The Boy Who Flew to the Moon, Vol. 1 is the first greatest hits album by American musician Kid Cudi. It was released on July 8, 2022, by Republic Records and Cudi's Wicked Awesome imprint. The compilation includes tracks from seven of his previous studio albums: Man on the Moon: The End of Day (2009), Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (2010), Indicud (2013), Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon (2014), Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven (2015), Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin' (2016) and Man on the Moon III: The Chosen (2020). Also included are songs from his rock band, WZRD's eponymously titled debut album (2012). The album concludes with a re-mastered version of his 2015 non-album song "Love", as a bonus track. The Boy Who Flew to the Moon, Vol. 1 anthologizes songs by Cudi since his major-label debut, including those released during his joint deal with Kanye West's GOOD Music and major-label Republic.
Background and promotion
In June 2022, Cudi announced his first arena tour with To the Moon World Tour, set to begin in Vancouver on August 16, 2022, and conclude in Milan on November 22, 2022. On July 4, 2022, Kid Cudi took to Twitter to announce the release of his first "best-of" album, along with the re-issue of his debut mixtape A Kid Named Cudi on July 15 to digital streaming platforms (DSP). He revealed the compilation would be released on July 8. On July 5, Cudi unveiled the compilation's album cover, which features Cudi on a New York City rooftop wearing black Gucci x The North Face overalls. The following day, July 6, he revealed the track listing. Later that day he announced plans to release volume two of the collection at the end of 2022.
Content The Boy Who Flew to the Moon, Vol. 1 consists of 18 tracks spanning 14 years of music from Kid Cudi's career, including collaborative work with André 3000, Pharrell Williams, MGMT and other artists. Three tracks come from Man on the Moon III: The Chosen, the most to be featured from one album. "Day 'n' Nite", Cudi's breakout single represents the oldest material on the compilation, having originally been recorded in 2007 for his debut mixtape A Kid Named Cudi (2008). The second track on the compilation, "Pursuit of Happiness", appeared on Cudi's 2009 major-label debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day. The compilation also features "The Dream Time Machine" and "Upper Room", album cuts taken from WZRD, the debut album of Cudi and Dot da Genius’ collective side project, alternative rock band WZRD. Also included are "Confused!" and "Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven" the lead singles from Cudi’s punk rock/grunge-inspired fifth album Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven. The song "Love", which appears as the bonus track, contains a sample of "Sunblocks" as performed by American electronic rock duo Ratatat and was originally recorded in 2013 during the Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon sessions, however had been officially unreleased due to sample clearance issues.
Critical reception
Neil Yeung of AllMusic gave it a 4 and half out of 5, writing “packaged together, this compilation provides a fascinating peek into both Cudi's evolution and artistic scope, presenting a figure that maybe doesn't get enough credit for the creative leaps he's taken and the inspiration that he's provided to contemporaries and up-and-coming artists alike.”
Track listing
Notes signifies a co-producer signifies an additional producer
Charts + Chart performance for The Boy Who Flew to the Moon, Vol. 1 Chart (2022) Peakposition
Certifications
Personnel Credits for The Boy Who Flew to the Moon, Vol. 1 adapted from AllMusic.
Denzel Baptiste – composer André Benjamin – composer, primary artist David Biral – composer John Stephens – composer Peter Brown – composer John Bruce – composer King Chip – primary artist Thomas Cullison – recording Dennis Cummings – executive producer, producer Emile – producer Rusty Evans – composer Iain Findlay – mixing, recording Daniel Fornero – trumpet Chris Gehringer – mastering engineer Dot Da Genius – drums, executive producer, guitar (bass), keyboards, mixing, percussion, piano, producer, recording Noah Goldstein – mixing, recording Mick Guzauski – mixing Emile Haynie – composer, producer, recording Ken "Duro" Ifill – A&R Alex Iles – trombone Kid Cudi – drums, executive producer, guitar, keyboards, percussion, Primary Artist, Producer, Programmer, Programming Anthony Kilhoffer – mixing, recording Anthony Kronfle – recording Joe LaPorta – mastering engineer Mike Larson – recording Nick Littlemore – engineer Cesar Loza Assistant – rngineer Erik Madrid – mixing assistant Manny Marroquin – mixing Evan Mast – composer, recording Jim McMillen – horn arrangements Vlado Meller – mastering engineer Scott Mescudi – composer, executive producer, producer MGMT – primary artist Christian Mochizuki – recording Mike Moore – drums, programming Finneas O'Connell – composer, producer Oladipo Omishore – composer, executive producer, producer, recording Brent Paschke – guitar (Electric) Victoria Pike – composer Plain Pat – producer Christian Plata – mixing assistant Teddy Randazzo Composer Ratatat – Primary Artist, Producer Patrick Reynolds – composer, producer Raphael Saadiq – guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals (Background) Mark Santangelo – Mastering Engineer Robert Schaer – Trumpet Bradford Smith – mixing assistant Luke Steelen – engineer Mike Stroud – composer William J Sullivan – engineer Take a Daytrip – producer Doug Tornquist – Tuba Steve Trapani – Trombone (Bass) Mike Steven Velez – mixing Engineer Ryan West – recording Charles Wiggins – composer Pharrell Williams – composer, Primary Artist, Producer Charles Worth – composer WZRD – Primary Artist, Producer
Release history + Release history for The Boy Who Flew to the Moon, Vol. 1 Region Date Format Label Ref. Various July 8, 2022 Various TBA
See also List of songs recorded by Kid Cudi
References