This post originally appeared on Medium
Three days ago I listened to Surfin’ by Kid Cudi for the first time.
I felt an electrified bliss. I couldn’t stop smiling. It felt like the first time I listened to Hey Ya! when I was 12.
I ain’t riding no waves. Too busy making my own wave baby. Surfing on my own wave baby.
I wrote the line down on a post-it note and decided to make Cudi’s words my mantra for the foreseeable future.
Then I listened to the song Frequency and texted my friend Justin a line from the song, knowing he might not have heard it yet.
I woke up on Monday with a text from him.
“Cudi”
Yesterday Justin texted me again.
“Pour one out for Cudi. Checked himself into rehab for suicide/depression. Guy’s been an important part of our lives”
I read Cudi’s Facebook post and my heart broke.
How can a man so creative, so spiritual, so influential be in such emotional pain?
Why have we been so blessed to have been moved by this man’s music while the creator himself lives day ’n’ night in such mental anguish?
It hit home. I know what swarming anxiety and depression can do to your heart and mind. I know the evils of virtuous self-doubt and its infliction of shame.
Empathy is the two-way bridge of pain and love between our souls.
Then I went to sleep and saw Kid Cudi in my dreams.
No, like, I LITERALLY dreamed about Kid Cudi last night!
When I woke up, I immediately texted Justin. “Dreamt of Cudi. I feel so bad.”
I decided to listen through Man on the Moon on the way to work this morning. The opening track In My Dreams…
We live in a world where it’s more okay to follow than to lead. Being a leader in this day is being a threat. Not many people stood up against the system we all call life.
Words as harbingers for our development as spiritual leaders. Sounds so mystically earthy, Frank Ocean had to have been inspired by this.
Then I turned on Soundtrack 2 My Life..
I’ve got some issues that nobody can see. And all of these emotions are pouring out of me. I bring them to the light for you. It’s only right.
Words as harbingers for the pain he shared with the world last night. Sounds so molded by the power of imagination, Big Sean must have daydreamed to this song before he was finally famous.
Day ’N’ Night..
I look for peace but see I don’t attain…The lonely stoner seems to free his mind at night.
A sympathetic friend for the lonely ones, which is many of us. Deep vulnerabilities manifested as a brain catching beat we can nod along to and trust. One of Travis Scott’s best new songs on his most recent album is called through the late night, the 2016 modernized inverse of the 2009 Cudi classic.
Then I put on Pursuit of Happiness (nightmare) and shed a tear for this artist’s timeless masterpiece.
The Pursuit of Happiness strikes a chord with the universe.
She gets sooo close to answering for us, what the hell is the point of all of this is, but she has the self-awareness to know that such a question is impossibly reconcilable. And yet, she still reverberates alongside the figments of nostalgia, pain and hope in our hearts.
Today I am sending all of the positive energy I can muster to Scott Mescudi, wishing him serenity and success on his path to mental peace.
As our consumption and dependence on music wittingly marches on, let Kid Cudi be a reminder that the brilliance & creativity of our artists is a treasure we should never take for granted.
Peace, Love & Strictly Good Energy,
SK