A Man Named Scott (2021) Movie Script

PHARRELL WILLIAMS:
Well, the Internet was just
opening things up so widely
that there were only
maybe a handful of archetypes
in the industry
that were representing
only a part of what it is
that we were thinking
and feeling,
and so we just were like,
lets just go.
Lets just completely
be ourselves, unabashedly,
and be...
very proud
of what and who we are.
And what and who we are is, like--
where we come from
made huge impressions on us.
Huge impressions on our spirits
and on our bodies
and what we wore and how we talked.
So, when you mention Cudi
and the, like, ever-growing,
ever-expanding generation of folks
who do not adhere to boundaries,
were doing it because were human
and its our right.
We cant edit what we were exposed to
and what helped to form
the way we see the world,
so were not gonna edit the result.
We now have the opportunity.
We are in front of cameras.
We are behind microphones.
We are behind keyboards.
We are the pushers of pencils and pens.
And no one can tell us
how to express ourselves.
In different modes of creativity,
there are different formulas,
and all of that is subject to change.
In fact, thats one thing
Ive learned about this life,
is nothing is really fixed.
All of it can be changed.
CUDI:
All right, run it.
("Speedin Bullet 2 Heaven"
by Kid Cudi playing)
Oh, when I crash
When I crash
Or if I land
No matter the case
When I crash, when I crash
Or if I land
No matter the case
Im all smiles, Im all smiles
Im all smiles
Give a fuck what they say
And Im all smiles
Im all smiles
Mm.
(song fades)
CUDI:
My mom always used to say, like,
"You were born to be
on someones television."
And Id be like, "Ah, yeah, right.
Thats not for me."
But, like, hanging out, I was always on.
Im Kid Cudi, an artist out of,
uh, Cleveland, Ohio.
I started pursuing music when I was 15.
I started writing, like, poems,
like, after my father passed away
when I was 11.
I-I started trying to get in the game,
doing talent shows,
um, all types of shit, like open mics,
like, anything I could get
my name out there.
Freestyle battles, all that shit.
With my music,
Im definitely trying to inspire.
And my movement is a inspirational one.
Im trying to lead the new movement
to open kids minds about that.
And in Cleveland,
its like theres no room for that.
And if, you know,
you try to do something different,
its like... motherfuckers is like,
"Who this nigga?"
You know what Im saying?
Like, "Stick to the script."
-I felt like...
-(crowd cheering)
fuck that.
Now is when we fucking turn up.
Im on the pursuit of happiness...
Thats why I felt like
I need to be in New York.
Yeah!
CUDI:
Oh, is the camcorder actually recording?
-DOT DA GENIUS: Yeah.
-CUDI: You recording all this?
I call myself Old Dot da Evil Genius,
baby, you know,
cause I got that crack
for the street, man.
You know, Im the George Jefferson
of the ghetto, man.
-(laughter)
-DOT: As far as rap,
at that moment, I had only worked
with all the drug dealers
in my neighborhood.
We become closest friends,
and he would come over,
and wed be working on music
from like 7:00 p.m. to like 7:00 a.m.
We got Kid Cudi. You know what Im saying?
That niggas about to drop,
so look out for the Kid, man.
-Kid Cudi.
-From the Midwest side.
-Ah, man.
-(laughing)
DOT:
It was obsessive.
Like, we didnt do anything.
-Just make music.
-DOT: Cowboy Cudi.
-Lets go hit up Carls Jr.
-(Dot laughing)
Lets go see what they got.
DOT:
Cudi was one of the first few people I met
that it seemed like he didnt care
about what anyone thought.
Where the fuck did you get
that shirt from?
Uh-oh.
Wheres he going? Come back!
(laughing)
It was different for me.
Im from Brooklyn, man.
We... Its about rap
at the end of the day,
but he was just bringing
musical references
that I was not paying any attention to.
Pretty much, like,
all Ive been listening to is,
like, shit other than hip-hop.
Like, Ive been zoning out, listening to
some Coldplay, you know, John Mayer.
You know what Im saying?
Like, a lot of other shit like, you know,
alternative music, rock, old-school rock,
Electric Light Orchestra, Queen.
Whole bunch of shit like that,
man, Crash Test Dummies.
I just been zoning out,
listening to a lot of different music
so I could incorporate it in mine--
you know what Im saying?--
as far as, like,
you know, good substance.
SCHOOLBOY Q:
Most of my homeys never left California
until I, like, put em on a plane.
When you really get to travel the world
and you get so far away from it,
you look at it like, "Whoa."
The ghettos so small. Thats all you see.
Thats all you know.
What else you gonna do?
Like, what else you gonna rap about?
What else you gonna...
want to listen to?
Thats why I try to get my homeys out
and expand they mind a little bit.
You can get distracted because most of
y-your main homeys,
they aint into this shit.
So, even when you get in the car,
theyre only playing
a certain type of shit.
You go to their house,
theyre only doing a certain type of shit.
They dress only a certain type of way.
But theres just so much space
out there, like...
Like, niggas is walking
on the moon and shit.
You know, when you get
bored of one thing, do the next.
Were just creators, man.
We just want to create.
And it kind of makes you a weirdo,
you know, but its a dope thing.
Like, we come up with a whole
fucking thing from just the sound of air.
Our imagination is crazy.
So, its just being open to new things.
You never know. It might change your life.
He held down some jobs.
You know, kept getting fired.
This was actually a talk
that he had with my parents,
cause he got evicted,
and they was letting him live,
but then after a while, it was like,
"Yo, you got to do something.
Like, you cant just
stay at home all day."
And he was like,
"I dont want to work no more."
He was like, "I want to just do music."
We was all in the room,
like...
Man, shit, cause we,
you know, living in the hood,
no glimmer of anything happening at all.
And hes just like,
"Its gonna work. Trust me.
I dont need a plan B."
Cudi would just have ideas in his head,
and hell just shoot em to me, like,
"Yo, I think we should sample this.
"Listen to this rap.
What you think about this?" And...
He had an idea
for-for this song.
(melody from Kid Cudis
"Day N Nite" plays)
He had the song
pretty much written in his head.
I remember it being a two-day process.
We...
-pretty much made the beat.
-(beat plays)
Recorded it the next day.
Day and night
The lonely stoner seems
to free his mind at night...
Uploaded it to Myspace.
(beat stops)
And that was it.
(beat resumes)
CUDI:
I wasnt thinking about making an album.
I was just like,
"Lets try to make one good song here."
Just one good song and just perfect that,
and then from there
well figure everything out.
But, like, let me just make
at least, like,
one song that I know is amazing.
I was going through
a really rough time, and, uh,
it was really just, like, therapy
for me to write it.
When I was working on "Day N Nite,"
like, I started to sing it.
Like... Day and night
Oh, I toss and turn...
Like, just really sing it.
Dot was like,
"Maybe you shouldnt try to sing it.
"Maybe you should just, like, say it
in a melodic way."
I wasnt thinking about
making a hit record.
I wasnt thinking about
if motherfuckers would like it.
I really didnt give a fuck.
I wrote it for me.
You know what Im saying?
And if people felt it, thats cool.
I was like, "Oh, shit. Okay.
Let me go lay this down
and see what happens."
BOTH:
It came out how it came out.
You know?
It was like, "Oh, shit."
You know what I mean?
Thats exactly how it was, is: "Oh, shit."
Cause day and night...
Man... (sighs)
Dope.
Man.
"Day N Nite" is just gonna keep growing.
Its gonna be a timeless record
that anybodys gonna fuck with.
Cause its so... you can relate to it
on so many different levels,
you know what I mean?
So many different levels.
Anybody... anybody has some type of...
they can relate to at least one thing
I talk about-- everybody.
You know what Im saying?
Its gonna be around for a long time.
Its gonna be a classic.
Cause day and night...
DOT:
"Day N Nite" is on the radio at this time.
Working security at Vice.
You know, Im like,
"Yo, I made this beat."
Like, "If you made this beat,
why are you working here?
Why are you... why are you
working in security?"
"I-I dont know
how Im supposed to get money.
I dont know how it works."
Like, we didnt know anything.
At, at, at night.
(song ends)
DENNIS CUMMINGS:
Me and Cudi, we grew up together.
Always the different kids
in our neighborhood.
I was a promoter in Cincinnati,
and Im sitting in a... in a meeting,
and "Day N Nite" comes on.
The one guy who was...
I was getting a club from,
hes like, "Yo, I love this song."
And Im like, "Word. This is my guy."
Hes like, "Thats not your guy."
Im like, "No, this is my guy.
Like, this is my guy."
Like, "Well, lets book him for a show."
Get away from him and call Cudi.
Im like, "Yo, I got these guys
who want to do this show.
I think we can pull it off."
Hes like, "Well, if its serious,
lets see if you can close it.
"Ill make you my road manager.
You know, we gonna get out here
and really do it."
And then right after that,
like, googling what a road manager was
and the duties.
(laughing):
You know what Im saying? Like...
That whole "Internet rapper" thing
is very hard for me to understand.
So, you put your song... you...
Correct me if Im wrong.
You didnt have a computer,
but you got your song
-on Myspace.
-Yeah. Yeah.
Now, is this the "Day N Nite" record
that we hear now today?
Yeah, I put, um, "Day N Nite"
on my Myspace for the first time...
And when was that? What month was that?
That was like March 2007.
Around there. Yeah, March...
-2007?
-Yeah. Yeah.
It was around then.
I used to borrow my homeboy...
-Two thou... Hold on, its 09.
-My homeboy...
And so its been on there since...
-Yeah.
-(sighs)
Been on there that long, man.
So you had a deal then,
you didnt have a deal then?
Uh, I actually just got my deal
like two months ago. (laughs)
While this records been playing
on the radio all the time,
-you just got your deal?
-Yeah.
We made it on Billboard without a deal.
EMILE HAYNIE:
Id be in my studio, man, just, like,
making beats,
going through peoples Myspace
and listening to new sounds, new artists.
Thats the way you kind of listened
to new music at the time.
And I came across Cudis page.
He had "Day N Nite," was one of his songs,
and I was blown away
the second I heard it.
I just thought I had...
it was unlike anything Id ever heard.
It just sounded new.
Like, what is this gen...
Like, what is he doing?
Hes singing, hes got melody,
but hes not pushing the vocals too hard.
The production, everything about it
just felt really new and exciting.
And then I noticed
on his top eight friends list
was my friend Plain Pat.
PLAIN PAT:
Well, I met Cudi in 2005.
When I heard the music,
I was like, "Oh, okay.
This kids onto something."
And I bumped into him at a party downtown,
and we just...
and we just started kicking it,
and then it turned into, like,
"Need you to do this mixtape."
And I was... I was always apprehensive
cause I didnt want
that responsibility of a artist,
but he was persistent, so... (chuckles)
All his early shit,
he used to send it to me,
used to be like,
"Man, this shit is, like..."
Its so different and, like, weird
that I would be, like, uncomfortable
but I loved it. (laughs)
You know what I mean?
His flows, like, he would be...
you know, they would be, like,
carry on into the next bar
or they would be, like,
a little off beat or a little, like...
You know, but it was just so dope to me.
Like, it was just, like, so refreshing,
so, like... kind of like when...
you know, when I first heard Ye,
I was like, "Oh, whoa."

