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Kid Cudi brings a new meaning to 'visual album' with Entergalactic

Fifteen years into his career, Kid Cudi is still trying to push his art further. The rapper, born Scott Mescudi, crash-landed into pop culture with his 2008 single "Day 'n' Nite." That song's fusion of spacey beats and introspective lyrics (which permeated the rest of his 2009 debut album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day) had a formative influence on the following decade — it's hard to imagine today's legions of SoundCloud rappers and the ascendancy of emo hip-hop without the trail Cudi blazed.

Now we stand on the precipice of Cudi's latest venture — which is unlike anything he's done before. Entergalactic is his eighth studio full-length, but it's more than that. You might call it a "visual album," but rather than every track arriving with its own music video, the songs are intertwined with an animated Netflix special, also called Entergalactic.

Scott Mescudi in Entergalactic
Scott Mescudi in Entergalactic

Photographer: G L Askew II Illustrator: Michał Sawtyruk for Netflix Kid Cudi's latest album, 'Entergalactic,' arrives with its own animated Netflix special.

Strong visuals have always played a large role in Cudi's work. His early singles and albums boasted flashy, iconic illustrated covers to match the vibe of his trippy stoner jams. Tackling the world of animation has been a goal from the beginning, and Entergalactic finally takes him there.

"I've always wanted to work in animation in some capacity," Cudi tells EW. "I've just been trying to figure out what I could do differently that hadn't already been done before. It was really just about, 'How can I find a story that everybody can connect to?' Once I figured out that love was the key tone, everything kind of flowed together."

Scott Mescudi in Entergalactic
Scott Mescudi in Entergalactic

Photographer: G L Askew II; Illustrator: Michał Sawtyruk Kid Cudi

Cudi has been toying with releasing a visual album for a while, but he wanted to breathe new life into the idea. "I've seen people attempt it, and I just never wanted to come off like I'm doing anything that anybody else is doing," he says. "So I needed to take some time to really think, 'What is my angle?' — because I like to think I've been ahead of the curve with a lot of things in my career. I just want to keep applying that."

Co-produced by Black-ish creator Kenya Barris and directed by Fletcher Moules, Entergalactic stars Cudi in the lead role of Jabari, a New York City–based comic artist who's about to make it big. But his shiny career prospects pale in comparison to the sparks that fly when he meets his new neighbor, Meadow (Jessica Williams).

Entergalactic
Entergalactic

Netflix Meadow (Jessica Williams) and Jabari (Kid Cudi) in Netflix's 'Entergalactic'

Anyone who's ever been in love can relate to the way Jabari's universe opens up (literally) as he and Meadow fall for each other, but Cudi hopes the story is relatable even for viewers and listeners who aren't coupled up. The rapper himself falls into that category.

"The first time I watched Entergalactic, I cried at the end," Cudi says. "And look, I know what the show's about: I've read every script, I'm in the show, I know how it ends. But it was still so powerful that it moved me, man. That's the s--- you want to do. You want to make some powerful s---. I know that's going to touch people, in the same way that it touched me, if not more so."

He clarifies that they weren't sad tears, but tears of joy. "I don't have what Jabari has," he says. "I've attempted to be in a relationship over the past few years and it hasn't worked out. So it was more just being happy to see that it can happen for someone, even if this is animated. This story could be someone's reality: People could find each other and it could be perfect. It could be my reality one day. A lot of this is what I hope for in my own life. That's where a lot of the inspiration came from."

Entergalactic
Entergalactic

Netflix Jabari (Kid Cudi) in Netflix's 'Entergalactic'

Not all the cuts on Entergalactic are about love; some are just "great Kid Cudi rap records." But he says roughly 90 percent of the songs are told from Jabari's perspective, which helps distinguish the album from the musician's previous, more personal projects.

Cudi admits that he's had doubts over the years about how he can continue to evolve as a producer and performer, but masterminding his own animated special has bolstered his confidence. He already has plans for a second installment of Entergalactic, which would be more like a compilation album with different artists involved.

"Years ago, right after Indicud [his 2013 album], I was like, 'S---, what if I run out of things to say?'" he says. "I felt like I was kind of hitting the ceiling. But time has proven that not only am I never going to run out of things to talk about, but I'm always going to be inspired to try new things and put myself out there."

Entergalactic the album is out Sept. 30, the same day Cudi's Entergalactic special premieres on Netflix.

Make sure to check out more of EW's Fall Music Preview, running all this week through Sept. 30.

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