Cudi talks to VIBE about working on Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3 and being on a G.O.O.D. team.
VIBE: Congrats on making Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3.
Kid Cudi: Oh, man. Good looks.
How many songs did you have a hand in?
Two. “Already Home” I’m on. I wrote that hook. And “A Star is Born.” J. Cole is on the hook of that song. But I wrote it.
What was it like to sit down with Jay and bounce ideas off of him in Hawaii?
Well Jay wasn’t physically there so it was that much more nerve-wracking. It was like, “Fuck, what is he going to like?” But my purpose out there was to just do me. I was nervous and I realized, “You know, fuck that. I’m going to just do me and I hope to God they like it.” And they liked it. It was just me, ‘Ye, and the team and he would give me beats. He already had eight beats lined up for me to do hooks on and I just sat there and came up with some ideas. Some ideas we scrapped and some we built more on top of. It was a group effort and everybody played their part.
How much fun is it being part of such a successful team?
It’s a dope situation. It’s like I play for the [Chicago] Bulls, when Jordan was running the team and I definitely have a good position. I’m a starting player. And I’m trying to play my part and rep the brand. I mean, I rep G.O.O.D. more than I rep my own label. It’s a movement and it’s a really good thing to be apart of. Even after Roc-a-Fella broke down and switched up, ‘Ye was still right there saying, “It’s the ROC!” [He was] still repping his roots and how he got in the game. So with me, I started my own label, Dream On, but I’m still definitely G.O.O.D. Music. It is what it is. It feels great. —Brad Wete
Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon: The End of Day (Dream on/G.O.O.D./Motown) hits stores on September 15. Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3 (Roc Nation/Atlantic) is in stores now.