KANYE WEST:
We always listened to all forms of music.
Thats what was good
about just watching MTV.
You got exposed to...
Mr. Jones and me... (hums melody)
Like, all this alternative rock,
West Coast rap, East Coast rap,
Southern rap, singer-songwriter.
And the expanding your mind
of "I listen to this
style of music
and different styles of music" is...
That frontiers been crossed,
so the new frontier
of expanding your mind is
to not be boxed into a idea
of your politics.
To be boxed into a idea of
what the Internet is feeding you
within the echo chamber
of the billion people
that are controlled by 50.
Its just to go out, get out into nature,
go to places that are less crowded,
get into your own mind,
into your own space.
And not just for, you know, the accolades
with inside of a system
that was, you know, designed.
And whats beautiful is
that musicians and artists tap in
and express things in a way
and sew together things in a way
that help us to free our minds
a lot of times.
Thats the connection that people have
with Cudi and pure artists.
Its just a thing
that... its what we felt.
Its what we feel.
Cudi just does what he feels.
Thats the difference
between the artist and others.
Cudis music, it connects with people,
and its-its healing.
Its not just for the sake of,
"Heres the rap music
"that you play
while alcohol is being poured,
while DMs are being sent."
Like, nah, its not part
of that game of popularity.
And it was always an alternative thing
that became popular.
We all dont have to do
the exact same thing.
We were programmed from zero to seven
to fit into this thing we call reality,
but were breaking out of the constructs.
Were not satisfied with the constructs
of current society.
We as artists
are like a faucet,
and the more of our own dirt that we have,
you know, the harder it is,
actually, for people to get
a clean message and a clean idea
and for us to be used to the maximum
of what God would want us to use us for.
I feel...
Well, thats the end
of those thoughts right there.
DOT:
So, when I say, "Kid," yall say, "Cudi."
-Kid.
-AUDIENCE: Cudi!
-Kid.
-Cudi!
When I say, "Fools," yall say, "Gold."
-Fools. Fools.
-Gold! Gold!
Yo, yo. Yo, yo.
Thats what Im talking about.
What the fuck is up, yall?
I just had that long-ass flight
over here, man.
Yall better show me some love
up in this motherfucker.
I got crazy jet lag.
Its like 10:35 New York time,
and Im rocking with yall on no sleep.
Know what Im talking about?
So I need everybody
to come up to the stage.
Show me some love.
I know you got your drink and everything.
Its all good.
We gonna rock out, man.
I got my homeboy Dot da Genius with me.
-I represent Fools Gold.
-(feedback squeals)
Oh, man, we got feedback.
Thats how live we are right now.
(chuckles)
Yeah, it wasnt until we met Pat
and he locked in with Emile
and there was some type of movement
that we started talking about a mixtape.
The mixtape released,
and then we went to Australia.
Which was, like, the first tour ever.
-Just me and him.
-(audience shouting)
(phone rings)
ROBERT ALEXANDER:
Hello.
CUDI:
I just have one note.
I just feel like this is a big moment.
-Mm-hmm.
-Like, I toured the whole country,
and, like, maybe there should be
some text on black
where it says...
Cause BAPE wouldnt give me
three weeks off...
You know?
-Kid.
-Cudi!
I know theres been some,
you know, problems
with pronouncing my name, but its "Cudi."
You know what Im saying? Its Cudi.
-So everybody say, "Cudi."
-Cudi!
-Cudi! Cudi!
-Cudi! Cudi!
Yeah, so therell be nobody
coming up to me
saying "Coodie," then, aight?
Then we got that established.
It was crazy.
The first show was literally,
like, maybe ten, 15 people.
And you could tell they were just drunk
and they were just like,
"Oh, you know, its entertainment,"
you know?
You can tell that
they didnt know who he was,
but they might have heard "Day N Nite,"
which was kind of crazy.
The lonely stoner seems
to free his mind at night
Hes all alone,
some things will never change
The lonely loner seems
to free his mind at night
At, at, at night.
(heavy beat plays)
SYLVIA RHONE:
Ive always looked for
the most off-the-wall music
and artists that I can find,
because I think thats
where the excitement comes.
When I signed Cudi,
it was a very competitive bidding war.
It was night and day I stayed up...
(chuckles) to make this deal for a week.
He was the guy who
smashed and mashed culture
and defied genres.
Everybody could see
that he was on the wave of something new.
(electronic music playing)

