Kid Cudi Floated Through His Hometown On "Cleveland Is The Reason"

BYAron A.Updated on September 26, 20224.6K Views

Happy birthday, Kid Cudi! Revisit "Cleveland Is The Reason" off of his debut mixtape, "A Kid Named Cudi."

Today marks the 37th birthday of one of hip-hop's most beloved martians, Kid Cudi. The Cleveland-born rapper has truly touched the hearts and souls of many over the course of his 10+ year career before Man On The Moon cemented his cult-like following. It was A Kid Named Cudi, his debut mixtape released during the blog era, that separated him among the other rappers of his class.

Somehow, it feels like this project is often overlooked in comparison to Cudi's entire discography, though my suspicion is that it's primarily due to the fact that it isn't on streaming services. But, to honor the rapper's 37th birthday, it only felt appropriate to throw it back to his origin story. Kid Cudi offers an insightful glimpse into his perspective of his Midwest beginnings on "Cleveland Is The Reason." Plain Pat's spacey, muddy production gave Cudi plenty of room to find pockets of melodies to explain why he's so chill.

Check the record below. What's your favorite Kid Cudi song? Sound off in the comments.

Quotable Lyrics
And a topical question is why I'm so chill
Girls don't understand, "He ain't even made a mill"
They say I'm complex just like the magazine
I want my closet complex like the magazine

About The Author

Aron A.

Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.