“Kid Cudi is a no show,” a stagehand announced at exactly , the scheduled start time for Kid Cudi’sset. Within moments the houselights brightened and the crowd realized he wasn’tjoking. Disillusioned and grumbling, they made a mass exodus toward the exit.The first revelers had just left when none other but Kid Cudi walked in throughthe venue’s front door in brisk stride, waving the crowd back toward the stage.It was like a scene from a movie; the rapper’s fashionably late entrance couldn’thave been better timed.
“Sorry I’m late,” Cudi apologized as he hopped over a barand onto the stage, his DJ racing to set up his equipment. “I had a PeterParker Spider Man 2 moment. You know how Spider Man didn’t want to be SpiderMan no more? I was feeling that way.”
It was an odd explanation for being four minutes tardy ifthere ever was one. It’s going to be a long, miserable life for the laid-backrapper if he’s already questioning a career in music---he hasn’t even releaseda full-length album yet, but stardom seems imminent. His breakthroughunderground single, “Day N’ Nite,” newly fitted with a beautiful video, is onthe brink of becoming his breakthrough commercial single. With its cool,hypnotic tone, the song is like little else on the radio (which is why somestations have taken to airing a busy, Top 40-friendly remix of the song thatstrips away all nuance; but that’s radio for you).
Cudi’s set drew mostly from his inspired but uneven A KidNamed Cudi mixtape, and even the mix’s more blasé songs sounded striking live.With Cudi’s emphasis on mellowed-out but soulful choruses, every song becomes an easy sing-along. If Cudi’s debut can capture the effortless charisma of his stageshow on record, he could have a real masterpiece on the horizon.
