Scott Mescudi’s Beautiful Scenery: Man on the Moon III Review
By Carter Fife
Last month Kid Cudi released the long-awaited Man on the Moon III: The Chosen, his final installment in a trilogy whose completion spanned over more than a decade. Though this record was initially announced in 2014, Cudi delayed the album in favor of 2015’s A Speedin’ Bullet to Heaven, but following its unfortunately negative reception he abandoned the idea entirely. MOTM3 became a pipedream for many hip-hop fans that eventually came true when Mr. Rager announced its revival in October, and it is because of this that I have struggled with how to approach MOTM3. How do we critically examine a record whose hype arguably eclipses every other trilogy in modern hip-hop? Artists like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Travis Scott have all had monumental trilogies in their careers, many including records that would become cultural turning points in music. None of them, however, had taken this long to complete, or had their trajectories paved with intoxicating highs and dysphoric lows. The culture has changed dramatically since 2009, so what if after all this time Kid Cudi fails to adapt and stick the landing? Luckily, this record sees the Cleveland rapper experimenting with different styles, some old and some new, delivering fans the project that they have been waiting for since the original Man On The Moon.
Man on the Moon III is a love letter to not only Kid Cudi fans, but to the culture that has fueled his career by fostering his artistic development. In the four years since his last solo record Kid Cudi has been featured on over half a dozen commercial hip-hop releases, and he even had his own collaborative record with Kanye West in 2018. Despite this, I went into this album anxious, maybe even skeptical. Though Cudi has done well keeping up with the culture, consistently proving himself as versatile through his features, I was worried that a solo full-length project like this was potentially being released for the wrong reasons. After all, he has an upcoming show to promote, and it has been a while. During my first listen, it did not take long for me to feel like an idiot.
Though the record is divided into multiple acts (like the previous MOTM entries), Man on the Moon III stays pretty cohesive in its two halves. The first half is where Kid Cudi switches up his usual repertoire and adopts a much heavier and abrasive style - think Travis Scott, Night Lovell, the rare up-tempo track from The Weeknd. The album begins briefly with “Beautiful Trip”, a track that pairs the Rager’s eerie-yet-iconic four-note theme with a spacious introduction - complete with hums. “Tequila Shots” follows, setting the stage for what many of the upcoming tracks will cover. The mix is glittering, ambient, and ethereal, but the percussion is hard-hitting with thunderous bass signals and punchy hi-hats that cut through the noise no matter how loud. The writing is top-notch, the composition is clean and makes sense, and the chord progressions are interesting and literally make me think about space. Somehow Kid Cudi is able to take many of the styles that have become industry-standard over the past few years, and orient them in ways that feel new and exhilarating. Almost every track here sounds cinematic, like I could watch the new Blade Runner film on mute with this playing the whole time.
Not every song in the first half sounds like it came from the Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight cutting room floor, however, as “She Knows This” begins as an inexplicably fun and percussion-laden track. As the song progresses, the momentum of Cudi’s raps and melodies culminates into one of my favorite beat switches from 2020. The drum pattern gets swapped for something on the lower end of the frequency spectrum, and a distorted and robotic synth malfunctions as Cudi chants “This for my sanity / Some play, some days turn into night / I say you can’t judge me babe / I’m twisted in the brain”. The lyrics here capture many of the main ideas found in the first act: Cudi is balancing between peace and struggling recklessly with love, substances, and his mental health. He sometimes illuminates these issues through a cautious pensiveness, other times with a demonic optimism that only Kid Cudi could pull off.
There are many other great moments in the first half of the record, notably “Dive” which sounds like it is trying super hard to emulate the Pharrell production we saw on Cudi’s 2016 record Passion Pain and Demon Slayin’. The track is littered with hi-toms and bouncy bass patterns, which pair well with the echoey vocals that make Kid Cudi sound almost godly. Another is “Show Out”, and although I’m not sure how I feel about the Pop Smoke feature on the chorus, Skepta and Kid Cudi spar like pro-boxers talking about their mythical statuses and guns that are the size of Kevin Hart. Though the production feels overly drill inspired considering how little Pop Smoke appears on the track, Kid Cudi truly has the gift of sounding good with just about everyone.
