Kid Cudi is pointing to his relationship with menswear designer Lola Abecassis Sartore as a key point of inspiration behind his new album.
In a recently published excerpt from an interview with Hube magazine, Cudi, who was last year seen in the Idris Elba-led Paramount+ series Knuckles, spoke at length about the refreshing creative process he embarked on in pursuit of the as-yet-untitled project. According to Cudi, the album is “finished,” though a release date hasn’t been announced as of this writing.
Following an extensive reflection on how he’s come to embrace the potential power of collaboration in his work, Cudi turned his attention to his latest chapter, notably one he says required putting himself in “an uncomfortable situation” to land at his desired outcome.
“I haven’t created like this in a long time,” Cudi told Hube, co-founded by Sasha Kovaleva. “It’s been years. With my last few projects, I was getting beats from different people and building an album that way, but there is something about being in a room and creating something from scratch—from a simple hum—it’s so fulfilling.”
As for Lola’s impact on the songwriting, Cudi reiterated his past remarks about being in a particularly happy place in his life at the moment, a state of mind that led to him having “a lot of things to say” on the new album.
“The album is damn near dedicated to my fiancée, every song is like a love song with me kind of confessing my love, so it was very, very fulfilling,” Cudi said. “I feel like a lot of people are going to hear this record and really be blown away by just how different it feels, but also how it still feels like Cudi.”
For more from Hube and Cudi, see here. The full interview lands in print later this month.
Cudi announced his and Lola’s engagement last April, telling fans “Happy Cud” was now “in full effect.” Lola also shared a statement to Instagram at the time, saying she “never thought” she “could love someone this much.”