JEFF BHASKER:
He definitely has a keen sense of harmony.
I feel like
he has his own point of view and...
...maybe he feeds off,
like, a certain energy
and there was an aesthetic
going back and forth
through Pat and Emile
and Pat working with Kanye and crossing,
and then Kid Cudi put his stuff...
It was all in this, like, solar system
of vibration.
(music stops)
Shit.
Didnt record it.
KANYE: When I first heard Cudi,
it felt really new,
the combination of him
putting the melody with the rap
in a way that
I hadnt really heard that
since, like, Bone Thugs.
PAT:
I would play Kanye
early Cudi demos,
like the stuff him and Dot were doing.
And then I guess,
after we made the mixtape,
he was like,
"Man, I need to be a part of this."
("Maui Wowie" by Kid Cudi playing)
Going back to Honolulu.
We were in Hawaii,
and I was like, "Yo, Cudi,
you need to get out here. Figure it out."
He figured it out. He got out there.
And K-Kanye didnt pay for it or nothing.
-First night in, he was writing...
-ALL: "Heartless."
JEFF:
I think it was actually the first time
that he had come down to Hawaii.
Had "Day N Nite" was, like, poppin.
Hes on... hes on a... on a high.
Then hes got a...
then hes in the studio,
and were gonna, like, write,
and we have the beat.
I just go,
"Okay, Cudi, like, do the melody.
Do the... do the...
do your Kid Cudi thing."
He was sitting in the front area
in-in the Hawaii studio,
and Im on the laptop, and hes like,
"Okay, this is what I got."
(audience cheering)
He said...
Its like, "Aah! What?"
Yo...
Slam dunk for the win.
I hear em talk
The coldest story ever told
Somewhere far along this road
He lost his soul
to a woman so heartless...
Thats just Cudi, man.
Cudi just has that, like...
his thing with melody is just amazing.
Heartless, mm, whoa
How could you be so heartless?
-Wow. (laughs)
-KANYE: Make some noise for Kid Cudi.
(audience cheering)
CUDI:
From there, like, Kanye cosigned me,
and then I started working
on 808s & Heartbreak.
I started working on Blueprint 3.
And this is all before my debut.
So it was like people were waiting.
If I had got caught up in expectations
and what people wanted from me,
Man on the Moon: The End of Day
would not have sounded how it sounded.
Going in, I had this idea, like,
"Yeah, Kanyes gonna be involved,"
and all this and all that.
But, like, when it got to it
and I got the deal done
and I was working on these songs
with Pat and Emile and Dot,
I was really, like,
"Im creating a sound here.
I trust my vision."
And...
I might not need Kanye like that.
You know, and I kind of just
put that noise out of my mind
and just kind of focused on the art
and my story
and what I was trying to tell.
Youre in my dream now.
WILLOW SMITH: I watch the sun collapse
and took up in the clizzoud
I am the lone wolf, go where I wanna.
The acceptance and the knowledge to see
how to get your vision done
is-is an art in itself. (chuckles)
And really, it honestly just comes
or it doesnt.
And thats something
that I struggle with a lot
because it just sucks when youre like,
"Lets get it," and your heart
and your mind is just like,
"We dont really have anything
to say right now.
So sorry about that."
You have to dig that well
and get to that place
in order to really see whats going on.
Or else I feel like Im just writing...
some BS, low-key.
I never say no. (chuckles)
Never tell a artist no
or, "You cant," or, you know,
"Dont do that."
Theyre artists. Theyre supposed
to think outside the box
and do things that you think
that youre not supposed to do.
I mean, just making something
is a fucking achievement,
and you shouldnt, like,
say something is wack
just because you dont like it.
You know, like, somebody still
sat fucking down and made that shit with
their hands and their, and their head.
You really got to be like--
I dont even know.
I was about to say "comfortable," but, uh,
thats definitely not me
or anybody I know.
(laughs) You know what I mean?
You got to just, like--
you just got to love the shit, man.
SHIA LaBEOUF: What makes an artist
is fully investing your heart.
Thats all it takes.
And so, if you dont give a fuck,
then why invest your heart?
I think the best artists all have that...
one, that drive that they feel like
they need to, to be able to survive,
but also this confidence in that
the people on the other side
need this shit.
That, in sharing this with people,
healing can happen
not just for the person making this shit
but for the person receiving this shit.
And in that connection,
thats where art is.
Its in that
full investment of heart on both sides.
My favorite shit has come from
when I know in my heart
I couldnt have given anything else,
when I lose myself wholly and completely
to this other thing.
Which really comes through collaboration.
Its really nice to, like,
fail in front of people.
And also feel like,
on the other side of that failure,
these people still fuck with you.
It gives you a confidence level
where youre not afraid to fail.
JEFF:
People can get so hung up on fucking up,
and, like, thats kind of
the main way you learn.
And sometimes you can just fuck up
into creating something new
and amazing and beautiful.
Daring to suck.
(chuckles) Just dare to suck.
DON C:
That new frontier,
it takes a lot of courage to go towards,
especially if it hasnt been done before.
We see in a small bubble
how positive energy can inspire others
to then effect even a bigger bubble.
So lets just apply that principle
and keep expounding on it
until all seven billion people on Earth is
inspired and happy.
SHIA:
Youll always have some haters, yeah,
wholl be like,
"Whats this weird Wiccan shit?"
If it was just me and somebody said that,
Id fucking sink into myself.
Id fall apart.
But because I got a group of people
holding me up,
I can actually have that
no-fucks-to-give mentality.
JEFF:
Its okay to question.
Its okay to explore all angles
of a sound or a thought or an idea.
It radiates positivity.
And the belief
that you can accomplish your dreams.
You can express yourself,
and your deepest self is great.
The scariest, ugliest thing about you...
...is great.
COMMON: But toward the end
of our first ten years
Into the millennium, we heard a voice
A voice who was speaking to us
From the underground for some time
A voice who spoke of vulnerabilities
And other human emotions and issues
Never before heard
so vividly and honest
This is the story of a young man
Who not only believed
in himself but his dreams, too
This is the story
of the Man on the Moon.
The first thing that was important to me
is to make something that...
kind of called out
to the broken and the lost.
For me to find kids
that felt like how I felt.
So I wanted to kind of design something
tailor-made to Scott.
Scotty...
-The soundtrack to my life
-Yeah, yeah
The soundtrack to my life.
"Soundtrack 2 My Life" was like
my introduction to the world.
Like, kind of like my...
my mission statement.
It was really important for me
to be as honest as possible.
Moments where I say, like,
"Im probably this close
to go and trying some coke."
Like, that was a real...
feeling.
I was a little worried about
what my mom may think
and my family and friends,
but, uh, ultimately,
it was about being honest
and just being a true artist.
EMILE:
The way I knew how to make music
until I met Cudi was to sit
in my studio alone and make beats,
come up with a beat,
and then try to go pitch it.
I remember playing him the beats
that I already had, and he just didnt...
it wasnt really connecting
with him, you know?
And it wasnt until
I started playing records
and playing synth sounds and this
that he started going.
It was instantaneous.
The second I started playing fresh stuff
that was creating stuff on the spot,
thats when the wheels started turning
and he would just start writing.
You know, if I...
(playing chords)
Like, Id be playing
these kind of chords--
like, really simple things--
cause I just didnt have
the wherewithal to, like,
do anything more complex,
and he would just... I would do that,
and he would put the mic on,
and he would go in the booth.
And Im like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa,
I got to, like, put this...
I got to put this on tempo
and put it in the computer."
And he just didnt want to hear that.
He was ready to go.
So, as... as kind of basic
as that was that I just played,
he would then take it
and do something fresh with it.
Anything I come up with
that I would maybe second-guess
if I was just alone--
I would think, like, you know,
"Who am I gonna play..."--
like, he would get inspired by it
and come up with something cool
that would then inspire me,
and we would go back and forth.
So it was like-- completely changed
the way I thought about music,
the way my process happened,
the sounds that I was looking for.
This takes you from being a beat maker
to being a songwriter.
So wed just kind of be listening...
wed, like, flip through records...
("Birds" by Menahan Street Band playing)
And, um... I remember
on this one he heard, like...
("The Contender"
by Menahan Street Band playing)
Lets see.
Is this the right record?
("The Traitor"
by Menahan Street Band playing)
That sounds like it.
And we just kind of like...
(synth beat plays along
with "The Traitor")
I think we were, like, probably
playing video games or something
and that came on in the background,
and he was just like, "What is that?"
Im like,
"Ah, its, like, my friends thing."
And hes like, you know,
"Loop it up and maybe pitch it."
So we, like, pitched it.
Pitched it way down, something like...
(plays melody with low pitch)
So Id have something like that,
and by the time it took me to just do that
and then put it into the computer
and just do a loop,
hes got the verse written.
So that would kind of be the process.
"Solo Dolo" was just
so unorthodox and weird.
Its just got that-that loop.
(loop from "The Traitor"
continues playing)
That... (humming melody)
Its just, like, hypnotizing.
And eerie.
Its a little scary a little bit.
And I-I love how I sound
on that record, you know?
Like, Im really... Im really proud
of the performance.
(laughs)
Oh, oh, oh
SCHOOLBOY Q:
"Solo Dolo," like,
bro, when that shit come in, like...
Oh, oh, oh
And its like,
"Oh, my God, this shit is crazy."
PAT:
We already had "Pursuit."
I mean, we had basically the album,
and the label was like,
"We need another Day N Nite."
And its like, yeah, but "Day N Nite"
wasnt "Day N Nite"
until it became "Day N Nite."
And they were pushing us to, you know,
make a radio song
or make something catchy.
But, you know, Cudi wasnt hearing...
he wasnt trying to hear none of that.
And I was like,
"No, you have to listen to me.
You have to listen."
Like, I was in that office
having a tantrum.
I was like, "No.
"This is the next single.
You have to believe me. Trust me."
Our next guest is a, uh, popular rapper
whose forthcoming CD,
uh, right here is entitled...
ALL:
Man on the Moon: The End of the Day.
Please give a huge welcome to Kid Cudi.
Im on the pursuit of happiness,
and I know
Everything that shine
aint always gonna be gold, hey
Ill be fine once I get it
Ill be good...
ALL:
Man on the Moon...
NOAH CALLAHAN-BEVER:
...is arguably
one of the most influential albums
in the last
20 years.
SCHOOLBOY Q:
Where I come from, we dont...
we dont even try to touch those feelings
and emotions, like being,
like, uh, depressed or sad.
And if you are depressed,
you dont mention it.
You keep that in.
You-you fight through it, nigga.
Suck it up.
Like, you know what I mean?
No crying. Chin up, chest out.
NOAH:
He pulled back the layers
to show you some universal truths.
That created a depth of connection
that very, very few artists
are able to create.
SCHOOLBOY Q: Songs like
"Pursuit of Happiness" and shit.
You know, thats, like, basically saying,
"Hey, nigga, you depressed.
"You cant hide it.
"You trying to act like
you dont want to hear the song.
"Youre constantly listening to it
while trying to act like
youre not listening to it."
That was like a caver for me.
Like, all that "chin up, chest out" shit
was a real caver
when that "Pursuit of Happiness"
really hits you.
CUDI:
Its a really dark song.
Probably one of the darkest on the album.
Thats why its labeled "Nightmare."
I think that got lost on some people.
When we did the remix and stuff like that,
it became, like, something else.
So it bothered me at first.
I was like, "Oh, they missed the point.
"This is not supposed to be celebrated.
Im talking about drinking and driving."
Like, Im very reckless on the song.
Im saying, "Im-a do just what I want."
Saying, "Fuck that."
Like, its... its very rebellious.
But now, like, I-I dont really...
I dont really trip about that.
Like, I love the reaction to "Pursuit"
every time I do it at the shows.
Like, I got to perform that song.
You know?
Like, Ill be performing
that song forever.
Hey, hey, hey...
ALL:
Man on the Moon.
Uh, little homey...
Hes soulful, and hes funny,
-and hes so sensitive.
-You say what, now?
-JEFF: But those melodies.
-ALL: Melodies.
No one else has those melodies.
Like on, uh, "Heart of a Lion" and...
No, no, no, no, no
-Yeah.
-And all that stuff.
You feel like, "Aw, if I had a beat, man,
I could come up with that shit,"
you know, but you cant.
SCHOOLBOY Q:
It was just a different vibe,
and it was no shit I never heard before.
Dude, I was just like,
"What the fuck am I listening to?"
Right, Im like... I didnt get it.
Like, "Why do I like this shit?" Like...
I kept playing this shit.
Kept, kept playing this shit.
And then I got it.
Im like, "This shit is just hard."
JADEN SMITH:
When I was younger, I would just always
hang out with my older brother,
and my older brother
was just obsessed with listening
to Cudi, you know...
-"Pursuit of Happiness."
-"Cudi Zone." -"Heart of a Lion."
...and he would just
put it on loop, like, all day,
so, like, I didnt even know
who we were listening to
for the longest time,
and then it just kind of
became ingrained into me.
Its showing people all over the world
that they can do whatever they want,
especially people of color
who are just like,
"Oh, I cant do this,"
or, "This is not my thing."
Its like, "No, this can be your thing."
Whatever your thing is, you can do that.
That opened up
a whole new frontier of just kids
that are now today the ones that are
-the forerunners of culture.
-I know.
When I heard Man on the Moon,
that was the first time
I heard an album, like, so...
ALL:
...unique.
He just was the wizard.
Bridging techno and rap, I mean,
just all these things, you know, like,
that werent necessarily being done.
Wizard.
You know, you bring in something
from a completely different world
into your world, and its not normal,
but it works, and people like,
"Okay, well, now we can do that."
I dont know.
That nigga just was a different...
he was a weird, ill nigga.
(chuckling):
Like...
he was a ill nigga, man, you know?
Honestly, "Sky Might Fall."
Like, I cant lie. I cant lie.
(laughs)
The sky might fall, the sky might fall
But Im not worried at all
Hey, hey, I let em know somethin...
-DON C: When it came out...
-BOTH: Man on the Moon.
DON C:
...album connected with a audience of kids
that had never had a artist
connect with them.
Ye started the movement
with College Dropout.
Man on the Moon picked it up,
and then it was a big momentum
of that snowball effect
that really completely affected culture.
Before then, people only represented,
like, "Im the cool guy,"
or, "Im the thug,"
or, "Im the gangster."
But it was never, like, "Im a introvert.
Im hurt over these things
that have happened in my life."
These are feelings we all go through,
but nobody wants to talk about it.
Now we all feel comfortable
because of that.
A$AP ROCKY: He was changing
the game by being his own protg
and musing himself
and letting Kanye muse him and...
and show people, like,
yo, you can be weird.
You can be yourself.
You can be from Cleveland.
You can be from wherever.
TIMOTHE CHALAMET:
There was that relatability to it.
There was that immediacy to it.
And this was the music
I was hearing that I felt like,
"Whoa, hes speaking to my soul."
I remember having to take pauses
from listening to it
cause I loved it and it was therapeutic,
and yet at the same time,
I dont know what that...
Im sure a scientist could speak to it
better than I could.
DR. CANDICE NORCOTT:
We dont all have language about emotions,
so to be able to see a piece of art
and have that pull from you
an authentic emotion is so powerful.
Music that is emotional or "sad"
helps you but also, like,
brings it on even more in some way.
And I think thats really important.
CUDI:
All right, run it.
I never gave a fuck
I never gave a fuck about
what niggas thought about me
I mean, I did, but, like, fuck it
You know what Im saying?
NOAH:
Hip-hop had done an incredible job
of articulating a lot of things
about the environments that these artists
were coming up in
and did a lot less talking about
what was going on
inside of those artists heads.
Cudi had no reservations
about delving into
his most private, dark thoughts.
JOE LA PUMA:
Youll see it in todays artists.
They dont talk about Cudi,
"Oh, I love his music.
Hes so dope. He dress great."
You know what they say?
Kid Cudi, man, Kid Cudis,
like, really, like,
one of the main dudes I kind of, like,
looked at or listened to all the time.
BOTH:
He saved my life.
He saved me from doing,
like, random bad things to myself,
kept me, like, focused.
JOE:
You hear that numerous times
when people talk about Cudi.
You hear that when
his fans talk about Cudi.
And you also hear it from
some of the biggest people
-in pop culture right now a decade later.
-Pop culture.
TRAVIS SCOTT:
I feel like he really dialed in on, like,
the youth and really dialed in
on, like, um, inspiration,
like, how to inspire you.
Like, his words was, like,
very selected on, like, what to do.
I-I feel like he always made
the soundtrack
-to, like, my life.
-Soundtrack to my life.
Or anybodys life who was,
like, going through the same thing.
If youre a big Cudi fan, like,
you know exactly what Im saying.
When I think about albums
that have colored my life
or narrated my come-up,
this is the biggest one.
This is the biggest one for my maturation
from, like, being a little teenager
to, like, stepping into the real world.
He spit his truth in a way
that seemed accessible,
-and he was vulnerable.
-DOT: Vulnerable.
And was talking about things like,
"Nobody knows, but Im-Im feeling a lot."
He gave me, like, a waiver to be
open to my emotions, you know?
The album really starts there.
TIMOTHE:
And isnt it ironic that
in a genre that is about impenetrability,
bravado in the face of pain,
that the one that wouldve transcended
that confrontation of ego
and of, like, competition
would be the one that was the least about
how big his chain was
or, you know, how hard his beats slapped
but was the guy that was, like,
"Hey, Im a human,
"and this is what I go through,
and love it or hate it,
like, this is my reality."
LIL YACHTY: You know, I went to college,
and I had this red hair,
and, man, Id walk in the cafeteria
or when I walked to class, yo, I just...
I saw people looking at me,
laughing at me and made jokes.
I mean, I was hurt, I felt it,
I could feel the eyes,
but it was this thing I had on my head.
I always used to know, like,
I had to embrace myself.
With Cudi-- and I would never
say this to his face.
Thatd be kind of weird.
But definitely appreciate him
for being him so that I could be me.
Cause, you know, times get hard,
for anyone at any time,
but you just always have to realize
that theres more to life
than that very moment.
That thought can get clouded,
you know, because sometimes
its just, in the moment,
things get so tough
that its hard to even imagine
the fact that-that things could be
better somewhere else.
I dont know, it was just something
I always had in mind.
I always knew
there was more to life than this.
Than this school,
than this dorm and these kids.
Just knew there was more,
and I knew I was gonna achieve it.
("Up Up & Away" by Kid Cudi playing)
COMMON:
The end is never the end
A new challenge awaits
A test no man could be prepared for
A new hell he must conquer and destroy
A new level of growth
he must confront himself
The machine and the ghost within
This is the journey
of the Man on the Moon.
(song ends)
I never worried about the music part.
The sadness, I only worried about him.
He was a guy that stayed to himself a lot.
In the beginning,
it was a hard adjustment for him to make.
Theres the saying, right?
"Everywhere you go, there you are."
And when you get more money,
you think that things will get better,
things will get easier.
But when you have lots of eyes on you,
it can magnify feelings
of negative self-perception,
and that can be
particularly vulnerable and hurtful.
There are people who say, you know,
"That song saved my life."
And thats got to feel extremely scary.
I have these peoples lives in my hand,
but Im struggling here, too.
Whats my responsibility?
The pressure in that can be overwhelming.
CUDI:
I just really found it hard to be happy.
(audience cheering)
Im like, "Okay, Im successful."
Like, I accomplished what I came
to New York City to accomplish.
But, um...
I was miserable, man.
I just couldnt help but feel
like Richie Rich or somebody.
Like, you know, I had security
with me everywhere I went
and, like, people looking out for me.
There would be some nights
where Id be at the club
and I would just run out the club
and run for blocks.
And I would hop in a yellow cab,
trying to get away from my security.
And my security would get in a cab
and follow me all the way home
and be right there.
I could never lose his ass.
I just had a hard time
dealing with the adjustments
from being this-this guy,
from being Scott, to being Kid Cudi.

