Convoluted: Scott Mescudi vs. Scott Mescudi
A look into Kid Cudi’s career and influence into hip-hop culture

Back in 2005, long time NFL quarterback Warren Moon had recieved induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His long time agent, Leigh Steinberg, gave a speech to honor Moon. During Steinberg’s speech, he spoke about the experience of recruiting another African-American quarterback.
Years later I sat in the living room of a young African American quarterback who was preparing for the draft. There were the usual trophies and family pictures in that living room, and there were two other pictures. One was Martin Luther King, the other was Warren Moon. The young athlete told me, I looked at it every day. It gave me hope and inspiration.
Moon’s accomplishments spoke for themselves, as one of the most dominate players of his era. Though Moon is consider in my circles to be underrated, he influenced the change of the perception of black quarterbacks. Moon was a wall breaker. It’s time for hip-hop to recognize Kid Cudi as a wall breaker as well.
Scott Mescudi’s convoluted career can be explained like his personality. Awkward. The now 33-year-old crooner has had his share of up and downs in the industry. The Cleveland, OH native left his home state to pursue his love of music more then a decade ago. What he accomplished in that short of a time was unheard of. From creating a genre altering mixtape, to co-writing for Kanye West’s, and becoming the voice of the new generation. Kid Cudi gave hip-hop it’s emotion.
As a 20-year-old, Cudi dropped out from Toledo University to chase his dream of becoming a rapper in New York. So he left his mother and landed in Brooklyn with nothing but a place to stay. During that summer gangsta rap was at it’s zenith. Artist such as the Lil Wayne, T.I., and Rick Ross were all making major moves in the culture. All followed the “I’m a real killer” formula that really started towards the end on the 90’s. There was no way for Mescudi to make a project that would move the masses; especially not while working at his dead-end 9 to 5 jobs. Unless someone created a genre alternating project that would go on to reshape the sound of hip hop music. Which is exactly what Cudi did. A Kid Name Cudi mixtape became a career defining project for him. Creating a the cult classic that would eventually find the ear of Kanye West, whom he had to chased down to remove the tag from his clothes.
The mixtape would not only lead to a spot on the 2009 XXL Freshman Cover, but credits on both Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3, and Kanye West’s 808’s and Heartbreak. Kanye would later executive produce Cudi’s debut album Man on the Moon for his new label G.O.O.D Music. Cudi became a star, just like he told his mom he would. But the dark clouds that created the music his fans adored, became the a prison that locked away his mind.
Back in 2010 Kid Cudi gave a combative interview to Complex when promoting his upcoming album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. The interview is most know for the shot that Cudi took towards Wale for his Thank You Freestyle, where he referenced Cudi punching a fan while he was on tour with Lady Gaga. Cudi called Wale a “simple rapper” who just rapped a “simple verse”. When later asked about his peers in the rap game, Cudi went on to claim that he stands alone.
These other motherfuckers like feeding off another nigga’s energy, so they mention their name. You hear me talk about niggas? I don’t even talk about Kanye, and that’s my homeboy! They talk about Kanye like they’re bosom buddies with this nigga. Talking about “I be in Hawaii” — man, shut the fuck up, why you got to tell everybody everything?
Cudi and Wale would eventual mend their relation and later collaborate on Wale’s track “Focused”; however, it’s was situations such as this that would consistently cause damage towards Cudi’s career.
Contently living out a “nightmare”, as Cudi would call it, he lashed out towards people he at one point seemed the closes with. Cudi’s “twitter fingers” would get him into beefs with the likes of Big Sean and Drake. Two men whom Cudi worked close with in the past, but allowed his emotions to negatively effect the music he desired to create. Cudi would even sink to the point of taking shots at his mentor in a twitter rant.

Cudi would finally reach his breaking point shortly after. He checked himself into rehab out of fear of the suicidal and depressing thoughts in his mind. Cudi wrote an extensive post on his Facebook page where he express to fans that he is a “Damaged human swimming in a pool of emotions everyday of my life.” The pain that Cudi suffered though for nearly a decade gave fans the type of music to keep them out of situations he found himself in. When looking to finding Cudi’s placement in hip hop with the diagrammatic musical achievements he has is puzzling.
Like with Warren Moon, how is Kid Cudi to be remembered? He doesn’t have any major awards as a solo artist, and his albums never were received well by critics. Even though projects such as: A Kid Name Cudi, and Man on the Moon created Cudi’s fan base, they are not with out their flaws. But Cudi’s legacy isn’t in his own achievements, it’s in the music that is heard today. Creating artist like Travis Scott, who used Kid Cudi’s music as his “drug of choice.” Making the word “crooner” a acceptable musical term. For making it o.k. to not be o.k. in hip-hop.
Later on the Saint Pablo tour Kanye called Kid Cudi, “the most influential artist of the past 10 years.” And while the to two seem to be on good terms now, with rumors of music coming out, Cudi’s legacy is exactly who he is. Awkward.