Kid CuDi is one of my new favorite hip-hop oriented artist. I say hip-hop oriented due to the fact that he is influenced by many different types of music and that’s reflected in his work.  XXL magazine added him to their hip-hop’s ten freshmen of ‘09 list, and he clearly belongs there.  The “martian”, or “man on the moon” as he calls himself in his latest mixtape, has a very unique style — something hip-hop fans have been long in search of in today’s lack of originality in the genre.  CuDi surged onto the scene with his club hit “Day N Night” (video below).  It’s hard to go to any club these days and not hear this song in some way shape or form during the night.  He’s also signed to Kanye’s label and some critics have given him the moniker “Kanye lite”, I feel that’s unfair, if anything I kind of get the sense CuDi influenced ‘Ye during 808s and Heartbreaks — I don’t really find their styles remarkably similar.  Just because a rapper sings and raps does not mean they’re following directly in each other’s footsteps.  You can download his mixtape, A Kid called CuDi, for free from his clothing label’s website, 10deep.  Honestly, I keep this on constant rotation right now.

Updated: Here’s the official video, reminds me of the opening scenes from Reading Rainbow for some reason: