 'n' Nite", Kid Cudi's greatest commercial success thus far, charted well in both the U.S. and in Europe. The second single released was "Make Her Say", which features a sample from Lady Gaga's hit single "Poker Face" and performances by Kanye West and Common. Common was also featured throughout the album, as the narrator.
In September 2009, Cudi co-headlined 50 Cent's "50 Fest" concert, along with fellow American rapper Wale. In a late 2009 interview, Cudi announced that the follow-up to his debut album would be a compilation album entitled Cudder and the Revolution of Evolution, which would have many collaborations. He stated he had already recorded songs with Snoop Dogg, Travis Barker, Clipse, Cage and Pharrell, and would also like to work with Drake, Green Day, Kings of Leon, Robin Thicke, the Killers and the Postal Service on the album. It was also rumored that Man on the Moon: The End of Day was followed up by a sequel titled Man on the Moon: The Ghost in the Machine and that the Man on the Moon series would be a trilogy. Kid Cudi was nominated for three 2010 Grammy Awards, for his singles "Day 'n' Nite" and "Make Her Say".
In January 2010, Cudi released Man on the Moon: The End of Days third and final single "Pursuit of Happiness", which was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA. In 2010, Cudi was featured on Snoop Dogg's re-release of Malice n Wonderland, titled More Malice, on the lead single "That Tree". Cudi later teamed up with independent artist Johnny Polygon, to remix Polygon's "The Riot Song", which appears on his mixtape Rebel Without Applause. He was also invited to be a vocalist for the remake of the charity single "We Are the World" for its 25th anniversary to benefit Haiti after the earthquake.
On April 20, 2010, Kid Cudi announced that the name of his second album would not be Cudder and the Revolution of Evolution, but a direct sequel to his first, titled Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager.
On June 11, 2010, Kid Cudi was arrested in the Chelsea neighborhood of the Manhattan borough in New York City and charged with felony criminal mischief and possession of a controlled substance. Despite his arrest, he was released and made it to Manchester, Tennessee in time to play at Bonnaroo.
In May 2010, American shoe company Converse, launched "You're It", a campaign which highlighted 23 artists from around the world in a series of web shorts. In his clip, Cudi returned Cleveland, Ohio. In June 2010, Converse teamed up Cudi, alongside Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij and Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino, to produce the song titled "All Summer". In addition to collaborating on the track, each of the artists also participated in the creation of the music video, which was released later that summer.
The lead single from Cudi's second studio album, titled "Erase Me", features Kanye West and was produced by Jim Jonsin. The song debuted on a Cleveland radio station June 30, 2010, and was officially released to Rhythm/Crossover radio on August 17, 2010. The title-track "Mr. Rager", was released as the album's second single, shortly before the album's release. The album, released November 9, 2010, debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 169,000 copies. In its second week it crossed the 200,000 sales mark.
In 2010, Kid Cudi appeared on several songs for his mentor Kanye West's weekly free music giveaway GOOD Fridays; namely "Good Friday", "Christian Dior Denim Flow" and "The Joy", the latter of which later became a bonus track on the Jay-Z and Kanye West collaborative album Watch the Throne.