In a year when Kanye West was making headlines for his support of President Donald Trump while revealing his mental health struggles on number one album 'Ye', the hip-hop superstar still managed to baffle and amaze in equal measures when his Kids See Ghosts collaboration with Kid Cudi landed, full of warped, psychedelic hallucinations, machine gun beats and rap-rock collisions.
The pair originally met randomly in 2004 in a New York music store when Cudi introduced himself and pestered West for a record deal, but they didn't begin working together until 2008 after West was impressed by Cudi's debut mixtape. Their musical relationship flourished on West's '808s and Heartbreak' album in 2008, and after over a decade of mentoring, collaborations, rivalry and fall-outs, Cudi established himself as one of hip-hop's more innovative, influential forces, while West reigned supreme as a controversial megastar.
With West diagnosed with bipolar disorder and relocating to a secluded ranch in Wyoming to record and escape, Cudi joined him to work on his solo album 'Ye', but soon found their natural chemistry producing more adventurous, diverse tracks. A week after 'Ye' was released in 2018, their 'Kids See Ghosts' collaboration followed, and, despite only being only seven tracks and 23 minutes long, was seen by many critics as an avant-garde, thrilling return to top form for both artists. Pusha-T, Ty Dolla $ign and Mos Def also made guest appearances on the album and the duo rapped about their vulnerabilities, triumphs and visions, pushing sonic boundaries with samples that included Kurt Cobain's de-tuned guitar riffs and 1950s jazz swinger Louis Prima singing an obscure Christmas song.