It was a little bit of a nightmare for me
because I wasnt right with myself.
When I would do shows,
I didnt feel anything.
I think I was scared
and intimidated by the stage.
Like, if you look at
some of my early performances,
Im not smiling.
I just want to be around good people.
I want to look them in the eyes
and see their soul
and know that theyre real people
and theyre shooting me straight.
I didnt get that a lot.
I was just like,
"Man, these people might...
"I-I dont know if they like me for me
or if they like me
cause of my cosign with Kanye."
Or maybe they just like "Day N Nite"
and they dont even know
about the other music.
Like, I dont... I didnt
really know what that was,
why people were into me as a artist.
And I was just like,
"Well, maybe this isnt for me."
There was a lot of good moments
recording the album.
But after it was done, it was, like...
promoting it,
and people would ask me questions,
personal questions
that I wasnt ready to answer.
For some reason-- and this is the truth--
I never thought that being so honest
would, in turn, have people wanting
to ask me so many personal questions.
People would be like,
"Oh, you lost your dad at 11 years old.
What was that like?"
These are questions
that Ive never been asked before.
This is, like, stuff that
Ive never even thought about.
When my father died,
I camouflaged all my feelings.
I-I tucked that shit away.
I pretended like
that shit didnt even happen.
And I would do interviews
with sunglasses on,
and Id be on cocaine,
and Id just be, like,
sitting there
and answering these questions.
Because thats the only way
I could talk about stuff like that.
I would never leave my house.
I wouldnt go out and do anything.
But when I did cocaine,
I could be out in the street.
Id be the mayor.
Id be running out in the street.
People were seeing me signing autographs.
Im taking pictures.
Im like, "Yo, whats good?"
It gave me confidence
to step out the house.
To be normal.
ROBERT:
So, what was the approach
of, uh, Man on the Moon II?
(laughs)
Ah, man.
(sucks teeth)
I dont want to talk about
Man on the Moon II.
I dont really want to get--
D-Do you want to go to Man on the...
-Yeah.
-Yeah?
You know, early on, it was fine.
It wasnt till after, uh,
everything became su-successful
that everything kind of, like, got dark.
Oh, you mean the ending?
-Yeah, its too...
-(electronic tone plays)
(beat plays briefly)
Mm...
I want to put more, like...
-(makes whooshing sound)
-PAT: Right, it needs...
it needs, like, some more layers and shit.
CUDI:
After Man on the Moon was finished,
I went right back to the studio.
EMILE:
You know, we were like brothers.
We were all in the studio constantly,
and, like, you know, you have that thing
of, like, we shared hotel rooms
and going and doing his first shows
for 30 people in Jersey somewhere and...
You know, we went through
all that, and, uh,
you know, the dynamic shifts naturally.
It just has to.
DOT:
He definitely was going through things.
You could tell that
he just wasnt, like, feeling it.
I just remember
it going from us doing a show,
doing an after-party.
(lively chatter)
Like, usually having a lot
going on all the time,
and then he just completely
deaded all that.
He would have moments like this
before the first album.
You know, like, he would be
dealing with something.
Hell just lock himself in a room
in the house by himself.
So that whole "lonely stoner" shit is...
you know, its a fact.
PAT: You know, for me personally,
it was like... with Ye...
just, like, working
with Cudi and Ye, I was...
I... it-it was a lot
for me to handle because...
cause I-I feel like...
I feel like I couldve...
I feel like, um... (sucks teeth)
like I was... I just feel like
I couldve been there
for Cudi more,
and maybe it wouldve went different.
-(cameras clicking)
-(indistinct chatter)
EMILE: The train is just moving,
like, super fast,
and hes, like, traveling the world.
Hes got all these obligations.
CREW MEMBER:
Roll playback!
EMILE:
Hes got superfans.
Hes got huge tours. Its all moving.
You dont want to stop it,
but what do you do?
He didnt seem happy at all,
and he didnt seem to be
looking forward to anything.
I also think that he just had
this idea that he wasnt gonna live.
DOT:
Besides the mood swings, it was always
100% in the studio.
You have to understand, Cudis my brother.
The fact that he was able
to hide it from me
bothers me a lot,
but he was very good at-at hiding it.
CUDI: The pressures
of having to live up to the hype,
I didnt know if I could really embrace
what I was becoming.
(sings indistinctly)
And I was using cocaine
to escape from reality.
PAT (chuckling): I didnt realize
that, like, how deep it was
of, like, how deep the lyrics were.
Want to know what it sound like
When Im not on drugs?
Please, please dont play this song...
Yeah, that song... I dont know, man.
I never liked that song.
I produced it. We did it together.
It was too re... it was, like,
I was seeing it every day.

