After 5 successful years on Good Music, Kid Cudi announced last week that him and record label have parted ways per his request. This seems to come as a surprise at most, due to the fact that there’s been little talk about any friction or unhappiness between the two camps. That may have been because, according to Cudi, there was no issues with himself and the label, and cited the maneuver was just a business move to ‘grow’. However, with Cudi’s album ‘Indicud’ coming out in less than a month, it seemed like quite an awkward time to announce his departure.
This hasn’t been the first time that a marquee artist has left GOOD Music on favorable terms. A couple of years ago, Common announced that he would be leaving GOOD Music as well, but still considers them family, and since has collaborated with the camp. Cudi maybe following those footsteps. Plus with him having his own label to run, I guess it doesn’t hurt to cut a middle man out of the prophet pie.
As of now, any specifics of why Cudi made the move, outside of ‘growing’ is unclear, but as much as he still thinks highly of GOOD, it seems that former label mate and friend Big Sean also has well wishes.
”Cudi’s my brother, Cudi’s on my album… me and him making music together, we still crew whether it’s Good Music or not.” – Big Sean
Cudi was signed to Kanye due to his great ear for music and unique sound. He’s also been cited as having a huge part in crafting ‘808s and Heartbreaks’ and you can definitely hear his influence throughout the record. Since then Cudi has carved a lane for himself as a musician who can both perform and produce. It’s hard to put Cudi in a box, but he has a sound that isn’t quite traditional hip hop, nor traditional R&B, and though it takes some getting use to, his sound is still incredibly refreshing and managed to penetrate between genre’s and race.
It’ll be interesting to see how his success sways these next couple of months, and if his album has the same sound it did under the Good Music imprint. All of these questions seem to have amplified the hype for the new album, so in hindsight, this was the perfect time to make the announcement.
Only time will tell if this move will turn out all GOOD.