Scott Mescudi, also known as “Kid Cudi,” released his first studio album, Man on The Moon: The End of Day, in September of 2009. No one was ready for what was about to happen. Cudi absolutely blew up. He broke the internet. This album sold over 100,000 copies in the first week of its release and climbed the charts to the #4 spot.
Songs like “Soundtrack 2 My Life” and “Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)” are two of the most popular songs of the past decade. Man on The Moon: The End of Day went double platinum and peaked in the top 5 of the US Billboard 200, US Billboard R&B chart, and US Billboard Rap chart. It’s safe to say that the first Man on The Moon was a success, but could Cudi top it with his next album?
After gaining more and more traction from his first album, Cudi dropped his second studio album a year later. Man on The Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager peaked at No. 3 on the US Billboard 200, No. 1 on the Billboard US R&B chart, and No. 1 on the Billboard US Rap chart. Cudi was everywhere. Everyone and their mom was bumping his new album. I remember being in 7th grade when this album came out and listening to it all day every day for two months. I still listen to it to this day.
After that, Cudi fans had to wait three long years before Cudi dropped another album, and it wasn’t the third installment of Man on The Moon. While his third album, Indicud, did do extremely well on the charts, hitting No. 2 on the US Billboard 200, No. 1 on US Billboard R&B, and No. 1 on US Billboard Rap, fans were disappointed that they didn’t get the third “MoTM.”
Between Indicud’s release and now, Cudi released three albums that didn’t do as well. Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon, Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven, and Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’. None of them truly satisfied fans, as they were dying to hear the old “Mr. Rager.” It slowly became a running joke that Man on The Moon III would never be released. By the time he dropped Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’, it was 2016 and fans thought that MoTM III was just a myth.
But we were wrong. Last month, Cudi started releasing interesting photos and quotes on his Instagram, hinting at something big. The buzz started to come back; everyone was talking about Kid Cudi again. It felt like 2010. Then he did it. Cudi announced that Man on The Moon III wasn’t just a myth and that it would be released in December. When 2020 seemed as if it couldn’t get any worse, we got the one thing we’ve been asking about for a decade.
Released December 11th, 2020, Man on The Moon III: The Chosen offers 18 tracks and features popular artists like Pop Smoke, Trippie Redd, and Skepta. After listening to the entire album, it’s not exactly the young Man on The Moon we remember, but it’s still fantastic. Make sure you check it out, as it’s streaming on both Spotify and Apple Music.