PAT:
Like, you hear the lyrics, you know,
but its not just, like, for this album.
Its like... this is his real life.
CUDI: I had got arrested
before the album was finished,
and, uh, I remember I got out of jail,
and I was ashamed
because I grew up with two uncles
that were addicted to crack.
So the fact that I got into cocaine
really made me feel like I let them down,
like I was letting my mom down.
But Im glad I got arrested
because thats when I quit.
I dont think I wouldve quit if I...
If-if people didnt find out about it,
I wouldve kept-kept doing it.
(song changes)

People started treating me different
and looking at me different,
and that fucked me up.
Everybody, I think, like, in the media,
they kind of...
for a long time,
they just painted me as this guy who
has some personal problems
and is depressed.
No one wants a troubled boy...
That really bothered me a lot...
...cause I wasnt depressed
and down all the time.
And that was the year
my daughter was born.
And I want yall to meet my daughter.
Shes the love of my life,
and I just want her
-to see what Daddy does.
-(cheering)
When I was with her,
I was the happiest I could ever be.
But I wasnt with her all the time.
Its just something that comes with it.
Its not about what the media is saying.
Its about these kids.
So I just made sure to focus,
like, on that,
the fact that it was helping people,
and thats always been my mission.
Its just like the line...
Thats truly what it was, you know?
I sacrifice the privacy of my life
and put my story out there to help others.

