Kid Cudi reflected on his relationship with Virgil Abloh in a post celebrating what would have been the late creative director’s 45th birthday.
Cudi hopped on Instagram to share an old picture of him smiling beside Abloh. The rapper captioned the image with a loving message to the late director.
“Happy Birthday to my big bro, the master, the visionary, Virgil!!! We miss u!!! Today we celebrate YOU!!!” he wrote, adding several emojis afterward. “LOVE YOU V!!!”
In recent years, Cudi has been very vocal about his gratitude towards Abloh, with whom he previously partnered for “Leader of the Delinquents” T-shirts and LPs. Shortly after Abloh's death in 2021 to an aggressive form of cancer, Cudi released a lengthy message dedicated to his friend's memory.
“It’s taken me a few days to make this post,” wrote Cudi at the time. “Tryna find the right words. Virgil was the kindest most warmest soul I’ve ever met. He was a true visionary, genius, disruptor, epic DJ and artist, but he was also just truly a beautiful human.
“I’ve never known anyone quite like him. And I know i never will. Once in a lifetime,” he continued. “Virgil, I thank u for being a true friend and always makin me feel special when u sent a text, made time for me to hang or sent some shoes w my name on them. I love you endlessly. Til we meet again my friend. I hope u see what you’ve done. You changed the world forever. You did that. I love you Virgil. Goodbye my friend Your brother, Rager.”
Cudi’s appreciation for Abloh led to him cutting off Kanye West for good after he made some “evil” remarks about Abloh.
In an interview with CBS Mornings, Cudi revealed why he’s no longer on good terms with West.
“[Kanye] said some things that there’s just no coming back from,” Cudi said. “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.”
“There’s no coming back from that, man. I’m done with you,” Cudi continued. “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.”