Kids may as well have seen ghosts in Los Angeles, California last night, as Kanye West and Kid Cudi arrived on-stage together for a surprise live performance of their recent project Kids See Ghosts. In addition to playing songs off the new album, the duo also performed Kanye favorites “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” and “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1.”
This is the duo’s first performance since the announcement that they are headlining Tyler The Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw music festival in November. Their upcoming performance at Camp Flog Gnaw is their first scheduled show this year.
West introduced Kids See Ghost as the name of the duo with Cudi back in April, of this year. Their collaborative album was released in June, and was the third project to come out of West’s Wyoming production sessions this year after Pusha T’s Daytona and West’s ye.
The two have been working together for nearly a decade, with West being seen as Cudi’s main protege during the beginning of his career. Back in 2008, Cudi’s debut mixtape; A Kid Named Cudi, caught West’s attention, leading the rapper to sign the younger artist to his label GOOD Music later that year.
Both artists began collaborating immediately after Cudi signed to GOOD Music, with West bringing Cudi aboard to assist him ith his fourth studio album 808’s and Heartbreak. Cudi received co-writing credits on “Heartless,” “Paranoid,” “RoboCop” and “Welcome to Heartbreak,” where he also has a vocal feature.
The following year Cudi released his debut album Man on The Moon: The End Of Day, a project where West served as the executive producer. The third single off the album “Make Her Say,” also featured a rapping performance by West. Cudi’s Man on The Moon II:The Legend of Mr.Rager, released the following year, also featured West on the track “Erase Me.”
While West has not featured on a solo Cudi project since “Erase Me,” in 2010, Cudi has contributed to every album released by West since 808’s and Heartbreak. Notable tracks featuring the two on West’s solo albums include “Gorgeous,” “GOOD Friday,” “Father Stretch My Hands,” and “Ghost Town,” off West’s latest solo release.
In 2016 both artists had a falling out after Cudi made statements which were heavily critical of major rap artists like West and Drake for working with multiple songwriters. West caught hold of the comments and eventually fired back at live performance that same week.
Both eventually reconciled later that year after dealing with their respective mental health issues; in October of 2016 Cudi checked himself into rehab regarding depression and suicidal urges, while West was placed on 5150 hold in late 2016 following a mental breakdown that same year.
Since dealing with his breakdown in 2016, West has only made live appearances with Cudi. In November of 2017, the rapper joined Cudi on-stage to perform “Father Stretch My Hands,” in Chicago, marking his first stage appearance in over year.He later performed the song with Cudi again during an appearance at the NBA All-Star Weekend event in LA this past February.
Photo Credit: April Siese
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