Despite breaking out with his debut album and role on HBO’s “How To Make It in America,” the past year has been pretty rough for Kid Cudi. On the eve of his sophomore album “Man On The Moon II: The Legend Of Mr. Rager,” the rapper opened up about being booted off Lady Gaga‘s tour, his drug use and the night he spent he jail in the cover story of Complex Magazine’s October/November issue, which was posted online today (Sept. 17).
Cudi admitted that being kicked off Gaga’s tour earlier this year, after stirring controversy by hitting a fan, was particularly tough for him. “She’s going to kick me off the tour because she didn’t want that type of negative energy at her shows? Word? I never did nothing to that girl,” says Cudi of the pop star.
The Cleveland rapper also copped to “doing cocaine to get through interviews… I was definitely high-fiving death a couple times.” However, Cudi says he got his act together after spending a night in jail on a criminal mischief arrest and is now off drugs. “Now I’m going to deal with certain things as they come, prioritize shit — man up, so to speak,” says Cudi.
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Luckily for his fans, Cudi hasn’t turned complacent with his music — in fact, it sounds like he’s hungrier than ever, and doesn’t care who he pisses off this time around. The rapper takes a shot at Wale by saying he and Kanye West “ain’t give him no beats… because we ain’t fucking with your raps.” Cudi adds that no one can currently match the musical stature of himself and West. “As far as creativity, pound for pound, track for track, video for video, hands down, there’s nobody fucking with me and ‘Ye.”
“Man On The Man II” is slated for a November release. Kid Cudi’s latest single, “Erase Me” featuring West, is currently at No. 69 on the Hot 100.