CuDi graces the October/November issue of Complex and spills his guts on a few topics during his Q&A with Mr. Joe LaPuma.
On not getting along with Wale:
Complex: Speaking of Wale, when you hit that fan at your show last December, he came out with a line about it ["Throwin' 'round wallets like the dude that Kid Cudi hit," from "Thank You Freestyle"].
Kid Cudi: It wasn’t a shot, it’s just a simple-ass rhyme by a simple-ass rapper. You can’t let that shit faze you. That’s one of those raps that just shows the world that you wack. Why would you even use that as a metaphor? Everybody think they Hov. Niggas ain’t got the magic like they think they do; there’s only a couple of wizards in this game. I’m a wizard and I know it.
Are your peers not seeing that?
Kid Cudi: The last album, I let people dis me, throw out those jabs in their verses and have their little slick remarks. This time around, I’m not fucking around. I have no time to think about other niggas. These other motherfuckers like feeding off another nigga’s energy, so they mention their name. You hear me talk about niggas? I don’t even talk about Kanye, and that’s my homeboy! They talk about Kanye like they’re bosom buddies with this nigga. Talking about “I be in Hawaii”—man, shut the fuck up, why you got to tell everybody everything? Then people like Wale get mad that ‘Ye ain’t give him no beats—’Ye ain’t give you no beats because we ain’t fucking with your raps. It’s not a conspiracy theory. We don’t fuck with you musically, so we’re not going to provide music for you. The shit is a service, it’s a quality of a certain standard. Niggas are just so thirsty it’s ridiculous. I’ve been eating humble pie forever, and people still call me an asshole. These people don’t know my fucking life—now I’m going to give them something to talk about.
More after the jump, including video from the cover shoot.
On his cocaine use:
Complex: How heavy did the drug use get?
Kid Cudi: I started doing cocaine to get through interviews, ’cause people wanted to know a lot about my personal life and I wasn’t prepared for a 60 Minutes interview every time. Doing bumps I was able to get through the day, but then I would smoke weed to calm me down—it was the only way I could get through the day without people noticing I was doing it.
Did you ever feel like you had a problem?
Kid Cudi: I never thought it was a problem, but I was definitely high-fiving death a couple of times. It took a lot for me to talk about shit like this on the album. I don’t feel like I need to explain myself to anyone besides the fans. My fans don’t believe shit until they hear me say it. And those are true Kid Cudi fans. I want them to know the story.
On his baby daughter that nobody knew about:
Complex: That’s a lot to go through.
Kid Cudi: There’s another thing people don’t know. I have a daughter, born March 26th of this year. Her name is Vada, and she’s fucking awesome. That was eating me up, and it was stressing me out that nobody knew about her. I was trying to escape from that, too. Just trying to figure it out and make everyone happy, it’s a lot for somebody my age to handle. I was manning up and dealing with it in what I thought was the right way, but it was the wrong way. I want to be around for her. I can honestly say she was the wake-up call. The reality that it’s bigger than just you now—you have a responsibility and there’s no more time for mistakes. It’s time to stop fucking around.
That’s intense.
Kid Cudi: I was scared as fuck. I need to be a dad now, and I’m not with the girl—how does that work? Because having money isn’t it. I just wanted to be a great dad, and I didn’t think I was capable. Then I thought: When she gets here it’s either nut up or shut up. She’s my best friend and she doesn’t even know it. That’s why I always told myself I’m going to make these songs for my kids, so they can follow along and know my story, if something was ever to happen to me. No matter what motherfuckers are saying or haters are putting in their ear. She can put on my records and be like, “Fuck all that other shit, my dad was like this.” But I might make sure she doesn’t listen to this album until she’s 40. [Laughs.] I’m excited about watching her grow, I’m excited to be a papa.
You can read the rest of the cover story here. In addition to the excerpts above, he speaks on the new album, his disdain for metaphors, being labelled “emo”, his altercation with a fan, his arrest and more.
