Cleveland, Ohio bred rapper Scott Mescudi, known to the general public as Kid Cudi, is featured on the cover of the August/September 2009 issue of Complex Magazine. In the issue, which is also the mag’s annual Style & Design special, he talks about trying not to be a one-hit wonder, the hell of the music biz and his thoughts on groupie love. He also gets personal when he talks about his dad dying of cancer and having night terrors shortly after his passing.
Artwork: Augor
Are you worried about recapturing the success of “Day N Nite?”
Kid Cudi: I was briefly, and then I started to record and just make shit. That’s when I realized I’m going to be OK. Shit is going to come together as it should, don’t worry about it. I didn’t come in the game to just do that one joint, you know what I mean? I came in the game to have multiple hits.What kind of fears do you have about releasing your album?
Kid Cudi: I don’t really have any fear about the business; my biggest fear is getting wrapped up in the illusion of fame and Hollywood and shit like that. Getting wrapped up in the worldly things like drugs and the excitement of being famous. I have a vulnerable enough past that it could propel me into that world. I don’t want to be caught up in it. I want to do something while I’m here. This is hell. All the shit that’s going on around us, this is hell.What’s hell about it?
Kid Cudi: Just turn on the f—ing news.
But do you feel like your own world is hell sometimes?
Kid Cudi: Yeah. Most of my groupies are spawns of the devil. [Laughs.] They’re there to take me off track and fuck up my purpose. It’s like the dark side is trying to pull me in. Who wouldn’t like a bunch of hot-ass bitches saying, “Hey, we all wanna fuck you right now!”? [Laughs.] But you have to realize that it’s an illusion, that you can get caught up, turn into a person that you never knew you could be—and I don’t wanna be that dude.Did you ever have an experience with a groupie that backs that up?
Kid Cudi: There was a moment when I was at this club and I was getting attention from all these chicks. At one point one was talking and gazing into my eyes all beautiful and shit—so fuckin’ hot—and all of a sudden it seemed like time slowed down and everything got muffled, and in my brain I was just like, “This girl is the devil.” And I immediately got up and wanted to leave. I was kinda tripping balls anyway. [Laughs.]Has the girl situation really been that crazy?
Kid Cudi: Man, I was always the ugly duckling; I never got attention from girls like that. So now that it’s happening, I’m kind of hip to it. I know half of these bitches wouldn’t be talking to me if I wasn’t Kid Cudi, and I’m not no fool, you know what I’m saying? I wasn’t born yesterday.
Hit up Complex.com for the full interview!
