Kid Cudi ‘Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin” Review

          Before releasing his new album, “Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’,” Kid Cudi posted a Facebook message referring to himself as a “damaged human” and announced that he had placed himself in a facility for depression. This struggle surfaces on Cudi’s latest tracks.

          Similar in tone to his album “Man on the Moon 2: The Legend of Mr. Rager,” Kid Cudi expresses pain and grief in this record. Lyrics such as “You could try to numb the pain, but it’ll never go away” in the song “Swim in the Light” show his sorrow. Sadness has become a recurring theme in Cudi’s music.

          This is evidenced through songs on the album such as “Surfin’,” which is the closing track. This song has repetitive verses that allude to his feelings. “Now, I ain’t riding no waves / Too busy making my own waves, baby” repeats four times per chorus.

          However, this isn’t a reflection of the entirety of his skill. Kid Cudi doesn’t conform to his genre’s standards. In “Wounds,” Kid Cudi tries to give the listeners a message about how to really find themselves, saying “You know you better dig deeper, don’t lie to you, you better dig deep, deep.”

          Cudi represents his own soul searching lyrically, as evident in “Wounds” with lines like “Myself, did everything right, didn’t I? So why aren’t I whole?” Kid is known to use his music as an escape from reality, and this album sounds like he put all his sadness and anger out in the studio. In the song “Does It,” listeners can really hear the pain in his voice, showing why the title fits its name.

          This 87-minute thrill is a peek inside Kid Cudi’s brain and soul. Fans are able to acquaint themselves with his ego even amidst his tales of woe and confusion. All of these are instilled in a way that listeners can still enjoy the masterpiece, a tribute to what caliber of a music visionary he really is.