(music stops)
-Need a break.
-ROBERT: Okay.
Thank you.
("Soundtrack 2 My Life"
by Kid Cudi playing)
She copped the toys I would play with
in my room by myself
Why he by himself?
He got two older brothers...
SHIA: Ive always felt like
me and him are just very similar, man.
Like, he was always--
some kind of kinship, spirit-wise.
I have really charming memories
of him, man.
Hes like a fucking teddy bear
in my heart.
I remember being in Amsterdam with him.
People running around
all through the fucking streets,
trying to chase him-- no bodyguard.
And I remember thinking, like,
"This motherfuckers a superstar,
and hes just,
like, hanging out with us, you know?"
He never lost that...
You know, he still has that.
And really, you can only be his friend
if you are in the midst
of creating something with him.
Not because hes trying to use you,
but because thats the only time
when his spirits are up.
Howd the Shia interview come out?
I remember sitting with him.
(laughing): Oh, my God.
I remember sitting with him.
I think he was on tour or something,
and hes like,
"Hey, man, I want to make this...
this fucking cartoon about my childhood."
Im like, "Bet. Im on it."
So I write this treatment,
and I put everything into it.
ROBERT:
He talked about a Adult Swim meeting
-you went to with him.
-(laughing)
Theres like five people in the room
from Adult Swim,
and theyre all, like,
kind of vibing with the treatment.
And I never really pitched shit
in my life ever,
so Im thinking,
"Ooh, gosh, this is going well."
(laughing):
And he, in the middle of the meeting,
he just takes the pages out of my hand.
He goes, "This is bullshit,"
and he threw the fucking pages out
in the meeting,
and then stormed out of the meeting.
(laughing):
Nah, I didnt do that.
I grabbed... I grabbed
the script out his hand
cause it was a script that I didnt read
that he wrote on his own.
It was quite aggressive.
It was really smooth how I did it
cause he took it out,
and then right when he pulled it out,
I was like, "No, no, no, no."
And he was pissed.
He had given me a passport
to his life story.
He had given me access to everything.
Im talking to his mother.
And I had put it in the pages.
And there was shit in the pages
that he just...
we had never double-checked
with each other,
and there were certain things
he didnt want to talk about.
Hes so aware of how hes being perceived
that he wants to shape it
to such a degree
that it doesnt allow him to be free.
Which is why weve had contention,
me and him.
Its cause I am a digger
and Im curious as fuck,
and Ill go there with him
and hell shut it down.
I didnt understand that
for years, you know?
Um, and we got better,
and-and then we fell out,
and we got better and we fell out.
We both love each other,
but were both really passionate people.
Thats why I love him so much,
because, like,
I feel like he understands me
and I understand him.
Its hard to find
people like that in the industry
that are, like, trying
to create something new,
but its always been an escape for me.
And its freeing.

Dennis, my manager,
bought me a guitar one year,
and I was like...
"Whyd you buy me that?"
He said, "Ah, man, I was just thinking
you could get into the guitar."
I was like, "I dont play guitar, though."
(laughing):
You know?
And he just bought me this guitar.
And then I got the idea
to just go ahead and teach myself.
That was...
me just...
trying to feel something.
I needed to feel something with the music.
The fact that I was Black,
playing the guitar, doing rock music,
that was, like, weird for people, I think.
Even if it was a weird thing,
I still wouldnt care
and I still was just, like,
adamant about learning this instrument
and proving to myself that I could do it.
(plays repeating electric guitar riff)
-Get any of that?
-Hmm?
-You got it?
-Uh, no.
Uh, lets-lets do it again.
I wasnt recording.
-You recording?
-No.
(laughing):
Son of a bitch.
Son of a bitch.
I was just getting warm anyway.
("Brake" by WZRD playing)
WZRD, I did that album sober.
I wasnt drinking.
I wasnt smoking, I dont think.
Or was I smoking and I wasnt drinking?
I cant remember. (laughs)
Mm, somebody help me
Does anyone care?
Can anyone hear me?
Is anyone there?
DENNIS:
The motivation from that was
he definitely wanted
to start a band with Dot.

He may say something different,
but I think some of it also
stemmed from him being, like, over
being out on that stage by himself.
Him wanting to bring
somebody else in that fishbowl.
("Teleport 2 Me, Jamie" by WZRD playing)
(indistinct chatter)
(laughter)
I want you, girl
And I need your body right here...
CUDI:
I was excited about this new sound
and everything about it.
I had the perm, and...
(laughing):
Like, I had a new look and...
Like, you know what Im saying?
Wont you teleport to me?
Yo, oh, oh...
Right here, wont you teleport...
It was therapeutic.
-Baby.
-(song ends)
You know, I was in a really happy place
when I made WZRD.
Were not coming at you like,
"Shut the fuck up
and, like, listen to our music."
-You came here for a purpose.
-WOMAN: Exactly.
-You came here to hear our music.
-Fuck that...
So fucking listen
to what were talking about
because were trying to educate you
on what were doing.
-Its as simple as that.
-(applause, cheering)
You know what Im saying?
-No claps! No claps!
-(applause stops)
A lot of people think
Im an asshole and shit.
Whatever. Think what you want.
But, like, nigga, I... this is the shit
that keeps me alive,
making these fucking songs,
so fuck you if you cant listen
while Im playing em.
Thats how I feel.
Wholeheartedly.
(scattered chatter)
No more questions.
I want to just get the fuck out of here.
I wouldnt want to wish
my life on anybody.
Like, the stuff that I was going through,
I wouldnt want anyone to go through that.
But I was coming to terms
with the reality of me being such a...
...a dark person and being depressed
and facing the fact that people
dont really want to fuck with someone
who doesnt have their shit together.
And then, after the second album,
thats when I switched labels.
And I lost Sylvia Rhone,
and that was a big deal for me.
The person that believed in me
and signed me, I lost her.
My career would have been different
if I had Sylvia Rhone.
Cause Sylvia believed in me
like nobody else in the industry.
No matter how weird
or how strange the music would be,
she would be totally all in
with what I wanted to do.
And its tough cause
these labels are cutthroat.
I know they support me,
but its still like,
"Wheres the radio single?"
And its like, "Man, Im Kid Cudi.
We dont think about that."
SHIA:
You know, you wouldnt have had
that lean into punk rock from rap
without Cudi, like, risking.
He had to risk himself
and get flayed for it
cause what they wanted from him
was another Man on the Moon.
Hes got a bunch of Man on the Moons
sitting in a backpack.
His thing is he hates repeating himself.
He feels pass
or like hes not pushing it.
He winds up sabotaging himself
from, like, a certain kind of pop success
because hes so dissatisfied
with the rest of life.
Out of that dissatisfaction,
you wind up with incredible art
and a really fractured person.
CUDI:
Ill be having to remind cats,
like, yo, we exist
on a whole nother plane.
I didnt get on through radio.
I got on on the Internet.
I was working with Kanye West, Jay-Z
without radio play.
I cant busy myself
worrying about the radio.
The fucking radio.
(beat playing)
Do I want to have a record on the radio?
Yeah, but I want it to be organic.
I want people to play my record
because its hot, not because
the label is telling them to play it.
I dont really get caught up
on sales or anything like that.
If I did, I wouldve been like,
"Aw, its over.
People dont want to listen to me anymore.
Im done."
But I was like, "Okay.
"People didnt respond to that.
"Cool.
Im-a get back to my shit,
introduce some new vibes."
(heavy beat playing)
Lets go!
All these songs, like,
to perform at the concerts,
-are gonna be outrageous.
-(music stops)
Outrageous, cause, see,
the thing, like, with my shows,
theres so much of that slow shit
on the Man on the Moon material,
so its like,
we got high ones, we got low ones.
-Yeah, yeah. -And I never really
have done up-tempo records.
-Right.
-So the only time the show get hype
-is when we do the remix part.
-Right, right, right.
But all these songs, "Immortal," like...
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Niggas gonna be turned up.
-Im living my life
-(crowd cheering)
As if I got powers
And tonight I feel immortal
I said, tonight I feel immortal
Oh
Tonight I feel immortal
Whoa.
We have a job to introduce
new flavors and new experiences.
-Hit it.
-(beat plays, crowd cheers)
Ive always been about: How can I do that?
How can I push it?
-How can I...
-Everybody!
...give people something
that they havent heard before?
Say, who gonna hold me down now?
I wanna get high, yall
Hey! Whoa, whoa
-I wanna get high, yall
-Let me know, hey
Need it, need it to get by, yall
Whoa, I need it
-Can you get me high, yall?
-Hey, oh.
(cheering and applause)
In the moment,
people might not understand that, but...
you have to stay true to your beliefs.
(chanting):
Cudi! Cudi! Cudi! Cudi! Cudi!
CUDI:
I always stay true to Scott.
And as long as I focus in that way,
I should be good.
Look at all these fucking people!
Yall feel that energy?!
(cheering)
("Down & Out" playing)
Lets take it to the mixtape!
Hands high!
Yeah
Ha-ha-ha-ha
Yeah
Ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha
What? When I say, "Kid,"
yall say, "Cudi."
-Kid. Kid.
-Cudi! Cudi!
When I say, "Kid," yall say, "Cudi."
-Kid. Kid.
-Cudi! Cudi!
-Nice!
-(cheering)
LIL YACHTY:
When I do shit,
like, Ill be so fearful of people
not understanding something,
Ill explain everything.
Hes kind of opposite.
He just drops it.
If you dont understand it, whatever.
Which is so cool.
("Going to the Ceremony" playing)
I wish I could be like that.
-Do you guys feel it?
-(cheering)
CUDI:
The moment I start
sounding like somebody else,
thats when I fail.
Drinking again, drinking again...
But then theres also
a side of me thats like,
"Well, what if they dont like it
and the labels not gonna promote it
and people are gonna shit on it?"
Theres kind of that,
but its not stopping me
from executing it.
Its like a thought,
and then its like, "Well, fuck it.
Im just gonna do this."
You know, Im human.
(vocalizing)
-(song ends)
-(cheering)
A$AP ROCKY:
The connection is the high.
And thats really
what everybodys chasing--
that high, you know?
Thats when you finally feel like
a natural part of something.
Its like finding your roots.
Because you could have an opinion,
a strong opinion on something that says,
I know that this naturally
isnt supposed to be cool,
but theres something
really dope about this.
Man, this is amazing.
Can we take the journey...
You could make music
about nothing all day,
and people still could play it--
its a dope beat.
You know, youre saying some shit,
repetitive, on the hook, but...
some people make shit you connect to,
and youre like, "Damn."
Where you at? Where you going?
Hey, Mr. Rager
Where the hell you at?
Where the fuck you going?
Hey, Mr. Rager
Where you at? Where you going?
Hey, Mr. Rager
Hey
Mm
Yeah.
-Thank you!
-(cheering)

