| "Cudi Montage" | |
|---|---|
| Song byKids See Ghosts | |
| from the albumKids See Ghosts | |
| Released | June 8, 2018 (2018-06-08) |
| Studio | West Lake Ranch,Jackson Hole, Wyoming |
| Genre | Electro-gospel |
| Length | 3:17 |
| Label | |
| Songwriters | |
| Producers | |
| Kids See Ghosts track listing | |
"Cudi Montage" is a song by Americanhip hop duoKids See Ghosts, composed ofKanye West andKid Cudi, released as the final track on theireponymous debut studio album (2018). The song was produced by Kid Cudi andDot da Genius, with co-production fromMike Dean. The song also features vocals fromMr Hudson. Dot da Genius recorded with Kids See Ghosts in 2018, and he recalled West as unifying him and Kid Cudi's musical interests. Anelectro-gospel track withrock influences, the songsamplesKurt Cobain's unreleased track "Burn the Rain". In the lyrics of the song, Kids See Ghosts pledge to not repeat past mistakes. Lyrics of the song are reused from the demo version ofTravis Scott's song "Skeletons", which features West and recorded during theYe sessions.
The song received universal acclaim frommusic critics, who mostly complimented West's vocal performance. They were often appreciative of his lyricism, while some critics praised the sample of "Burn the Rain" and a few named "Cudi Montage" one of the highlights ofKids See Ghosts. The song reached number 69 on the USBillboard Hot 100 and also appeared on the charts in Australia, Canada, and Ireland. It has been certifiedgold in the United States by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Kids See Ghosts performed it live at theCamp Flog Gnaw Carnival in 2018, with West forgetting certain lyrics while performing.
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On April 19, 2018,Kanye West announced a collaborative album withKid Cudi.[1] The album was revealed as being titledKids See Ghosts by West, with him proposing the release date of June 8, 2018.[1] Kid Cudi had been featured on numerous tracks by West prior to the announcement, including "Welcome to Heartbreak" (2008) and "Gorgeous" (2010).[1] West released his eighth studio albumYe on June 1, 2018, with vocals from Kid Cudi included on the tracks "No Mistakes" and "Ghost Town".[2][3] After contributing production to the former of the two tracks inWyoming, American record producerDot da Genius helped produce theKids See Ghosts songs "Cudi Montage" and "Reborn" while he was in the state during 2018. The producer was studying at college when he first met Kid Cudi in 2007, recalling in a 2018 interview that he was getting into production at the time and the rapper "came by my studio setup in my parents' living room".[4] Though Dot da Genius said their "immediate vibe" continued from the meeting onwards, he admitted West "was a very big unifier in our interests as musicians" while viewing him as "on another level and we both took notice". Speaking of recording with Kids See Ghosts in Wyoming, Dot da Genius explained that he "just tried to make everything as epic sounding as possible" and lauded the duo as "two of the best". According to him, anything mediocre will not work for the two "and they will definitely let you know"; he also recounted thatKids See Ghosts is "a blessing to be a part of, and I know the music will help people".[4] The song was produced by Kid Cudi and Dot da Genius, while co-produced byMike Dean. It stands along with "Reborn" as one of the two tracks onKids See Ghosts to not feature production from West.[5]
"Cudi Montage"posthumouslysamplesNirvana frontmanKurt Cobain's home recording "Burn the Rain" from the 1990s, which was officially released in 2015 as part of the compilation albumMontage of Heck: The Home Recordings.[6][7][8] Kid Cudi said in a July 2018Billboard cover story that although the sample was the one onKids See Ghosts he was most worried about, Kurt's widowCourtney Love and his daughterFrances Bean Cobain were "really cool and they cleared it".[9] The rapper asserted he "love[s] them both for that" and that Love informed him she doesn't "clear shit for just anybody", which he heavily recognized while expressing strong gratitude.[9] In an October 2018GQ interview, Kid Cudi believes that Kids See Ghosts were working on the song while touring when he came up with the idea of sampling Kurt Cobain and remembers himself "sitting with this idea for the longest", but not knowing "if it would be any good". The member confesses to being unsure if the idea would work until he presented it to Dot da Genius in a way, following this by telling him how he wanted tochop up the Cobain sample, before hisengineer William J. Sullivan deployed the technique. Kid Cudi recalls that after this, "we added drums to it, and then it just kind of, came out like that", describing the idea as "a beautiful marriage". He elaborates, "Everything came together and to have Kanye on it, really just takes it to another level." Kid Cudi does state West was uncertain due to having more material on his laptop while he believed in the "one joint"; the former of the two cites Nirvana as an influence, especially Cobain.[10]
The song sampling Cobain's material does not mark the only time a posthumous artist is sampled on the album, as the track "4th Dimension" samples the work ofLouis Prima; contrary to "Cudi Montage", he is credited as a featured artist on the track.[7][11] Similarly to West and Kid Cudi, Cobain had struggled with mental illness during his lifetime.[7] Kid Cudi had shown his admiration of Cobain in 2011, making a visit to the musician's unofficial memorial atViretta Park inSeattle, Washington.[7] West had also acknowledged Cobain in the past, once comparing himself to the musician.[12]
Musically, "Cudi Montage" is anelectro-gospel track, withrock influences.[15][16][17] It contains a chopped-up sample of theguitar riff from "Burn the Rain" throughout, written and performed by Cobain,[5][8][10] with the sample including guitarstrums.[7] Michelle Kim ofPitchfork described the use of the sample as "pointed", due toKids See Ghosts largely dealing with overcoming depression.[15] She explained this is because Cobain died fromsuicide, adding that "it's also an especially fitting pairing for Kid Cudi, who [...] has embraced his inner angsty rock star since long before such influences werede rigueur in rap".[15] The sample is utilized at the start of the song heavily, becoming less prominent as thechorus approaches.[18] First drums, thensynths are added alongside the sample as the guitar gradually fades, being used to "soften the song".[18][19][20] Bass is also laid over the guitar riff.[17] The chorus of the song is performed by Kid Cudi, and it is powered by synths.[18][21] West delivers his verse after Kid Cudi's chorus, with the verse lasting until around two minutes into the song.[18]
