Kid Cudi

Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin'

PP&DS is self-indulgent, silly, messy and heartfelt. It's Cudi at top songwriting form, and the songs on it are arguably the best he's ever written, but the only thing I really give a fuck about in the end is that it makes me feel something.

The project's significance is its vulnerability. Not only is Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin' loaded with hits, but it also draws attention to Cudi's renewed sense of self. Cudi has finally slayed his demons, and he sounds all the better for it. 

Cudi contorts through his emotions, at times too weak to fight, and at others rejuvenated and ready for battle, but the album comes as a requisite combatant to his demons, and a cinematic illustration of the war he’s continuing to fight.

The 87-minute runtime is both ridiculous and somehow necessary; if the redundancies were cut, some of the self-importance would be lost. The extended monotony allows you to get lost in Cudi’s ego and your own head, clearing room amid the nothingness to discover and create meaning.

Cudi might lack ingenuity as a lyricist and songwriter, but he makes up for it by creating an environment in which the listener can enter an altered state from his vibes ... It’s not a particularly deep work—and it’s certainly not as important as its maker implies.

He returns to the sound and the producers that made him become a star around 2008, and that change has him making the best music he’s made since those Man on the Moon albums.

Cudi slipping but somehow managing not to fall another rung on this outing is the most promising aspect of the entire release given his very public struggle to stay alive, sober, and in good spirits in recent years.

Divisive as they might be, Cudi’s experimental urges are what make him interesting; on Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’, he’s largely drowned them in a sea of unenlightened navel-gazing.

Kid Cudi returns with an album that plays more toward his strengths. I use the word "strengths" loosely.