Kid Cudi has thrived in every discipline he’s entered. One of American rap music’s true MVPs, he’s also a noted fashion innovator, a director, and a curator within visual arts. Continually pushing himself forwards, the Cleveland-born figure overhauls his creative focus, continually seeking new input. A lavish return, ‘Insano’ epitomises this – huge in scope, it’s replete with stellar features, and was ushered into the world with a sold out listening party at the Hollywood Palladium.
It’s this feeling of an ‘event’ then, that holds ‘Insano’ together. His ninth studio album, the record has some towering highs – recent single ‘At The Party’ makes use of the iconic talents of Pharrell Williams, for example. ‘Get Off Me’ is a red-hot Travis Scott bolstered rap burner, while the redoubtable Lil Wayne is reinvigorated on ‘Seven’, turning in one of his most potent recent features.
The 21-track span, however, isn’t perfect. At times disjointed, some features hit harder than others – the posthumous XXXTentacion spot on ‘X & Cud’ is a valuable and moving ode to friendship, but it serves notice that the vaults for X must be almost empty at this point.
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Likewise, there are a few tracks here that could have been excised without disrupting Kid Cudi’s central narrative. ‘Electrowavebaby’ is fun but doesn’t seem to add to his sound, while ‘Mr Coola’ feels a little dated.
At its best, though, ‘Insano’ can be riveting. ‘Porsche Topless’ is simply fun, club-focussed rap music, while the aptly titled A$AP Rocky link-up ‘WOW’ bubbles with optimism. Perhaps it’s worth looking to Kid Cudi’s other projects to make sense of this new album. Alongside the release, he’s working on some visual merch ideas with KAWS, including a 500-piece puzzle. Built for the streaming era, ‘Insano’ is an eye-catching puzzle that invites you to make sense of it all.
7/10
Words: Robin Murray
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