Entergalactic (soundtrack)

In 2009, Cudi released his debut studio album Man on the Moon: The End of Day, to critical acclaim.[2] The album included a song titled "Enter Galactic (Love Connection Part I)", a "trippy disco anthem" that was inspired by when he and a female friend ate psilocybin mushrooms and listened to music by The Postal Service together.[3] In late 2009, Cudi began performing a song titled "Deep Sleep (Love Connection Part II)," which serves as a sequel to the original song, however it was never officially released.[4][5] In July 2019, Kid Cudi announced a full-length project with the title reminiscent of the 2009 album cut, Entergalactic, which he revealed would soundtrack an upcoming Netflix "adult-focused animated music series" co-created by himself and American actor Kenya Barris.[6] On July 28, 2019, Cudi tweeted, "Entergalactic is a fantasy. It's what I wish I had. I live a very lonely life, but I have hope I'll find someone someday."[7]

In Complex's September 2019 cover story, Cudi shared more details on what to expect from the album. Cudi told Complex's Karizza Sanchez he "needed to do something different" this time around with his music, which led to the decision to create a project that would narrate the first season of his Netflix show. "A lot of the songs aren't really from the Scott perspective; they're from the perspective of the character," he explained.[7] Cudi added: "A lot of the songs are about love and relationships. I'm not in a relationship right now, so it's purely written from my imagination and writing as this character." This new approach brought excitement back to the music-making process for Cudi, who had considered taking five years off from music.[7] Cudi went on to say, "I had this idea for the show, and then it was like, 'how can we incorporate the music? How can we have the music be a part of the show?' I initially wanted to make a visual album, but I was like, that's been done before. How can we give it a little twist? How can we do something different? That's how I came up with the idea for the show, Entergalactic. I'm trying my hardest to still introduce new sounds and push the envelope, sonically. So it's still gonna be like everything that people love about Kid Cudi music. The only difference is that it's gonna be told from a different perspective. Some songs, not all songs."[7]

Edwin Ortiz of Complex wrote, "along with the different perspective, fans can expect Entergalactic to highlight Cudi's rap abilities and thoughts on love." Reiterating what Cudi had said, "I have some songs where I'm just rapping—it's just Cudi having fun again, and I think people miss that side of me. I used to do that a lot on my mixtape, so getting back into that was fun, and I think people are gonna be into it. I think this [album] is my perspective on love, and people haven't really heard that. I'm not somebody who makes R&B music, and I'm not somebody who makes lovey-dovey songs like that. I've just never really had much luck in relationships, so I've never had anything to write from. And if I did write about my relationships, it would've been all disasters, so I needed something to inspire me to get me there, to wanna write about relationships, and this show did it for me."[7]

In a November 2019 interview, when speaking on the dual projects, Kenya Barris said, "The idea of there's never been an album and a series dropped at the same time, so each song will have a 30-minute narrative that kind of explains what that song is about and it's a love story . . . It's a youthful love story told through Cudi's music."[9] When speaking on working with Cudi, Barris said, he is someone who "created his own lane" by giving voice to issues often left ignored by other artists at the time of his ascension. Barris added, "He was one of the first rappers to sort of start talking about mental illness, his sort of depression … We started talking and he's a huge fan of animation and that notion of animation lasts forever." While the music component of Entergalactic is an "amazing album" of "bangers," the series portion aims to give each track a full backstory.[9]

On April 14, 2020, Kid Cudi released "Leader of the Delinquents" as a single via Republic Records.[10] The song, which Cudi had first performed back in 2012,[11] was later released in a limited edition pressing of the track on 7" vinyl, 12" picture disc, and cassette.[12]

In April 2020, Cudi previewed a song titled "Do What I Want", which he said would be included on Entergalactic. Cudi shared the preview during a Thursday night Instagram Live session with Black AF stars Rashida Jones and Kenya Barris, the latter of whom serves as an executive producer on the series that will coincide with the album.[13]

Although the album was originally set for a 2020 release, it was pushed back due to Cudi releasing his long-awaited Man on the Moon III: The Chosen album instead.[14] In January 2021, when asked by a fan on Twitter why Entergalatic's new release date says 2022 on Netflix, Cudi responded, "[Because] that's when it drops. I just gave y'all an album y'all gotta chill and be patient fr [sic] man I'm not doin an album every year."[15]

On May 17, 2021, Kid Cudi reiterated both the Netflix show and Entergalactic would arrive sometime next year in a tweet that read, "Entergalactic album and show droppin 2022 end of summer!! Recorded the first season and couldn't be more hyped for yall to see. Ur gonna be blown away. Next level shit only. Changing the game as always."[16] Later on May 20, Cudi previewed a song from the album on his Instagram story, unveiling a snippet of a song tentatively titled "Wild".[17][18]

In September 2021, Cudi released a short trailer in promotion for the Netflix series.[19] On September 11, Cudi teamed up with Richie Akiva, who Forbes dubbed "The King of New York Nightlife," to host "a new late night experience" called Entergalactic.[20] The event was held during New York Fashion Week and among the guests were Travis Scott, ASAP Rocky, Chance the Rapper, French Montana, Joey Bada$$, Kehlani and Vic Mensa, among others.[21]

During his 2021 headlining performance at the Rolling Loud music festival, Cudi revealed intentions on releasing two full-length projects in 2022, with plans of releasing an album prior to Entergalactic "I have Entergalactic coming in the summer, and I wanna drop another album before that. I got some tasty surprises and I'm really excited about all this new shit, this new music, to give to you guys," he said before playing a recording of a song that has since been dubbed "Freshie". "That's why I'm teasing this shit now because it's coming out soon."[1][22] The songs "Wild" and "Freshie" are seemingly set to appear on the album before Entergalactic.

On April 24, 2022, Cudi took to Twitter to write "Entergalactic is gonna be something really fucking special. Minds will melt. This cast?? The MUSIC?? Listen. U heard it here first. Remember this tweet. Stay tuned for more news in June!"[23]

In a November 2019 interview, Kenya Barris said that Cudi fans can expect Dot da Genius, Ty Dolla Sign, and Gucci Mane to appear on the album.[9] In a December 2020 interview with Zane Lowe, for Apple Music, Cudi detailed on how he went from working on Entergalactic and The Scotts (his collaborative album with Houston-based rapper Travis Scott), to ultimately working on the final installment of his Man on the Moon trilogy.[24]

In September 2021, Cudi took to Twitter to thank the team that helped bring the project to fruition, and reassured fans they wouldn't be disappointed: "Wait til y'all hear and see Entergalactic. U have no idea. I really wanna thank Kenya Barris, Mike Moon, Elizabeth Porter and the whole team for believing in my vision and helping bring it to life. Everything about this show is next level. Ull see."[25][26]

On January 24, 2022, Cudi took to Twitter to write "ENTERGALACTIC is the greatest piece of art Ive ever made. I am so sooo fuckin proud of this show. U have no idea what ur in for. 3 years in the making. Id say watch the show first then consume the album."[27][28] He also confirmed the album will be released on the same day as the show, while revealing his favorite part about the whole creation process. "The voice acting was the most fun…" he said. "the music too but Ive always wanted to do more voice acting and idk it was like another dream come true foreal."[27]