Man On The Moon III: The Chosen

Kid Cudi Celebrates As His ‘Man On The Moon III’ Vinyl Sets A 30-Year Record

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Vinyl is back in a big way after a decade of streaming’s dominance, with Billboard reporting that vinyl sales have actually hit a 30-year high this past week. Americans purchased 2.11 million vinyl records in the week ending on December 23rd (perhaps in the pursuit of a last-minute Christmas gift?), which is the biggest sales week since 1991 when SoundScan first began tracking such things — long after vinyl had begun to lose popularity compared to other physical media like cassette tapes and CDs.

As part of that dominance, one of hip-hop’s most popular artists saw his own resurgence. Last week, Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon III: The Chosen broke the record for the biggest rap album in Nielsen history. He’s also the male artist with the biggest sales week, with 41,500 sales of the vinyl. “This is HUGE,” he wrote in celebration on Instagram. I wanna thank everyone who went out and copped the vinyl! This is all because of YOU! I LOVE YOU ALL.”

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Man On The Moon III, which was initially released December 11, 2020, featured appearances from Pop Smoke, Skepta, and Trippie Redd. Cudi recently said he plans to follow that album with two more in 2022, meaning more opportunities for him to defend his new record. Meanwhile, the best-selling vinyl overall was Adele’s 30, which sold 59,000 copies and capped Billboard’s vinyl chart for the fifth week in a row along with the overall albums chart — a testament to her decision to turn it in several months early to allow time to prepare the vinyl.

Kid Cudi Escapes To A Higher Place In His Elevating Video For ‘Mr. Solo Dolo III’

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At the end of last year, Kid Cudi released his seventh album, Man On The Moon III: The Chosen. It was his first solo, full-length effort since 2016’s Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’ and first overall since 2018’s Kids See Ghost, which he made with Kanye West. The album was a strong continuation of the rapper’s trademark series, and nearly a year after its release, Cudi returns with a new video for one of its tracks, “Mr. Solo Dolo III.” It finds Cudi enjoying a blunt in various places, like a studio, a party, and in the pool.

Cudi recently joined Young Thug and Strick for their own video, for their collaboration “Moon Man,” which showed the trio chowing down on a massive stack of pancakes. Cudi also spoke about Lil Nas X and explained why he thinks he will break down hip-hop’s “homophobic cloud.”

“When I saw the tweet about Nas’ album Montero not featuring Black male artists, and he replied that ‘maybe a lot of them just don’t wanna work with me,’ that made me sad,” Cudi wrote about Lil Nas for Time magazine’s 100 most influential people list. “There’s a homophobic cloud over hip-hop, and he’s going to break that sh*t down. We have to stand with him. I’m going to do whatever I have to do to let him know—you have my support. When we do our song together, however trippy the video is, let’s get sexy with it.”

You can watch the video for “Mr. Solo Dolo III” above.

Kid Cudi Honors Kurt Cobain And Chris Farley In ‘SNL’ Performances Of ‘Sad People’ And ‘Tequila Shots’

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Just a few months removed from the release of his seventh solo album, Man On The Moon III: The Chosen, Kid Cudi brought his talents to the stage of Saturday Night Live. The rapper rocked out in a pair of performances of songs from that album, but it was his wardrobe for the night that got the attention of viewers the most.

Kicking off the night with “Tequila Shots,” Cudi stepped out to the mic wearing a T-shirt that featured actor, comedian, and former SNL cast member Chris Farley, who tragically passed away in 1997 from a overdose at just the age of 33 following a lengthy struggle with drug addiction. Later on in the night, Cudi returned, this time donning an Off-White white floral dress, one that was very similar to the one Kurt Cobain famously once wore. The Nirvana frontman also struggled with drug addiction before his tragic suicide in 1994. Cudi has expressed his love and appreciation for Cobain on a number of occasions. In a past interview with GQ, he said, “I try to use [Cobain] as my muse whenever I can.”

Cudi’s decision to honor Farley and Cobain could have been influenced by DMX’s recent passing. The Yonkers rapper died on Friday after a reported drug overdose that caused a heart attack and left him hospitalized for nearly a week.

You can watch the performances in the videos above.