Kid Cudi
Insano
WICKED AWESOME/REPUBLIC
Whether or not Insano is his last album for a minute (as he’s rumored off and on) or yet another lively chapter in his quest to experiment with hip-hop tonality within the borders of its own mainstream, Kid Cudi is having a fine time pushing both sides against the middle.
Complete with the wobbly clouds of synth that made 2022’s Entergalactic OST weird (when it wanted to be) and the banger hooks that continually make him a chart topper each time out, Insano starts its 21-track run with DJ Drama rope-a-doping his way through his usual braggart’s boasts while Cudi makes with the promises of futurism on “Often, I Have These Dreamz”—not that Cudi can’t handle his own prideful toasts, as he does so on “Most Ain’t Dennis” and “A Tale of a Knight.” Linking, however, to the history of Drama (who appears throughout Insano with a running monologue) is like inviting Jeff Ross to your house party—if you’re gonna roast, get the best.
That said, the one thing that drags down the lilting seasonal uplift of "Porsche Topless,” the giddy Ace of Base–sampling “Electrowavebaby,” and Cudi’s run for intimacy and good cheer is that Insano’s gathering has too many guests sounding as if they’re squeezing to get in. Did the ardent and aptly titled “At the Party” really need Pharrell Williams and Travis Scott racing the Kid for exclamation? Did “Too Damn High” get too damn complicated with Lil Yachty taking up head space? Despite my love of XXXTentacion’s music and this track’s take on camaraderie, how many bars—such as the meh licks that fill “X & Cud”—did he leave behind?
Luckily, Insano offers up one of Travis Scott’s best verses in a year on “Get Off Me,” while Lil Wayne’s hard leap into “Seven” is his finest licks in a decade. Though far less poetic than Man on the Moon III (is it me, or does “Mr. Coola” sound out-of-step dumb?), Insano says so much, so cheerily, that you’re willing to dispose of the prose for the sake of Cudi’s eccentric brand of rap happiness and allow for a room full of guests when a date with its host alone would have been just fine.