SHIA: His pain is always felt
very at the surface.
He smiles a whole lot,
but his smile is hiding something.
I remember coming in one time.
I think he was making
the rock album with Pat.
And I came in--
it was too far ahead for me.
I was like,
"Nah, man, this aint it at all."
And I said that,
and he kicked me out his house,
and we didnt talk for a long time.
Even if-if youre gonna
tell him the truth,
you got to find a way to deliver it
cause hes such a fucking feeler.
Hes mining his heart
every time he makes an album.
Hes in there digging.
You know, hes digging
and mining for his truth
that is also something that
he feels like he can present
in an accessible way and make jams out of.
Sometimes you make your dopest shit
in the darkest place.
I mean, my favorite Kid Cudi album
is fucking, uh,
Speedin Bullet 2 Heaven.
Its crazy.
Man, and "Confused,"
of course, "Confused."
It must have been a dark time for bro.
I dont know if I want
to talk about "Confused"
cause that was, like,
a really dark time for me.
I dont want to talk about
any song from...
-Speedin Bullet.
-ROBERT: Speedin Bullet?
-Okay, cool.
-Yeah, yeah.
Speedin Bullet 2 Heaven,
I was the darkest.
I was darker than Man on the Moon II.
I felt like I was living the right way,
but I still felt empty inside.
People look up to me,
but Im not a happy person.
So, a lot of the times,
I felt like a fraud,
and thats what drove me to...
the dark side of what I was dealing with.
SHIA: You know,
the cocaine shit scared me deeply.
When he started doing it,
I couldnt talk to him no more.
Like, I couldnt get to him no more.
He started getting isolated.
Wouldnt respond, kind of thing.
Thats when we, like...
we lost all contact
with each other for a long time.
Not just me, but a lot of his fr...
Like, he just...
he got very, very isolated.
And I dont really know
about that chunk of his life.
I dont re... We didnt hang out then.
CUDI: Passion, Pain,
I wrote from a hopeful place.
Like, "I hope I can feel
this way someday,"
and, "This is what I want to feel."
I feel sorry for every relationship I had,
you know?
I just put girls through such...
...drama because I wasnt happy
and I wasnt where I needed to be.
That added to my darkness,
the fact that I couldnt be
in a relationship.
I had just started using again.
Im not happy with myself
that I allowed myself
to go back to that...
...after all these years.
I was just really ashamed.
I was suicidal,
and I was at a place
where I was trying to plan it.
And I knew that if I...
...didnt go get help
that something wouldve happened.
I wanted to, deep down...
I wanted to be better.
And I didnt want to give up
and let people down.
All wouldve been lost.
Everything I worked hard for.
I couldnt leave my daughter.
Leave my mom.
My sister and my brothers.
I just had to get my shit together.

(audience cheering)
I just want to take this time out to say
that...
Kid Cudi is my brother
and I hope hes doing well tonight.
(cheering)
The most important artist
in the past ten years.
Most influential.
And I hope hes doing well.

WILLOW:
Were taught to come from
a mindset at a very young age of lack.
Everybody.
And I feel like that feeling
of not thinking that youre good enough
or being insecure
about your art is-is natural,
but at the same time,
I feel like its taught.
All humans are different,
and every single human
has something so unique
and special to offer.
And people forget that everyone is
basically feeling the same way:
lost, confused,
not really sure why theyre here.
That anxiety--
like, everyone is feeling that
and trying to cover it up
in some sort of way.
Were gonna come together in our flaws,
in our insecurities,
in our joy, in our happiness,
and accept it all
as beautiful and as natural.
Thats whats gonna break down those walls
and make everyone be like,
"Nah, I understand you
and your pain and your joy.
Were gonna be okay."
WOMAN:
Im a little nervous, okay?
Every time I talk about him,
I get a little emotional.
Always been there for me.
Tough times, sad times.
Good times.
His music helps me a lot.
When youre feeling alone.
He means the world to me.
WOMAN 2: There was always
someone who related to me.
Yeah, I knew that
somebody out there
sort of knew how I felt.
And that was Cudi to me.
MAN:
To me, he means like a brother to me.
Somebody I look up to.
Man on the Moon,
that was like the start of my life.
WOMAN 3:
He just... he opened up a new side of me
to where I could just
totally understand that I wasnt alone.
WOMAN 4:
Hes helped me and motivated me
through a lot of down times in my life,
and I feel like hes helped me
as an artist grow
and be more vulnerable myself
and letting people around me
know that, like,
its okay to feel the way you do
and its okay to be sad.
SHIA: You know,
I have huge chunks of my 20s, like,
where I held this, like...
this bullshit exterior.
Cause I come from fucking
Disney Channel into Spielberg,
where it was like,
"You better smile a lot."
He had that, and I always
identified with that in him--
the fact that he smiles
as a way of surviving.
And so I would bump his album nonstop
all through that whole chapter of my life
because we shared sensibilities.
So he unlocked this certain kind
of vulnerability which felt
more authentic to who I was.
Its always been, like...
like, that journey, like--
he was always meant to be
my best friend. Yeah.
And he may not speak about it
the same way,
but I have no shame in saying that.
He... the dude has my heart.
Not just because of his music
but because of the fabric of him.
This dude means so much to me, bro.
Hes really, like...
...integral to my life.
Not just the music
but just as a person, like,
just a big, big chunk of my... my life.
(chuckles):
God.
But the music, too. Yeah, the music, too.
DENNIS:
The highest moment...
...if I look back...
...is probably him going to rehab.
To know that I couldve, like,
lost... lost him, you know what I mean?
It wasnt like a...
a moment of happiness at all,
but looking back, it was like,
man, Im so glad that...
...he went when he did
and not a... not a minute later.
CUDI:
I wasnt the best me I could be.
We sometimes have that
in our lives, you know?
And these are things
that I touched on in rehab.
I talked about
couldve did this way better,
I couldve been there,
or I couldve understood,
I couldve not been afraid.
I realize that a lot
of what I was dealing with
was because I was always working.
And I wasnt giving myself the time
to live my life.
And I told myself
that I was going to pace myself
with this shit.
Im in such a happier place, and I feel
like I can talk about certain things,
and Ive come to terms with my bullshit.
I faced my bullshit.
I know where I went wrong.
Theres no confusion about it.
So now I can talk about it.
And knowing that Im at
a better place with me,
with Scott, that I love myself,
that Im happy.
I just hope the fans
can see that, like, I finally
am at a better place.

