Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager is the second studio album by the American rapper Kid Cudi. It was released on November 9, 2010, through Dream On and GOOD Music, and distributed by Universal Motown Records. It serves as a sequel to his debut studio album Man on the Moon: The End of Day (2009), and is the second installment of the Man on the Moon trilogy. Production for the album took place during 2009 to 2010 at various recording studios and was handled by long-time collaborators Emile Haynie and Plain Pat. It also featured contributions from Anthony Kilhoffer, Blended Babies, Chuck Inglish, Dot da Genius, Jim Jonsin, and Rami Beatz, among others. The album was supported by two singles: "Erase Me" and "Mr. Rager".
The album incorporates alternative and psychedelic elements to the sound that Cudi explored in his previous album. It features a blend of dark and emotional lyrics, exploring themes of depression, loneliness, detachment, and isolation. The album also highlights other topics, such as Cudi's former cocaine addiction, fame, and alcoholism, as well as family issues and women. The album features guest appearances from CeeLo Green, Mary J. Blige, Kanye West, Cage, St. Vincent, GLC, Chip tha Ripper, and Nicole Wray. Further contributors include Mike Dean, Larry Gold, Ken Lewis, Frank Romano, and Ray Bradley.
Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, selling 169,000 copies during its first week of release. The album received generally positive reviews from critics, due to its diverse change to the sound and continuing theme of the album. On March 27, 2018, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of more than a million copies in the United States.
Background
On August 25, 2009, Cudi announces that his second album was going to be in a trilogy, it was originally going to be titled Man on the Moon: The Ghost in the Machine. In the same interview, he was still working on the title for the third Man on the Moon. Three weeks later, Cudi releases Man on the Moon: The End of Day, it sold 104,000 in the first week and charted at number four. In a MTV interview, Cudi announced that the follow-up to his debut album would be a compilation album entitled Cudder, which would have many collaborations. He stated he had already recorded songs with Snoop Dogg, Travis Barker, Clipse, Cage and Pharrell, and would also like to work with Drake, Green Day, Kings of Leon, Robin Thicke, The Killers and The Postal Service on the album. On January 7, 2010, Cudi revealed in a video interview with Karmaloop TV that he was working with Pharrell in Miami for the album. A week later, he changes the title from Cudder to Cudder and the Revolution of Evolution at a show in Milwaukee. Few months later, Cudi took off to his blog to announce that he scrapped the collaborative theme of Cudder for a project that is more personal. He stated:
He announces that the album was going to be titled Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. Cudi stated that "Man on the Moon II is dark by nature and instead of bringing you into my dreams like my first album, I'm bringing you into my reality, good and bad. It will explain more of who I am as well as pushing the envelope musically." In a Complex interview for his cover shoot titled "Mad Man on the Moon", he talks about the album and stating "It's explicit, but smart explicit. I'm not holding back. I have no regard for what people consider right or wrong. Some things I follow—like the law, from here on out. But other than that, I'm doing whatever the fuck I want to do. I'm not holding back. That's why I've been so excited about this move to L.A., because I just want to keep growing creatively, all over, as a human being." Later in the interview, he talked about why the album changed saying "When I started making records like "Erase Me". I wanted this album to be fun, but the dark shit was my life at that time. I was fighting not to write that shit. It got frustrating writing a collab album—I just lost interest, and it became more of a task, rather than something I wanted to do. That's not how it's supposed to feel. The day it becomes work, you need to retire."
Recording and production
Recording sessions for the album took place at several recording studios, including Avex Recording Studios in Honolulu, Electric Lady Studios in New York City, Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank, Parkland Playhouse in Parkland, The Broski Room in New York City, Westlake Sound in West Hollywood. The track "We Aite (Wake Your Mind Up)" was recorded at the Germano Studios in New York City, and other tracks like "Marijuana" and "Ashin Kusher" was recorded at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. The title track "Mr. Rager" was recorded at NightBird Recording Studios in West Hollywood. "All Along" was recorded at the MSR Studios in New York City, and the last track "Trapped in My Mind" was recorded at Scott's Crib in New York City. The album was mixed at Larrabee Studios in Los Angeles, Circle House Recording Studios in Miami, Paramount Recording Studios in Los Angeles, and MSR Studios. Prior to the process, it was mixed by Manny Marroquin, along with Christian Plata and Erik Madrid. All the songs were mastered by Vlado Meller at Universal Mastering Studios.
Producer Emile Haynie handled most of the tracks' production. Outside of Cudi's longtime collaborator, Cudi also collaborated with Grammy Award winning producer Anthony Kilhoffer, who has worked frequently with Kanye West. Composer Larry Gold arranged and conducted with strings on four tracks, and producer Mike Dean contributed guitar on three tracks for the album. In April 2010, Cudi was in the studio with recording artist Kenna.
