This is the 10th full-length album from Cleveland rapper, singer/songwriter, producer, actor, fashion designer, model, director & filmmaker KiD CuDi. Blowing up in 2008 off his debut mixtape A KiD Named CuDi as well as his songwriting credits on his mentor Kanye West’s 4th album 808s & Heartbreak, his profile from there would increasingly grow off his groundbreaking debut & sophomore albums Man on the Moon: The End of the Day& Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. But following the self-produced & overlooked Indicud, CuDi would leave G.O.O.D. Music amicably to form his own Republic Records imprint Wicked Awesome Records. Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon though was mediocre at best & who could forget when CuDi attempted to go alt-rock on the critically panned Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven? Luckily he would redeem himself on his next effort Pain & Demon Slayin’in 2016 along with the self-titled album from him & Ye as the duo KIDS SEE GHOSTS couple summers later & even Man on the Moon III: The Chosen the day after my 24th birthday despite it’s blatantly heavy Travis Scott influence. Entergalactic was released to mixed reviews as was INSANO last month, but I enjoyed how both LPs took it back to his roots along with mixing old & new sounds together respectively. So I was excited to hear that INSANO 2: NITRO MEGA would continue the energy of it’s predecessor ahead of it’s deluxe version.
“HUMAN MADE” by WZRD begins with Dot da Genius sampling “1 More Hour” by Tame Impala paying homage to Nigo’s titular streetwear brand that I’m a fan of myself whereas the euphoric “DIAMONDS, LIGHTS, FAST CARS” featuring Wiz Khalifa with BNYX of Working on Dying, Earl on the Beat & Jean Baptiste behind the boards finding the pair linking up talking about how no one has swagger like they do. “WIN OR LOSE” reunites The Almighty GloryUS & they rightfully get into that mood over a Depeche Mode sample leading into “CHUNKY” singing that he feels in his heart that he’s free over a zen-like trap beat.
The electronic dance music influence on “BABE & I” is pretty cool talking about how he feels like a rockstar with his significant other, but then “WILLIS” is easily the worst song on the album as a 4 minute intermission from “2 of the smoothest motherfuckers on the planet” when The Almighty GloryUS come off awkward. “CRASH TEST CUDI” looks to get lost in the night fucking up the world sampling Crash Test Dummies prior to E*vax fusing electronic & boom bap on “EVERYBODY LIKE” featuring Pusha T as both of them drop braggadocio.
Steve Aoki’s remix of “ELECTROWAVEBABY” is cool although I prefer the original while “ANIMATE” by The Almighty GloryUS gives off a cavernous vibe instrumentally reminding that they told y’all the way they do it & significantly much better than “WILLIS” earlier. “ROUND N ROUND” featuring Lil Yachty sensually pays tribute to the ones who make them feel like they were meant to be with while “DOSE OF DOPENESS” by WZRD was originally made in 2007 & was a YouTube exclusive in 2012 up until now. Deservedly so too.
“ROCKET” was made during the sessions of WZRD’s eponymous debut from it’s overall rock sound to the lyrics singing if you’ve ever heard the story of the boy that gathered all his homies to form a strong alliance while the neo-psychedelic/trap crossover “ILL WHAT I BLEED” talks about self-assurance, resilience & staying true to one’s authentic self despite judgments from surrounding people. “ALL MY LIFE” brings the guitars back in effect singing that he’s been searching for more throughout his lifetime while “I JUST WANNA GET” unites The Almighty GloryUS with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony for an out-of-body experience.
The penultimate track “MOON MAN SHIT” hops on top of this bass-rattling trap instrumental from Honorable C.N.O.T.E. so he can get in his Moon Man bag a bit, but “SUPERBOY” finishes up INSANO 2: NITRO MEGA with BNYX & Yachty throwing it back to the Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon days & KiD CuDi singing about the woman in his life needing serious love even though she does some things too.
CuDi even said himself earlier on in the week that he felt like everyone was going to enjoy NITRO MEGA more than the original album that we got over a month ago & that seems to be the general consensus. He expands on what made INSANO the triumph that it was finally being at a happy place in his life & showcasing how far he’s come in the last 17 years altogether.
Score: 3.5/5
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