Here we are. The long awaited third album to Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon series is finally here and does not disappoint! Was it what we all expected to see from him? Honestly maybe not. Is the album full of hits like Day n’ Nite or Erase Me from his last two MOTM albums? Yeah that’s also going to be a no. But does the album work perfectly as a Cudi comeback where he shows the world just how much he’s grown not just as an artist but as a person in the past decade of his life? Yes, yes, and yes. 

Cudi’s music from the start was an outlet for him to express himself on a level that a lot of rappers never really found themselves trying to go for. From his first album in 2009, Man On The Moon: The End Of Day, the start of the Man On The Moon album series, a big theme was mental health, and he really put all of his thoughts and emotions out there. He kind of solidified himself as an artist unafraid to deal with the hard stuff and helped to throw away a lot of the stigma that surrounds mental health through good music. The beauty of a lot of his songs is that you can listen and fully vibe to them without even realizing that they’re about the lonely and depressing moments of Cudi’s life, which adds a nice sort of duality into a lot of his music. You can kind of choose-your-own mood when you listen to his music, to either focus on the lyrics’ full meaning and feel mellow or to just go with the flow and jam out no strings attached style. 

Anyway, let’s talk about what you came to this article for: Man On The Moon III: The Chosen, Kid Cudi’s third installment in the album series. This album just works as a beautiful symphony of songs that all represent the amount of growth that Cudi himself has experienced in the past 10 years of his life. It’s him showing the world the new mindset that he’s formed and the emotional maturity that he’s developed. It’s a manifestation of his growth as a person and wanting to move in a different direction.

The album is divided into four acts: 

Act I: Return 2 Madness (“Beautiful Trip” – “Dive”)

This act focuses on partying and drinking but with underlying feelings of uneasiness growing in him.

Act II: The Rager, The Menace (“Damaged” – “Solo Dolo Pt. III”)

This act covers Cudi’s damaged mindset after following a strictly fast-paced life, it shows him as he spirals out of control. 

Act III: Heart of Rose Gold (“Sad People” – “Lovin’ Me” ft. Phoebe Bridgers)

This act covers his search for inner peace, as he looks back at important people in his life and thanks them but struggles to deal with his own sadness and feelings of isolation. 

Act IV: Powers (“The Pale Moonlight” – “Lord I Know”)

This act focuses on Cudi feeling carefree as he’s achieved a lot of the growth he’d been looking for, and he shares a message to his fans, telling them that in terms of mental health, they’re not alone and things will get better.

Cudi has a total of four features on the album too, and I will not lie I love everything about them. There’s “Show Out” ft. Pop Smoke and Skepta, “Rockstar Nights” ft. Trippie Redd, and last but not least “Lovin’ Me” ft. Phoebe Bridgers. Yes, you did hear that right, Phoebe Bridgers is on the album! Everyone say hi Phoebe we love you, okay thank you. My personal fav would have to be “Lovin’ Me” because of Phoebe but “Show Out” is definitely up there because of my love for Pop Smoke and also because I love Skepta’s verse and his flow.

Other noteworthy songs on the album would have to be:

“Tequila Shots” (It just felt like a really strong start to the album for me and reminded me of MOTM I)

“Another Day”  (This and “Tequila Shots” consecutively feels so perfect, yes maybe some of the album’s songs feel like filler episodes, but they’re fun filler episodes and I love Cudi for them)

“She Knows This” (*Scott Pilgrim sample in the beginning* hi michael cera hi cudi i love you both)

“Sad People” (If you missed Cudi’s hums then you’re in luck because they’re back they’re back they’re back)

“The Void” (The end of this song warms my heart, even if it’s cheesy I love it)

In conclusion, Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon III: The Chosen, was a success, both musically for the world and mentally and emotionally for Cudi and his fans. This has been a long awaited album in the Man On The Moon trilogy, a wait that’s pretty much spanned all of ten years, or just five if you’re me and only discovered Cudi back in middle school. If you’re not a Cudi fan and are just here to see what’s up with his new album, this is a sign for you to go and listen to the entire MOTM trilogy because you will most def not be disappointed I promise you. I could talk about my love for Man On The Moon: End Of Day until I died because it holds a title of one of my favorite albums of all time, but that’s a story for another article, another day. 

MOTM III: The Chosen is definitely on my list as one of my favorite albums of 2020 <3