After delaying the album’s release by several months, Kid Cudi has finally released INSANO, which was originally scheduled to launch in September. The tracklist for INSANO includes Travis Scott and Lil Wayne, two of the best rappers in the industry. Regarding production, Cudi once again collaborated with Dot Da Genius, in addition to Plain Pat and BNYX, among many others.
At its best, INSANO offers some solid beats and some of Cudi’s best flows. Unfortunately, the good gets overshadowed by a plethora of generic production choices and awkward rapping that makes INSANO a jumbled mess rather than the star-studded blockbuster Cudi was aiming for. The result is a mediocre/average offering from Scott.
When it comes to Cudi himself, he sounds a lot more upbeat and happier on INSANO. His positive aura is felt throughout the album and I commend him for that. His hums and harmonies are present, adding an ethereal effect to the sound of “FUNKY WIZARD FLEX.” At the same time, however, he comes off as drab and boring. A majority of the songs have him use this lower, monotone delivery and nearly all of his vocals are filtered, making the chorus of songs like “SEVEN” sound like he’s singing through a drive-thru speaker box.
Lyrically, INSANO is quite weak. I’ve never considered Cudi to be the type of artist to spit clever bars, as it’s not his best feature, but the album is full of meh verses from Scott. Very rarely did I hear something noteworthy, as a lot of Cudi’s verses are him flexing his lifestyle as in “CUD LIFE” (“Might think about the times we was broke. Then I wake up with a blunt on the coast)”. When Cudi does decide to tap back into his bread and butter is where he excels, as on “TORTURED”. The song’s introspective lyrics are a stark contrast to the majority of the album
Overall, I can’t say I was disappointed with INSANO, but I didn’t enjoy much of it either. The choice to go into a trap-heavy influence in the production works sparsely with some songs sounding decent and others coming off as generic. Despite having a notable list of guest features (with some outshining Cudi) it doesn’t make up for the album’s lacking lyricism and Cudi’s performance being a step down from his previous albums.