Man on the Moon: The End of Day

According to AllMusic, soon after it was announced that Kid Cudi would release this album it became "deep in the category of 'much anticipated'". hoped Man on the Moon: The End of Day would show people that he had his own voice and set him apart. but its subtitle was later changed to The End of Day. Performance artist Andy Kaufman partly inspired the new title. Although Cudi had a message in every track, he chose to avoid using dense lyrics, explaining that he did not want to write material that he would not actually say or use in real life, adding that being true to yourself entirely was meaningful to him. "I don't speak like a fucking nerdy guy; I speak like a regular dude", he remarked. Beginning in the fourth grade, and getting more tense after his father's death when he was 11, Cudi began dreaming of his own death (which usually was an automobile accident). He channeled these things into his material. Speaking to BlackBook in May 2009, Cudi said of the album and its content: == Recording and production ==

Cudi recorded the album from 2007 to 2009. Man on the Moon: The End of Day was recorded in sessions at Avex Recording Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii, with additional recording at The Broski Room, Chung King in New York City, and the Jim Henson and Record Plant in Hollywood, California. On January 13, 2009, American R&B producer Ryan Leslie posted on his blog that he was in the studio with Cudi and posted a 2-minute video of them working on a song. Later, Cudi spoke to Pitchfork about the production of the album; producers he mentioned that were working on the album include Ratatat, Ryan Leslie, 88-Keys, and The Alchemist. Rap-Up confirmed that he was in the studio with American musicians Travis Barker and will.i.am. Months later, American rapper Pusha T spoke of how he and his brother Malice (of Clipse) had recorded an unreleased song together called "Angels & Demons". On Cudi's official blog, he announced three features for the album, the artists were Kanye West, Common, and Snoop Dogg. News also broke out that MGMT was also set to appear on the album, with Common set to narrate throughout. In an interview with Joe La Puma from Complex, executive producer Emile Haynie explained the album process and the relationship he had with Cudi prior to the album: Later he said: On the final tracklisting, the guest appearances contained Kanye West, Common, Billy Cravens, Ratatat, MGMT, and Chip tha Ripper. Cudi commented on his Twitter about Cravens that "the world will never know…he wants to keep his identity private…", also gave news that the Clipse and Snoop Dogg records won't be on the album, but will still be made available to fans in some capacity. ==Music and lyrics==

executively produced the album, co-wrote two songs and was featured on "Make Her Say". Man on the Moon: The End of Day has an outer space, futuristic aesthetic akin to 808s & Heartbreak. Primarily a genre-bending album, it has a spacey, atmospheric production that fuses psychedelic, indie pop, electronica, infectious melodies, sparse arrangements, experimental structures, and lush beats. The album received positive comparisons in production to West's 2008 album. Jeff Giles of Pop Dose stated "It's basically a slightly more sonically expansive cousin, only Cudi doesn't have to rely on Auto-Tune shenanigans to get his point across." Aaron Williams of Uproxx said that "The ideas that Kanye gave him the early space to explore on that project ultimately culminated in similar, more fully fleshed-out concepts." HotNewHipHop writer Luke Hinz commented "The abstract nature of his music isn't condescending or isolating; instead, it is deeply personal and genuine in its focus. It is the embodiment of everything that makes him so unique." off-key singing, humming, baritone vocals, poetic cadence, and an unhurried nasal flow. Lyrically, Man on the Moon has dark, introspective themes of depression, anxiety, "Day 'n' Nite" is the album's turning point, where it transitions from the drab theme of loneliness to vitality. "Sky Might Fall", which is produced by his mentor West, details how Cudi is able to deal with problems and continues on his search for happiness. Among the brighter songs are "Enter Galactic (Love Connection Part 1)", a "trippy disco anthem" that is inspired by when he and a female friend ate shrooms and listened to music by The Postal Service together. "Alive" revolves around how Cudi truly finds himself during the night and seems to turn into a truer version of himself. "Make Her Say" includes a sample of pop singer Lady Gaga's 2009 smash hit "Poker Face" and features verses from West and Common. It takes Gaga's naughty, mischievous central hook and turns it around to be an unrefined oral sex reference that makes it a "hyper-catchy, forward-looking single." He channels André 3000 in "Cudi Zone". "Pursuit of Happiness" is a melancholic return to self-examination from the perspective of an addict looking for their next hit. The happiness of the track is fleeting, confined within the limits of each high; it's a glimpse into a search that seemingly will never come to an end. Cudi understands that the happiness of each addiction is only temporary and ultimately unsatisfactory, yet he can't manage to break free of the cycle that always seems to end in failure. The album's closer is "Up Up and Away", a drug escapist anthem on which Cudi sets his sights on the "happy thoughts" that allow him to fly like Peter Pan. He is "perfectly at peace," and content to "move along a bit higher" in an effort to further elude the troubling thoughts that race through his mind. His realization that people are going to judge him regardless and that he may as well do whatever he pleases is a hopeful conclusion; it also seems to hint that the emotional rollercoaster voyage that he has dreamed of is only beginning. Unlike other music's common theme of drugs being used as an escape from the unpleasant realities, this however, is about breaking free from the rough reality of someone's own mind and heart. ==Promotion==

