On Sept. 30, 2022, hip-hop star Scott Mescudi, better known by his stage name Kid Cudi, dropped his long-anticipated album “Entergalactic” with a Netflix movie to accompany it. According to Genius, the album features 15 tracks and collaborative efforts from fellow artists Ty Dolla $ign, 2 Chainz, Don Toliver, Steve Aoki and Dot Da Genius. Since it is quite the lengthy album, I’ll be going through some highlights as opposed to the full tracklist.
The rollout for “Entergalactic” has been somewhat tumultuous, with Mescudi announcing the album way back in 2019. After multiple delays, he finally announced that it would be releasing this past September; I can safely say that it was worth the wait.
“Livin’ My Truth”
My favorite song on the entire project is “Livin’ My Truth,” the ninth track on the album. The solo effort from Mescudi is outstanding. Fans of Kid Cudi know that his humming usually elevates a song from good to great, and the use of this in “Livin’ My Truth” was the perfect embodiment of that. It’s ultimately just a fun song with a ridiculously catchy beat that preaches love and how life goes on.
“New Mode”
The first official full-length track on “Entergalactic” is “New Mode,” which flows well from the ambient “Entergalactic Theme” that opens the album. “New Mode” is energetic, fun and speeds up the tempo in comparison to Mescudi’s former work.
“New Mode” is about being reborn and accepting oneself, a large part of Kid Cudi’s journey. The song is obviously personal to him, but through his lyrics, he extends a hand to listeners to show that no matter how tough things get, they will get better.
“Willing To Trust” (with Ty Dolla $ign)
“Willing To Trust,” a collaborative effort between Mescudi and Tyrone William Griffin Jr., better known by his stage name Ty Dolla $ign, is a beautifully composed piece of art that stands far above every other song in terms of its production quality.
The song is drum-heavy, truly setting the tone and pace for the entire track. A high-pitched electric guitar is used in the background as well which really rounds out the entire melody.
What really stood out to me, however, was the layered back-and-forth vocals by Kid Cudi and Ty Dolla $ign. The latter is known best for his amazing singing voice, and it ultimately makes the hook and the second verse of the song that much smoother.
“She’s Lookin’ For Me”
Upon my first listen, this song stuck out to me as one of my favorites. It is a love song, which is one of the more prevalent themes on the album. Honestly, in a more broad sense, the song appears to be more about not caring and just enjoying life; with motives like that, how could you go wrong?
This song feels grand but light at the same time. It’s a load of fun, and it’s just one of those songs that embodies good times.
“Somewhere To Fly” (with Don Toliver)
With the Netflix special centering around a story of love, it is not a shock that multiple songs on this album deal with themes of romance. This one, however, has more of an airy, underwater type of sound to it, where the beat is a little more muffled behind the vocals of both Kid Cudi and Don Toliver.
The two trade bars are on the hook of the song, but each has its own verses. The tempo slows then speeds up then slows again, led once again by the drums. The production is unique but has much more of his trademark experimental sound to it compared to the rest of the songs on the tracklist.
If you’re interested in checking out the album for yourself, it is out now on all streaming platforms. The accompanying Netflix special has since been released as well, so if you enjoy the album, you’ll absolutely love how he skillfully weaves these songs into the show!
Leave a Reply