Lyrically, the track is a pledge from Kids See Ghosts to avoid repeating past mistakes, with both of the members looking towards faith for overcoming life's struggles.[8][22] In Kid Cudi's verse, he delivers remarks on the process of his fractured mind being restructured.[23] West uses his verse to rap about cycles of violence in black communities and the pain of loss as he comes to realization with the effects ofpolice brutality, incarceration, and mass shootings on the black community, concluding with a reference toAlice Johnson, an African-American woman jailed for life over a non-violent drug offence and whose sentence was ended in 2018 after 21 years by USpresidentDonald Trump at the suggestion of the rapper's wifeKim Kardashian.[8][13][14][24] For the chorus, Kid Cudi repeatedly sings "stay strong" and "save me, Lord".[18] During the outro of the song, acall and response sees West sing "Lord shine your light on me, save me please", with Kid Cudi and a backing vocalist responding by imploring to "stay strong" as the latter of the two rappers hums.[15][19][25]
"Cudi Montage" was released on June 8, 2018, as the seventh and final track on Kids See Ghosts' eponymous debut studio album.[26] The song switched from its originally slated position as the fifth track, which West revealed on May 15, 2018, when he shared an initial track list for the album.[27] On the day of the album's release, multiple tracks were labeled incorrectly onstreaming services because of a technical error, which included "Cudi Montage" being mislabeled as the third track onKids See Ghosts, "4th Dimension".[20][28] During their first show billed as Kids See Ghosts, the duo performed the song live at the 2018Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival.[29] The song was the eighth track of their set, though it was the last track that they released as Kids See Ghosts to be performed.[30] While performing his verse from the song, West forgot several lyrics.[31]
"Cudi Montage" was met with universal acclaim frommusic critics, with general praise for West's verse. Israel Daramola ofSpin considered the song a "melancholy finale" toKids See Ghosts, highlighting the "quavering vulnerability" of the duo's vocal performances while also complimenting the sample of Cobain's "Burn the Rain" for being among what "makes the album work as brilliantly as it does".[32] Multiple critics say that Kanye’s repeatedly said chorus “Shining light on me” sounds similar to New Orleans based rapperLil Wayne. Eoin Donnelly, writing forThe Line of Best Fit, honored West's performance on the track as "one of his best verses in years", feeling that the verse provides "a glimpse of something resembling the 'old Kanye'" and believing the older version of West "uses the power of his voice for the good of his community".[33]Pitchfork editorJayson Greene wrote that with its empathy, the song "relocates a precious, nearly vanished quantity of Kanye's music" and called West's verse one of his "most sustained efforts to imagine someone else's life" since his performance on the single "All of the Lights" (2010).[34]The Guardian's Dean Van Nguyen wrote that West's lyricism "lays out a brutal cycle of violence and the pain of loss" while highlighting his "palpable" spirit for being reminiscent of when West "decried thecapitalist grind" on "Spaceship" from his debut studio albumThe College Dropout (2004), and "called out" US presidentGeorge W. Bush live on television.[13] In a review of the album forBillboard, Eric Diep picked the song as one of the highlights and specifically praised Kid Cudi's "soaring" hook as well as West's lyrical style, commending the latter's reflectiveness.[24]
Jack Hamilton fromSlate decided the song isKids See Ghosts' "prettiest and most affecting moment", analyzing that the "Burn the Rain" sample "gradually recedes as Cudi moves from his opening verse to the chorus", which he said features "cavernous, incantatory repetition".[18] Hamilton further wrote that West's verse is "a murky but heartfelt rumination on violence" and called the remainder of the song after his performance "gorgeous, a soaring mass of voices and textures and chord changes that seem to move within their own incontestable logic".[18]NME's Jordan Bassett glorified the call-and-response between the line "Lord shine your light on me" and the "Stay strong" vocals as the "stand-out moment" on the album, alongside directing praise towards the song's "calming wash of synth".[25] AtThe A.V. Club, Marty Sartini Garner described the song as sampling "the detuned gloom" of "Burn the Rain" and made the observation that the sample is patiently overwhelmed "with daybreaking synths and a bright harmony vocal", finishing by liking the song being "a perfect capstone to a complex record".[19]Entertainment Weekly reviewer Chuck Arnold stated Kid Cudi "offers encouragement to himself and others to 'stay strong'", and explained that despite it being "eerie" for Cobain to be sampled on the song after he "died by suicide", the sampling "leaves us with a message that, powerful in its simplicity, is as exceptional as the music".[35]
After the release ofKids See Ghosts, "Cudi Montage" debuted at number 69 on the USBillboard Hot 100.[36] Simultaneously, it entered the USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number 34.[37] On July 9, 2021, "Cudi Montage" was certifiedgold by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for pushing 500,000 certified units in the United States.[38] Elsewhere in North America, the song reached number 61 on theCanadian Hot 100.[39] In Australia, the song charted at number 89 on theARIA Singles Chart.[40] It further reached number 67 on theIrish Singles Chart.[41]
Recording
Personnel
Information taken from theKids See Ghosts liner notes andTidal.[5][44]
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[40] | 89 |
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[39] | 61 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[41] | 67 |
| UK Audio Streaming (OCC)[45] | 85 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[46] | 69 |
| USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[37] | 34 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[38] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
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