Kid Cudi exploded onto the scene in 2009 with Man on the Moon: The End of Day. Since then, he has become the patron saint of the sensitive “ragers”. Kid Cudi’s bangers were play listed everywhere from parties to smoke-filled apartments on repeat. To this day, Kid Cudi’s first Man on the Moon album still registers.

After a year of isolation and quarantine, Kid Cudi surprised the world by releasing first a single titled “Adventures of Moon Man and Slim Shady” featuring Eminem (if the title wasn’t a big enough giveaway), before releasing the third installment, Man on the Moon III: The Chosen months later.

Man on the Moon III: The Chosen leans more into the reflective and groovy rather than hard partying. Granted, there hasn’t been too much partying in 2020. His latest album is best listened to amongst a small circle of chill friends or alone at a laptop to appreciate the high-quality production. As is apparent throughout his career, Kid Cudi’s ear for musical backing is the shining quality that makes each song story stand out.

Kid Cudi’s sense of pacing is spot on. He knows how to echo and distort the soundtrack to his life and when to give his listeners a proper fadeout to digest the spirit of each song. His earlier albums had a bit more pump up to them, but with experience comes refinement and a softer touch. Part of the new experience comes from Kid Cudi reflecting on the demons trying to mute his senses.

In the song, “The Void” he sings, “I will fall in the void, fall in the void just to avoid/ Anything that can bring me down or fuck with my flow.” Fans of Cudi’s have flocked to him because of his honesty for dealing with stress and anxiety, primarily through drugs and alcohol. Vices are a crutch many of us lean on, even though the explanations for why often escape us. Kid Cudi, in very few poignant words, describes why the stress-reducing drug-user reaches for the vice of their choice, opting to go lower on their own terms rather than having life deal them that blow.

Kid Cudi has sung three versions of “Solo Dolo” throughout his discography. The reiterations are about dealing with personal mental battles, where both the enemy and the hero are the self. For an artist who sings often about dealing with his inner demons on his own, he touched a nerve with a large audience that feels the same way.

Kid Cudi’s music reflects his personal experience, and the third installment of the Man on the Moon trilogy serves as a proper reprisal for the fans who feel that his soundtrack swings in rhythm with their life as well.