Singles The first track from the album to be released as a single was "Day 'n' Nite" which was a commercial success, when it debuted at number 88 and peaked at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Cudi's highest charting song on that chart. Reaching its highest peak at number two on both the United Kingdom and Belgium charts, "Day 'n' Nite" also found its peak positions within the top ten on the French singles charts, as well as charting in the top twenty positions on Irish, German and Australian charts. Although Cudi was grateful for the opportunity to make a video for "Day 'n' Nite" and enjoyed the overall concept for it, he was disappointed that a majority of his ideas were ignored and cut out of the video. When he saw the video for the first time, he claims he provided feedback for it, but was ignored. The rapper than decided to make another video for the track, which was directed by French artist and director So Me. Despite Cudi announcing plans to release "Sky Might Fall", as Man on the Moon: The End of Days second single, "Make Her Say" was instead chosen. The music video for the track was directed by Nez Khammal and utilizes a split screen effect to create the illusion that the three artists (Cudi, Kanye West and Common) were all filmed in the same location. In reality, they had shot their individual scenes on opposite coasts of the United States; Common and Cudi were filmed in New York City while West was filmed in Los Angeles. The third and last single to be released from Man on the Moon: The End of Day was "Pursuit of Happiness" on January 25, 2010. "Pursuit of Happiness" managed to chart at number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100, with its highest peak position being at number 41 on the Australian Singles Chart. Touring Initially Cudi stated that he would "lay low until his album drops to avoid unnecessary hype." He performed all of the album's singles at Maryland's The Ulalume Music Festival in October 2009. In 2009, the rapper also toured with singer Lady Gaga as an opening act during the first leg of her The Monster Ball Tour in North America, where he performed the track "Make Her Say". Less than a month later, and after an altercation with an audience member in Vancouver, it was announced that due to time conflicts, Cudi chose to leave the tour. An official statement from him read, "Kid Cudi has decided to take an early leave of absence from Lady Gaga's Monster Ball tour, in order to balance his schedule surrounding the recording of his next album and acting commitments. Cudi does not want to disappoint his fans and will move forward with his individual show dates in December and throughout the month of January." However, in Complexs October / November issue the rapper claimed that he was kicked off of the tour, commenting "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". ==Critical reception==

Man on the Moon: The End of Day was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 71, based on 15 reviews. Complimenting Cudi's "introspective persona, ear for melody, and eclectic taste in beats," Entertainment Weekly music reviewer Simon Vozick-Levinson called him "a hyped upstart who really does represent a promising new phase in the genre's evolution." David Jeffries of AllMusic called it "a soul searcher [that] may require more patience than your everyday debut", but "perfects the futuristic bleak-beat hip-hop Kanye purposed a year earlier, and rewards the listener with every tripped-out return." David Bevan of The A.V. Club said that, despite its filler, Cudi's "thick layer of open, intense self-loathing is a clever way of unifying Man on the Moon as pure mood piece, a stream-of-consciousness pop voyage that's more Phil Collins than rap." Accolades Man on the Moon: The End of Day was named Entertainment Weeklys Best Hip Hop Album of 2009 and called one of the year's best debut albums. Due to his "key track", "Day 'n' Nite", Cudi was also one of their five breakout stars of the year. Calling it a "wonderfully weird album", MTV's James Montgomery listed Man on the Moon: The End of Day as being the nineteenth of twenty best albums of 2009. Montgomery wrote that the album's collaborations, Commons narration of it and its detailed storytelling as some of the reasons for its inclusion on his list. The album was also Complexs Best Album of 2009. Prior to its official release as a single, "Pursuit of Happiness" was listed as being number 15 on Montgomery's list of "Best Songs of 2009", and "Day 'n' Nite" was ranked in at number 15 on the list of "Best 25 Songs of 2009" by Rolling Stone. Two singles from Man on the Moon: The End of Day were nominated for awards at the 2010 Grammy Awards. "Day 'n' Nite" was nominated for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Solo Performance, while "Make Her Say" was also nominated for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group category. The lead single was also nominated for two BET Hip Hop Awards and one Urban Music Award. The "Crookers Remix" of "Day 'n' Night" earned Cudi his first and only Beatport Music Award. In October 2013, Complex named it the fifth best hip hop album of the last five years. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked Man on the Moon: The End of Day as the 459th album on their "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". ==Commercial performance==

