Credit: Joshua Brasted
Rapper Kid Cudi kept it open and honest when he weighed in on the current state of hip-hop during his appearance on the Arsenio Hall Show. He revealed his own struggles with suicide and why he thinks hip-hop artists have been socially irresponsible with their music.
Kid Cudi has a pretty powerful view of the current state of hip-hop and had no problem dishing all about it during the late night talk show.
The state of hip-hop has been a topic that has been up for debate for quite some time, with more and more artists focusing on money, expensive, possessions, violence and sex as the subject matter of their songs.
Well according to Kid Cudi, that’s exactly what is stifling Black culture.
“I think the braggadocio, ‘money, cash, hoes’ things need to be deaded,” he told Arsenio as the crowd cheered. “I feel like that’s holding us back as a culture, as black people. It doesn’t advance us in any way, shape or form.”
The crowd continued to clap for the “Pursuit of Happiness” rapper as he explained that artists need to accept the responsibility they have been given, since music has a great influence on culture.
“If you’re gonna be an artist, there’s a time where you just have to… embrace, the responsibility and understand that the power of music is something so special. And to be able to do it on this magnitude where you reach millions of people, it’s like why not use that for good? Why not tell kids something that they can connect with and use in their lives?”
It wasn’t long before the conversation took a darker turn and the 30-year-old rapper revealed his own struggles with suicide and why he wants to help kids who are facing the same issues.
“My missions statement since day one … all I wanted to do was help kids not feel alone and stop kids from committing suicide,” he said.
Arsenio then asked him where he believes those thoughts of suicide even come from, that’s when Kid Cudi got personal.
“Well, I dealt with suicide for the past five years and I know what that feels like,” he answered. “And I know it comes from loneliness, I know it comes from not having self worth, not loving yourself. And these are things that, you know, kids don’t have music that can coach them and give them that guidance.”
In the midst of a very heavy conversation, the mood was lifted a bit when the Ohio native took a playful jab at Drake.
After revealing an impressive list of his own lavish cars, Kid Cudi insisted that if he were to rap about his possessions “there would be no Drake.”
The good news is, more artists seem to be more conscious of hip-hop’s materialistic tone and are trying to release music that doesn’t glorify “money, cash, hoes.”
Kendrick Lamar has been adamant about criticizing materialism in hip-hop and J. Cole’s “Rich N****z” criticized the lengths at which most people go in order to get rich.