Jim Jonsin, who produced the album's first single compared Cudi's blending of sounds to B.o.B's genre-bending album The Adventures of Bobby Ray, stating "It's a mix. It's kind of some club stuff, some hip-hop traditional rap stuff, and then some rock-pop stuff. He's goin' everywhere." Cudi later said that Jonsin had misinformed fans about the new album, "I got mad love for Jim but he was misinformed. There is no Kanye & Kid Cudi Duran Duran song, I'd sample a 90s record before a 80s record anyday and when I worked with Jim, I hadn't even started sessions with Plain Pat and Emile yet so the direction of my album was yet to be determined."
In September 2010, in an interview with Spike TV, Cudi spoke on the album's guest appearances: "Man, when it comes to features, I kinda just stick to my homies. My peoples Chip tha Ripper, GLC [who is] a GOOD Music affiliate. Got my boy Cage over there, and Mary J. Blige on the album. We got Cee-Lo on the album. It's just really taking off where we last stopped."
Music and lyrics
Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager expands on the spacey, atmospheric aesthetic of its predecessor, The End of Day. It features an eerie, supernatural production that incorporates alternative rock, psychedelic, post-punk, and new wave. The album's elements consist of; electro-grooves, minimalist beats, somber strings, woozy synths, ghostly samples, distorted guitars, and melancholy melodies.
Music writers noted "1990s-era alt-rock" and a "1970s-era sound" in the album's music. Spin writer Charles Aaron noted "His cautionary journey takes the music in a makeshift '90s-alt-rock direction, jacked up on jittery beats that eerily mirror the rush and crash of someone who's been given way too much access to way too much ass." Matthew Cole of Slant Magazine wrote "it finds that Cudi burrowing deeper into the black hole of spacey psychedelia, fusing the clinical, synthetic hip-hop of 808s & Heartbreak with rock sounds derived from Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and Zappa." Sputnikmusic writer Channing Freeman commented on the production saying "the beats are slower, they feel somehow more claustrophobic, as if the walls of the songs are closing in around Cudi and he's trying to reach the end before being crushed."
Lyricially, it continues on the autobiography track series like its predecessor, and follows the themes like depression, loneliness, detachment, and isolation, but in a darker context. Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune commented "He plunges into a world of bravado and after-parties, with their endless supply of drugs and women." Cudi's lyrics on Man on the Moon II address his former cocaine addiction, newfound fame, family issues, alcoholism, and women. On the first two songs of the album "Scott Mescudi vs the World" and "Revofev", Cudi provides an introduction to the album where he demonstrates the high and lows, also telling the kids to have hope. "Don't Play This Song" is where Cudi gives a brief explanation of his history of drug use, and he gives an unraveling of his suppressed thoughts hinting at suicide. "Marijuana" is an ode to cannabis where Cudi tactfully presents it as a relief to his mental distress. The lead single "Erase Me" is about a girl who hates Cudi, but can't forget him. Throughout the album, the subject matter of doubt shines, with songs that display emotions of uncertainty ("These Worries", "The End") and the dark experiences that Cudi had ("Maniac", "Mr. Rager"). On "Ghost!" he describes going through life's trials and tribulations and becoming desensitized to the harrowing journey. SgtPeppers of Sputnikmusic notes "Through metaphors, we learn about the rise and fall, and the rise of the alter-ego "Mr. Rager". How he, in the end, paid the price for all of his antagonizing actions, but became a better person because of it. Experience = Wisdom, this is the theme of the album. And though this album is all about "Mr. Rager", this is the most honest he has ever been with us."
Release and promotion Originally, the album was tentatively scheduled for an August release, but then later on, it was revealed that the release date was going to be on September 14, 2010. However, in July 2010, it was announced that album would be pushed back to September 28, then it was revealed that it would be settled for October 26 release. Finally, it would be announced that the album would be arriving on the final official release date, November 9, 2010.
On Cudi's official website on June 10, 2010, he posts that he will be performing at the Bape Store in New York, and left a message saying "for the revolution". Later on that night, he would go on and perform the track "Revofev", which stands for "Revolution of Evolution". Seven days later, the track would be released as a promotional single through Cudi's website on June 17, 2010, the song is produced by Plain Pat. On August 16, 2010, three tracks ("Erase Me", "Wylin Cause I'm Young", "Mr. Rager") would be released through mixtape called G.O.O.D Ass Mixtape, the next day, "Erase Me" was officially released as a radio single. The song "Wild'n Cuz I'm Young" originally included a verse from Kanye West; years later Cudi revealed Jay-Z had also recorded a verse for the track, which was meant to be remixed.