Kid Cudi Floated Through His Hometown On “Cleveland Is The Reason”

Today marks the 37th birthday of one of hip-hop’s most beloved martians, Kid Cudi. The Cleveland-born rapper has truly touched the hearts and souls of many over the course of his 10+ year career before Man On The Moon cemented his cult-like following. It was A Kid Named Cudi, his debut mixtape released during the blog era, that separated him among the other rappers of his class.

Somehow, it feels like this project is often overlooked in comparison to Cudi’s entire discography, though my suspicion is that it’s primarily due to the fact that it isn’t on streaming services. But, to honor the rapper’s 37th birthday, it only felt appropriate to throw it back to his origin story. Kid Cudi offers an insightful glimpse into his perspective of his Midwest beginnings on “Cleveland Is The Reason.” Plain Pat‘s spacey, muddy production gave Cudi plenty of room to find pockets of melodies to explain why he’s so chill. 

Check the record below. What’s your favorite Kid Cudi song? Sound off in the comments.

Quotable Lyrics
And a topical question is why I’m so chill
Girls don’t understand, “He ain’t even made a mill”
They say I’m complex just like the magazine
I want my closet complex like the magazine