In the week ending on September 23, 2009, Man on the Moon: The End of Day debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, selling 104,000 copies in its first week of release, charting behind Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3, Whitney Houston's I Look to You and Muse's The Resistance. On the 2009 year-end chart for Billboard 200, the album was listed at number 157. It failed to rise above its positions on those charts and would later be outperformed by his next studio album, Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (2010). On December 15, 2022, Man on the Moon: The End of Day was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales, streaming and track-sales equivalent of four million units. ==Legacy and influence==

Man on the Moon: The End of Day's influence continues to be felt both in hip hop and in pop culture. Numerous publications have cited Man on the Moon: The End of Day as having a significant influence on subsequent hip hop music, and has been described as a "classic". Travis Scott, Kyle, Logic, Isaiah Rashad, Raury and Lil Yachty have all cited Kid Cudi and the album as influential to their music. Travis Scott's 2013 mixtape Owl Pharaoh has been compared to Man on the Moon: The End of Day and considered to have been stylistically influenced by the album. ==Track listing==

Notes • signifies a co-producer • "In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem)", "Simple As...", "Enter Galactic (Love Connection Part I)" and "Up Up & Away" feature narration by Common • "Heart of a Lion (Kid Cudi Theme Music)" features background vocals by Jeff Bhasker • "Day 'n' Nite (Nightmare)" features background vocals by L.E.X.; and on iTunes the song is only titled as "Day 'n' Nite" Sample credits • "In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem)" contains a sample of "Biceps", performed by Garnegy and Maties. • "Simple As..." contains a sample of "ABC (Auto-Industry)", performed by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. • "Solo Dolo (Nightmare)" contains a sample of "The Traitor", performed by the Menahan Street Band. • "Heart of a Lion (Kid Cudi Theme Music)" contains an interpolation of "You Make Me Feel Brand New", performed by The Stylistics. • "My World" contains a sample of "All What I Have", performed by Le Système Crapoutchik. • "Make Her Say" contains an interpolation of "Poker Face" (Piano & Voice Version), performed by Lady Gaga; and contains a sample of "Let's Ride", performed by Q-Tip. • "Hyyerr" contains a sample of "Early Morning Love", performed by Lou Rawls. • "Man on the Moon (The Anthem)" contains a sample of "Aquarium", performed by Nosaj Thing. ==Personnel==

Credits for Man on the Moon: The End of Day adapted from AllMusic. • Jeff Bhasker – keyboards, producer, background vocals • Common – narrator • Andrew Dawson – engineer • Matthew Friedman – producer • Dot da Genius – engineer, mixing, producer • Larry Gold – conductor, string arrangements, strings • Ben Goldwasser – vocals • Emile Haynie – engineer, executive producer, producer • Kid Cudi – executive producer, producer • Anthony Kilhoffer – engineer • L.E.X. – vocals • Erik Madrid – assistant • Manny Marroquin – mixing • Vlado Meller – mastering • The Larry Gold Orchestra – strings • Anthony Palazzole – assistant • Christian Plata – assistant • Ratatat – engineer, producer • Patrick "Plain Pat" Reynolds – executive producer, producer • Sylvia Rhone – executive producer • Scott Sandler – art direction, design • Bill Sienkiewicz – illustrations • Andrew VanWyngarden – vocals • Kanye West – executive producer, producer • Crada – producer • Ryan West – engineer • Alain Whyte – guitar ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==