Kid Cudi Embraces Grunge in New Album ‘Speedin’ Bullet to Heaven’

Jordan Bailey

Kid Cudi was once considered a rapper. After catching the attention of Kanye West in 2008 following the release of his first mixtape, Cudi began exploring various aspects of hip-hop with his first LP, Man on the Moon: The End of the Day. From there, it was a nearly endless parade of the exploration of rap, rock, singing, songwriting, producing and even film as an actor, director and composer. Cudi has solidified himself as the mad scientist of artistic expression, which brings us to Kid Cudi’s current state of musical research. “Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven” may be his most deeply exploratory album to date.

One of the most notable aspects of “Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven” is the heavy grunge-rock vibe. Cudi has tapped into rock music before with his side project known as WZRD with co-conspirator Dot da Genius, though this new project takes on a whole new form. Kid Cudi reunited with his old pal producer Plain Pat, and in true Cudi fashion, the album is long, spanning two disks and 26 songs. If there’s a theme of “Speedin’ Bullet,” it could certainly be that of angst. “Wedding Tux” has Cudi telling the world to “Bury me asleep in a wedding tux/Everything, everyone sucks,” atop two and half minutes of Open-D acoustic guitar strumming. “Angered Kids” seems to have a purposefully sloppy lyrical delivery with a hook explaining “The Darkness is coming/It gets what it’s wanting.” Themes of the Devil and darkness appear throughout. You know when you feel the urge to watch a scary movie because you simply enjoy the feeling of being scared? “Speedin’ Bullet” is so deeply steeped in angst that you must be in the mood to feel blue to truly enjoy it.

Some fans are speculating on Cudi’s depression based on the emotional overtones of “Speedin’ Bullet” but the album as a whole seems like a man who’s almost enthusiastic to be sad; someone who is totally embracing this full-fledged exploration of deeper sentiments like rage in “Fade 2 Red,” or suicide in the Nirvana-esque “CONFUSED!” Sometimes the album even takes on a comedic charm as the previous MTV charmsters Beavis and Butt-head make several appearances in the form of album critiquing interludes. At the end of the introspective “Adventures,” B&B chomp on some fast-acting psychedelic mushrooms given to them by Cudi himself and discuss the lyrics. “And we’re floating out in nowhere,” sings Beavis. “Don’t worry,” Butt-head replies. “We will land safely.”

Though Cudi did recently cancel his entire tour citing both production and personal issues, it will be extremely interesting to see what a live “Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven” show will look like. Perhaps part of the reason why the tour was dismantled was because The Cudder wanted to make sure his fans got the full grunge, rock, punk experience, as “Speedin’ Bullet” is such a more enhanced vibe than what we’ve come to expect from him.

Kid Cudi’s “Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven” is available on Apple Music Dec. 4.