When A Kid Named Cudi first began making the rounds in late 2008, it seemed to appeal to people of all musical backgrounds, with Kid Cudi rapping over a decidedly wide variety of source material. There were instrumentals cribbed from backpacker favorites Outkast and J Dilla, but also ones from little-known electronic producers and Pacific Northwest indie rock bands, setting Cudi apart from his competition in the online rap world. He's always been an adventurous sampler, rapping over tracks by everyone from Snoop Dogg to Bob Dylan, but indie rock and pop have always seemed particularly close to his heart, especially since he formed the rock-minded duo WZRD.
Now, just over six years later, Cudi has notched his belt with tons of collaborations with indie artists, the most recent of them coming yesterday when he liberated a previously-unreleased song sampling instrumental duo Ratatat. With Man On The Moon 3 soon to follow, we're taking a look back at all of Cudi's work with indie artists, whether it's sampling their work or directly collaborating with them.
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A Kid Named Cudi / Dat Kid From Cleveland
Cudder's breakout tape contains some of his most well-known samples of indie music.
"Man On The Moon (The Anthem)" flips a track by L.A. beatmaker Nosaj Thing (who, coincidentally, just dropped a track with Chance The Rapper) called "Aquarium."
"The Prayer," the very next track, turns Washington State-via-North Carolina indie rockers Band Of Horse's somber track "The Funeral" into a bedside sermon.
"Heaven At Nite" is the tape's closing track, and it samples one of Cudi's favorites, Ratatat, specifically their track "Tacobel Canon."
Soon after A Kid Named Cudi, the Ohio native would release Dat Kid From Cleveland.
That tape's "Can I Be" samples from NYC indie legends LCD Soundsystem's banger "Someone Great."
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Man On The Moon: The End Of The Day
Kid Cudi's debut album didn't shy up on the indie connection. As a matter of fact, it saw Cudder taking things to the next level by enlisting Ratatat and MGMT for a pair of tracks.
The first indie-related sample appears on "Simple As," which uses a clip from experimental '80s pioneers Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark's "ABC (Auto Industry)."
"Alive (Nightmare)" features production from Ratatat.
And of course, "Pursuit Of Happiness" was also produced by Ratatat and features vocals from MGMT.
As a bonus, we're throwing in a track from Chip The Ripper's Independence Day tape ("All That") that features Cudi and samples another LCD Soundsystem song, "Dance Yrself Clean."
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Man On The Moon II: The Legend Of Mr. Rager
In the interim between the first and second installments of Man On The Moon, Cudi dropped "Cudderisback," which had him rapping over Vampire Weekend's "Ottoman."
When Man On The Moon II arrived, it featured two prominent samples of indie bands. The first came on "Mojo So Dope," on which Cudi rapped over Choir Of Young Believers' "Claustrophobia."
On "Maniac," him and Cage got freaky over a glitchy sample of St. Vincent's "The Strangers."
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Kid Cudi took a two and a half year break between his sophomore and junior albums, but when he returned, his love for indie music was still intact. "Young Lady" samples heavily from singer/songwriter Father John Misty's "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings."
Two tracks later, on "Immortal," Cudder went back to one of his favorites, MGMT, and sampled their song "Congratulations."
Whereas most of Cudi's "collaborations" with indie artists are actually just samples, on "Red Eye," he recruited then-budding indie group HAIM (who've gone on to work with A$AP Ferg) to hit the studio with him.
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Satellite Flight: The Journey To Mother Moon
Compared to other Cudi albums, his most recent wasn't that sample-heavy, with only one of its ten tracks containing a flip. That's "Satellite Flight," which pulls from indie band Polaris' song "Coronado II."
Then there's the aforementioned new track "Love," which contains yet another Ratatat sample, this time of their track "Sunblocks."