KANYE:
Beautiful mornin
Youre the sun in my mornin, babe
Nothing unwanted
Okay, L.A.
Now, Kid Cudi is in rehab right now,
but hes got a number one song
on the radio.
(cheering)
And I want us to sing it tonight,
loud enough for... for him to hear it
and feel it and know we love him.
Yall ready?
Beautiful mornin
AUDIENCE:
Youre the sun in my mornin, babe
Nothing unwanted...
DR. NORCOTT:
Feeling lost is okay.
Everybody should feel lost.
No one has our purpose figured out.
And you can use the time of feeling lost
and reframe it to say youre exploring.
A lot of healing is about
changing your perception,
and a lot of the work
towards recovery is about
changing your perception
of what youre experiencing
and knowing that you can
feel lost with other people.
So...
CUDI:
I had just got out of rehab,
and I knew there was a lot of excitement
about me coming home.
I was just really nervous.
And hoped to God
the kids still want to hear me.
Los Angeles,
make some motherfucking noise.
(cheering)
Yo, right now Im fucking fanning out.
Im fucking fanning out.
This is, like,
my favorite artist of all time.
(cheering)
I dont know
how many motherfuckers out here
feel the same, but I grew up
on this motherfucker right here.
So make some motherfucking noise
for Kid Cudi!
-("Pursuit of Happiness" playing)
-(cheering)
CUDI:
I love you, motherfuckers!
The fans--
seeing the love, the excitement.
People were just so excited
that I was home
and that I had made it.
Now, listen.
I missed every single one of you.
I love every single one of you.
I know life is crazy and shit,
and shit comes our way,
but we can get through this shit.
We can make it through.
I am living proof. I am living proof.
And I dont mean to preach,
I dont mean to preach...
...but I just need you to know,
I need you to know one thing.
Listen.
Im on the pursuit of happiness,
and I know
Everything that shine
aint always gonna be gold, hey
Ill be fine once I get it,
yeah, what?
Ill be good.
It brought me back a little bit...
...into the light.
It was, like, it helped during that time.

PAT: But when he came out of rehab,
we just would cook.
Like, just go in the studio
and work on music.
And that led into Kids See Ghosts.
And whether he was making beats with me
or whether it was just him and Dot,
he just kept making and creating.
I dont know if I wouldve
dropped an album anytime soon.
I think I wouldve taken
a couple years off.
But then Kanye, uh,
told me that he wanted to do this album,
and...
I was like,
"Well, shit, this is cool, because...
now I have somebody lifting me up."
You know?
Letting me know that I can do this shit.
("Reborn" by Kids See Ghosts playing)
So Kanye doesnt know that,
but he saved me.
He saved me from being depressed
all over again about where I was at
with the music, and...
he helped me see that, like,
no, no, Im not done yet.
Im so, Im so reborn
Im movin forward
Aint no stress on me, Lord
Im movin forward
Keep movin forward,
keep movin forward...
I just have no desire to make
any more dark records.
Im movin forward...
I dont want to put more of that
out into the world.
I hope people... got it when I put it out,
when I did it, but that chapter is done.
Keep movin forward,
keep movin forward.
(cheering)
I recognized early on that
to be able to do music
was such a special thing,
and it was a gift from God.
I knew that I had to use this gift,
this power that I had, for good.
So, listen, I just want to say,
before I go into this next jam,
I really appreciate
each and every one of you
from the front to the motherfucking back
that came here to see me rock right now.
Life is crazy, man.
We all figuring this shit out.
Its fucked-up, but well survive.
Were all survivors.
I like to think Kid Cudi fans
are fucking survivors.
(cheering)
Its been a long ride
since my mixtape,
and you guys have been so supportive
in dealing with me all these years.
-MAN: I love you, Scott!
-MAN 2: We love you!
And to come to the show tonight,
to see all the beautiful faces
in the building, all the love, is just...
its still overwhelming to me,
after all these years.
I just really want to let
you guys know, you know,
when I was going through my shit,
I really appreciated
that you guys never
turned your back on me,
you never judged me,
you never left me hanging,
and I could come out here
and see all this love...
(crowd cheering)
...from albums I dropped a year ago
or two years ago or three years ago.
I mean, the shit is insane.
I know Im helping you guys,
but guess what--
you guys are helping me
more than you know.
This shit is like group therapy.
Its amazing.
(cheering)
I knew that that was my mission.
I knew that thats why I was born.
Its my destiny.
Everything I make
has to help people in some way.
Like, it has to.
I cant make music any other way.
And thats always been the goal--
like, to inspire others...
...so they can tell their story.
I felt like the rap game
needed more of that.
Now its like...
you cant get a deal
unless you sing
and talk about your emotions.
And we single-handedly infected
the industry with that shit
in 2009.
It sent a ripple effect through
the whole entire industry for a decade.
So...
youre welcome.
(laughing)
("Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)"
by Kids See Ghosts playing)
I dont feel pain anymore
Guess what, babe
I am free
Yeah
Nothin hurts me anymore
Guess what, babe
I am free...
(song fades)
So, the ten-year anniversary
of my first album.
(cheering)
Its a beautiful journey weve all been on
this whole time, huh?
(cheering)
I love yall motherfuckers, too.
Let me see this tattoo right here.
MAN:
Mr. Rager! I got it! I got a tattoo!
I fucking love you, Cudi!
-CUDI: Oh, fucking fire.
-You saved my life, Cudi!
Can you sign my arm? Please, please!
-All right, Ill sign your arm.
-Please sign my arm.
(crowd exclaiming)
MAN:
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
Oh, fuck!
There you go. Whats your name?
You saved my life. My names Jacob.
I fucking love you.
(laughs) I love you, too, Jacob.
Make some noise for Jacob, yall. Yeah!
(cheering)
So, look, Jacob.
This next song is for you, all right?
Im gonna... Im gonna be checking
and making sure
youre raging your fucking face off.
All right, you ready for this next one?
-Lets do it.
-("Pursuit of Happiness" playing)
-(cheering)
-(Jacob shouting)
I fucking love you!
You ready? You gonna sing it with me?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Crush a bit, little bit,
roll it up, take a hit
Feeling lit, feeling right,
2:00 a.m., summer night
I dont care, hand on the wheel
Driving drunk, Im doing my thing
Rolling the Midwest side and out
Living my life, getting out dreams
Im-a do just what I want
Looking ahead, no turning back
People told me slow my roll,
Im screaming out
"Fuck that,"
Im screaming out, "Fuck that"
Im screaming out,
"Fuck that, fuck that
-Fuck that, fuck that, fuck that"
-Yeah

(cheering)
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
What? What? What?
What? What? What? What?
Yeah, Jacob, yeah!
Tell me what you know
about dreaming, dreaming
You dont really know
about nothin, nothin
Tell me what you know about
them night terrors every night
5:00 a.m. cold sweats,
waking up to the sky
Hey
Yeah
Yeah
Im on the pursuit of happiness,
and I know
Everything that shine
aint always gonna be gold, hey
Ill be fine once I get it
Ill be good
Im on the pursuit of happiness,
and I know
Everything that shine
aint always gonna be gold, hey
Ill be fine once I get it
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah...
ComplexCon! Yes!
Yes!
What the fuck?! Make some noise!
Yeah, yeah
Yeah!

Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah!
I love you motherfuckers. Yes!
I love you! Get home safe!
Jacob, I love you.
Get home safe.
(echoing):
Yes. Yes.
-Peace.
-(song ends)
(cheering)