Every Kid Cudi Album Ranked – From ‘Man on the Moon: End of Day’ To ‘Insano’

One of Cudi’s most panned projects, it’s an album that is extremely reflective of his headspace during its creation period. Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven is a shift from Cudi’s usual straight-laced mellow hip-hop pop angle and incorporates more rock styles into the album. While it struggles to know its identity, which is representative of the artist as I said above, it still doesn’t make for a great listen by any means. With fast-paced and messy songs overall, it’s unsurprising to see this land so low on many Cudi fans’ rankings. For these reasons many of the tracks blend with one another, never really creating a clear or memorable moment, which for me solidifies its place on this list.

An album that to me completes a duology formed by Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven, is this one, Passion, Pain and Demon Slayin’. Released only a year after SB2H, the album shares similar traits and I overall feel the same way about it. There are a few highlights throughout, the lyricism slowly improves back to Cudi’s usual self, but still struggles with a messy identity. To be entirely fair, the album is less messy than SB2H but when compared to the refined style of the rest of Cudi’s discography.

This album is somewhat of a mystery to me. It was released in a period of Cudi’s career where I just absolutely adored everything he put out, but honestly, not many tracks here grabbed my interest. By all means it should have, but many of the tracks feel as if they value great production over  great lyricism, sidelining one of the most important and resonating aspects of the works. That’s not to say there isn’t some great music at play here, “Balmain Jeans” is an all-timer and a top 25 track in Cudi’s now extensive discography.

The most recent release on this list, and Cudi’s most recent album is none other than Insano. A record that looks quite creative on the outside and I do think that’s a solid representation of what it is. There are some solid ideas throughout, particularly a song titled “Crash Test Cudi”, that plays off Crash Test Dummies’ “Mmm Mmm Mmm”. Outside of one or two other tracks, there is nothing outstanding about this album, which just makes it a solid and enjoyable listen but not something I come back to regularly. More of a shuffle surprise type of record. 

One of only two collaborative albums on this list, Kids See Ghosts, is the name of a supergroup, the album and a track on this record. He teamed up with legendary rapper Kanye West to make a collection of seven songs, spanning a short playtime of 23 minutes. When I set out to write this list, I had been considering this album to be lesser, which I know is a hot take, but it is my take, or rather was, as I have since relistened to the record and found it to be rather inventive on my latest listen through. 

I wrote about this album back in June for my Kanye West album ranking, and there I shared my thoughts on it, calling it musically enjoyable but stylistically flat compared to the best works of Ye. I do think that applies here, but not to that far of an extent. A good album that I will hopefully continue enjoying into the future.

One of the best Cudi eras began here, and whilst most of Cudi’s music is relaxing in its own way, this album takes it to a new level, into something I would describe as “hangout music”. An album so palatable you can play it around all your friends while gaming, driving aimlessly or whatever friend activities may pique your interest. Featuring banger collaborations with King Chip, A$AP Rocky and RZA, this has some of my favourite Cudi tracks at this point of the ranking. “Just What I Am” is a song that has been constantly in and out of my favourite Cudi songs throughout the last ten years. A good listen for the ages.

Admittedly, as big of a Cudi fan I am, I hadn’t heard of this album until researching for this article. Now, after two listens, I am a big fan. It oozes a grungy style, especially obvious in the cover of Nirvana’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” and a synth electronic angle with “Teleport 2 Me, Jamie” which features and samples Desire. This album is a collaboration between Dot da Genius and Kid Cudi and was produced entirely by the duo. I really just love the sound of this thing, and how unique it is in comparison to Cudi’s other musical ventures.

You know how I mentioned relaxing in an earlier paragraph? Yeah, well this is true relaxing music, bound to calm any fan of the genre down. With its soothing production, resonating lyricism and surplus of good hooks, this album has it all. “The Prayer” is honestly a top 5 song released by the artist, it’s catchy, relatable and extremely memorable. The type of track where you can know all the lyrics within five listens. This album has some great features too, but honestly, none of them match the aura emitted by Scott himself, a performance for the ages and a highly underrated album within the overall discography of Kid Cudi.

The third and supposedly final album in Cudi’s Man on the Moon trilogy was released back in 2020. Both lyrically and musically it is on par with the first two, but lacks an overall sense of coherence and iconic tracks. Of course, it would be hard to replicate the run of Man on the Moon II, where that album was producing all-timers with each and every song, but here you can tell a lot of effort was put in. Featuring striking and damn near motivating lyrics, moving you as a person with lyricism alone, the album will have you screaming at the top of your lungs while driving. A personal favourite is the Cudi solo track “Another Day” which features a just amazing hook and beat.

The only soundtrack album on this list is undeniably one of Cudi’s best. Titled after the movie, which also starred the rapper, I didn’t adore this immediately. But in the two full years since release, it has done nothing but rise up my rankings. This album excels with its features, as well as the overall story it tells in conjunction with the animated film it’s tied to. Strong tracks here can be found in “Do What I Want”, “New Mode”, “Willing To Trust” and “Livin’ My Life”.

An absolutely monumental album for hip-hop, pop, and rap, Man on the Moon: The End of Day is nothing short of exhilarating. From release, I’ve regarded it as one of my favourite albums of all time (yes, even as a child). Each and every single song does not miss a beat, rewarding each listener with riveting, sentimental and nowadays a nostalgic sound. Almost everyone and their Grandma will recognise the iconic nature of this album, producing all-time classics such as “Day n Nite”, “Pursuit of Happiness” and “Soundtrack 2 My Life”, all of which take high spots in my Cudi track rankings. As good as all of this may be… there’s better.

Dark, depressing, and sometimes downright hilarious, The Legend of Mr. Rager has not only a place in my top 25 albums ever but a place in my heart. Cudi amps up his lyrical talent here, utilising some amazing lines to create hooks nothing short of masterpieces. This coupled with the sheer mastery found in the features (looking at you Kanye West‘s “Erase Me” verse!) makes for one of the most awe-inspiring albums of the 2010s.