Was the slow devolution from Kid Cudi expected? We are some years away from the release of his debut record and it appears to have been the peak. INSANO, his latest piece of material and, crushingly, the worst so far, is a tough crawl. An hour-long experience which sees the pop-rap artist pull no punches as he attempts to chart an autobiographical opener detailing how blessed he is and how lucky we are to listen to his music. INSANO is not much of a lucky experience though its instrumental flourish and mixing capabilities is a tremendous overhaul of his style. Even for passive listeners though and those heading into Kid Cudi’s work for the first time, this release is stock and pedestrian. Trap interludes and filler features with the big boys of the genre, who are leaving Kid Cudi in the dust.
A$AP Rocky and Travis Scott are certainly leagues ahead of whatever INSANO is trying to prove. Nothing, by the sounds of it. DJ Drama opens with a flex of worth and follow-up KEEP BOUNCIN’ hears Cudi develop a love for his wealth and little else. Detailing his everyday life, bouncing around in a Benz and putting half-hearted mixes like this one together is no life for a rapper seemingly at the peak of his commercial career. Even with the likes of Lil Yachty and Pharell Williams lending a hand here, it appears INSANO is keen to drag everyone down to the poor level of quality Cudi finds himself working at. Rizzy glizzy this, Lil Wayne that. All of it blurs together as one out-of-step piece pandering to a generational divide. It appears on WOW and filters through the rest of this piece – one which seems keen to survive on its beat rather than its message.
What is the message, then? To live it up and be shocked by the hit back of public life? INSANO is fuel to the fire of those hoping to provide a character assassination of Cudi. Consider this as a temporary farewell from Cudi too, his recording deal is now up and to pull out all the stops of collaboration and still end up with a lifeless record with a few spots of interest, is stunning. Repetitive instrumentals and mixing which sound good the first few times but then continue for another forty minutes. ELECTROWAVEBABY has hints of The Stranglers of all bands, and it benefits greatly from the shake-up. It is eventually lost to the glitchy notes and stagnant claps of electronic manipulation, though for brief moments on this record, Cudi finds himself freed from the deal he signed with Republic Records and breathing a little better.
Plain as anything. Do not let the likes of A TALE OF A KNIGHT or CUD LIFE convince you otherwise. Should you find anything of interest in the self-referential and applauding lyrics they are to be ruined by the constant and unwavering mediocrity of the production – which wanes from its first few tracks into this smudged and dull piece of placid music. Cudi feels characterless here, a sounded-out and relatively tiresome figure of philanthropy first and the excitement of such a lifestyle presented as a wonderous, out-of-reach experience, rather than unequivocally tiring album fodder. Cudi may do good elsewhere, but he does nothing right on INSANO – it would be insane to head anywhere near it, though the recent track record of his releases should mean this one is no surprise.
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