The artist formerly known as Kanye West, though undeniably a key collaborator along Kid Cudi’s own path to greatness, has said things in recents years from which “there’s just no coming back.” Among them, as Cudi explained in a recent interview with Anthony Mason for CBS Mornings, are his “evil” and “vile” remarks about the late Virgil Abloh.
Asked about Ye, whose post-Donda headlines presence has largely focused on various instances of Nazism-related bullshittery, Cudi first looked back on his earliest work with his former friend during 808s & Heartbreak sessions in Hawaii circa 2008. Cudi said he treated his time in the studio “very seriously,” pointing out that he didn’t feel pressure about the work at hand because he was already “confident” about what he was able to bring to the table.
“I never fanned out over Kanye,” he said. “I was cooking up with him and we were on the same frequency. I felt like I had arrived.”
As fans are well aware, however, the fusion of these two complementary artistic visions did not last.
“It’s a sad thing. … The freedom that we experienced when we were creating, it just will never happen ever again,” Cudi said. “And that is the heartbreaking side of things. But hey, you know, I’ve had a lot of things in my life break my heart and I’ve been able to survive and move past it.”
Asked about Ye, specifically, breaking his heart, Cudi confirmed he felt this way about their friendship “over and over multiple times,” though not without several attempts at would-be reconciliations.
“He’s said some things that there’s just no coming back from,” he told Mason, as seen in the video above. “The comments that he’s had about Virgil Abloh are just some of the most evil, vile, disturbing, fucked-up things I’ve heard. Every time he took a dig at Virgil, it just made me super angry. Virgil was an angel to everyone.”
Cudi continued, “There’s no coming back from that, man. I’m done with you. And it breaks my heart because I loved Kanye. I really loved him. He was part of my life changing and at some point he was a really good friend but the man that he has become, I just don’t know that guy anymore. I don’t know him. I don’t know that version of him and it’s really heartbreaking.”
In recent weeks, Cudi has been on a press tour in support of both his new memoir Cudi, out now, and his upcoming album Free, out later this month. For the cover art for the latter, Cudi turned to a classic Jim Carrey drama, The Truman Show, for inspiration.
“I wanted something that really expressed freedom, so the concept of me leaping into the clouds made so much sense,” he recently told fans, adding that listeners are in for what he’s designed to be “a beautiful ride” for all.
Tuesday, Cudi revealed the tracklist for the album, which follows last year’s Insano and Insano (Nitro Mega). See that below.
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