When the man on the moon landed at Cornell University’s Barton Hall Saturday night, eager Kid Cudi fans did not hesitate to ’embrace the martian.’
These jokes may seem cheesy, but with two albums titled ‘Man on the Moon,’ a mixtape called ‘N.A.S.A Music’ and tracks about martians and floating in space, intergalactic puns are wholly appropriate when describing Kid Cudi’s stellar performance.
The upset of LMFAO’s last-minute cancellation was heavily offset by Cee Lo Green’s upbeat and enthusiastic opening act. His 40-minute set was short but sweet, sending fans through a swirl of hip-hop, funk and neo-soul melodies.
Sharing the stage with his alter-ego Gnarls Barkley, Cee Lo wowed the crowd with hit songs ‘Crazy’ and ‘Gone Daddy Gone.’
After topping off the performance with his latest hit single ‘Fuck You,’ Cee Lo loudly shouted to the crowd, ‘If you love someone who broke your heart, say fuck you!’ Fans eagerly repeated the profane saying in a unified chorus.
As the sold-out crowd fervently awaited Cudi’s performance, fans pushed and shoved, scrambling to get the best view of the stage.
Suddenly, the dark arena was overcome with a bright red glow. A hooded figure wearing a leather jacket and Wayfarer sunglasses emerged ‘ Cudi had officially arrived.
Standing still for no more than a few seconds at a time, Cudi danced and flailed around the stage during his entire performance, baring his soul to the crowd with each rhyme and hook.
Cee Lo Green reappeared on stage for Cudi’s opening number ‘Scott Mescudi vs. the World,’ a slow and dreamy song that the duo recorded together.
A few years ago, Scott Mescudi (Cudi’s birth name) was just another struggling hip-hop artist from Cleveland. Now, he is a three-time Grammy nominee with a chart-topping album, ‘Man on the Moon: The End of Day,’ and a vast collection of mixtapes and all-star collaborations. His newest album, ‘Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager’ is set to release today.
Drawing heavily from his upcoming album, Cudi played several of his new hits, including his single featuring Kanye West, ‘Erase Me,’ and dynamic renditions of ‘Ghost’ and ‘Mojo So Dope.’
Cudi also worked in a few selections from his 2008 mixtape, ‘A Kid Named Cudi,’ making sure to stress the importance of his old musical work to the crowd.
‘I wanna see who knows my underground shit,’ Cudi screamed, as another Cleveland MC, Chip Tha Ripper, joined him onstage.
Although Cudi’s hit single ‘Day ‘N’ Nite’ topped charts in the U.S. and Europe, The Cudder prefers to be known for all of the music he has worked hard to create. It’s his hard work and dedication that transformed him into the architect of rap and hip hop combined with electronic beats, intergalactic street poetry and hypnotic vocal chords.
‘People thought I was just the ‘Day ‘N’ Nite’ guy, but that just gives me more fuel to get my shit poppin’ he told the crowd. And Cudi did exactly that.
After playing a block of slow and melodic beats, Cudi urged fans to get ready for what he called the most important part of the show: three songs in a row, no stopping, pure energy.
Without a single break, Cudi played straight through ‘Cudi Zone,’ ‘Memories,’ and ‘Day ‘N’ Nite’ ‘ causing the entire crowd to wildly dance and shout.
Before breaking into his final song of the show, Cudi called out to the crowd.
‘I kinda wanna talk to y’all,’ he said as he took a seat on stage.
For the proceeding 10 minutes, Cudi delivered an intimate and engaging speech, causing the room to fall completely silent.
‘I know how it is, being in college and trying to figure it all out,’ Cudi told the audience. ‘I know life is kinda crazy, but it’s all good. You fall, you get back up, you’re unbreakable, you can do anything.’
Cudi’s motivational speech was the perfect precursor to his final and perhaps most inspirational song ‘The Pursuit of Happiness,’ an introspective tune that stresses the idea of never giving up on yourself and your dreams.
Fusing futuristic grooves, seamless rapping and techno-esque beats with an R&B and hip-hop-inspired flare, Cudi delivered a flawless performance ‘ a performance so out of this world that l was left tempted to find the moon man’s tour bus in order to confirm that he hadn’t arrived via space ship.