REVIEW: Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts
Chicago & Cleveland natives Kanye West and Kid Cudi are often lauded with praises of being "firsts" in hip-hop. Their involvement in Kanye’s seminal 808’s & Heartbreaks album, is seen to many, as a historic shift in not just hip-hop music, but the pop soundscape as well. In their own careers, both have made contributions to the genre and to music in its totality, which further pushed boundaries of what is and isn't.
On this new work under the supergroup duo’s alias, KIDS SEE GHOSTS, they do exactly that. Kids See Ghosts is refreshing in how new it feels, while reminding us why we fell in love with Cudder and Ye. Blends of Experimental, Rock, Hip-Hop, and R&B music are prevalent throughout the album. With the added context of the album's productions being handled almost exclusively by West himself, the album becomes even more of a breath of fresh air. Whether it's the warped 1930s Christmas song sample on “4th Dimension,” or the crunchy distorted Kurt Cobain guitar loop on the closer track, “Cudi Montage,” the album continually delivers energy parallel to a psychedelic experience.
As you listen to the album from start to finish you are transported into the world that Kanye and Cudi have created, including personas and topics they have used in the past. Themes of loneliness, freedom, depression, and rebirth are rampant throughout, but take on new perspectives. The album has a perfect balance of highs and lows thematically: from the guitar heavy, rock influenced “Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2),” a release of raw energy in all forms, to the slower anthemic “Reborn,” a song dedicated to the revitalization of one's spirit after haven being knocked down. An album unlike anything else in the mainstream right now, it's good to see Ye and Cudi still experimenting and taking chances.