Man on the Moon III’s second half (composed of its final two acts) is much more lowkey, adhering to the classic Kid Cudi style that many of his fans may have been waiting for. While this section of the record still maintains Cudi’s patented atmospheric-euphoria, the trap and commercial hip-hop styles are left behind in favor of something slower. What is interesting about this part of the record is that though these are older styles in Kid Cudi’s wheelhouse, the themes of these two acts cover topics that are largely new to the rapper. “Elsie’s Baby Boy” acts as a flashback to Cudi’s past, something fans have not seen in this level of detail since 2009’s “Soundtrack 2 My Life”, and “Sept.16” focuses on Cudi’s present relationship and the love and support he gets from those close to him. The record’s final eight songs all focus on affection, perseverance, confidence, and resilience. Cudi even enlists indie-rock favorite Phoebe Bridgers for “Lovin’ Me”, a track about self-love and persevering through hard times. The album’s closer “Lord I Know” is a song full of self reflection, with Kid Cudi coming to terms with his imperfections, his past, and his faith - all while looking towards a brighter future. It is a moment that truly provides closure to a trilogy many fans have been invested in for years.
The strong points of Man on the Moon III are easy to observe. Kid Cudi comes back swinging after four years without a solo record. He can rap effortlessly with Skepta, he can ride a whole host of different and subversive beats, but he can also take it down a notch and sing over a guitar track with Phoebe Bridgers. He has mastered his 2013 Indicud braggadocio, and his pensive sensitivity. He masters vulnerability when acknowledging his own shortcomings, but he shows wisdom when knowing he is not alone or lost. Since there are two distinct styles at play on this record, it appears that there is something for everyone to enjoy. Most of all, this album feels like a colossal ‘Thank you’ from Kid Cudi to his peers and his fans for supporting him after all this time. Of course, the way he delivers this message is by assembling his dream team of Dot Da Genius, Plain Pat, and other contributors that have been with him since day one.
Despite these benefits that Man on the Moon III carries, it is not without its stale moments. There are trade-offs that come with having such a closed and exclusive circle, and the biggest one is that though the individual tracks were good, altogether it is hard to feel like I was not given the same two songs 8 times each. While I enjoyed this record, it would have been nice to add more contributing artists and producers without diluting the final product. Seeing production credits from E.Vax and Take A Daytrip was great, but I couldn't help but wonder why certain artists were left out. Kid Cudi spoke to Zayn Lowe about Travis’s influence, but he was nowhere on the record, and neither was Kanye, Pharrell, or any of the artists that Cudi has appeared with since PP&DS. It is known that Cudi is very against doing the same thing twice, and I enjoyed the four features included on the album, but I couldn’t stop wondering why they were chosen. It appears that it would have been more wise to turn this ‘love letter’ into a ‘celebration’ of MOTM by including the friends he had made along the way. This is ultimately a small complaint, as Kid Cudi has announced that he has a slew of new records on the way (WZRD 2, Entergalactic, KSG2, Project with Travis Scott), so it’s likely safe to say that we will get some more collaborative efforts sooner rather than later.
Though Man on the Moon III was exactly what I was hoping for from Kid Cudi, there is still a part of me that wishes he took more risks. He is a talented artist, and it’s sad to think that on the one solo record fans get every four years from him, the biggest risk he took was using styles that had developed since in absence. This is also a small complaint, as this is a final entry into a decade-old trilogy, so the conceptual space for risk-taking is admittedly small. Still, despite my enthusiastic enjoyment of this record, I would have loved to hear some tracks that made me double-take in the same way his music did eleven years ago. That’s not to say that “Tequila Shots” and “Dive” did not make me double-take, just for a different reason of course.
Man on the Moon III: The Chosen is a solid entry by Kid Cudi into an already impressive discography. Though my expectations were admittedly low, this album scratched my itch for classic Kid Cudi music, as well as for a more modern Kid Cudi style that he previously played with on Travis Scott’s 2016 banger “Through the Late Night”. Completing the MOTM discography, Kid Cudi managed to establish himself as an impressive rapper while also ending his 11 year narrative. In addressing both past and present, Kid Cudi leaves fans looking to the future (and the eventual deluxe of this record) for what new styles, colors, and scenes he will innovate towards. Whatever he decides to do, I’ll definitely be there.
Favorite Tracks
Tequila Shots
She Knows This
Sad People
Rating: 8
Listen to Man on the Moon III: The Chosen here:
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