Kid Cudi and Kanye unveil new album 'Kids See Ghosts': Stream
The third album in the ongoing series of records being produced by Kanye West has arrived in the form of 'Kids See Ghosts', a collaborative album from Kanye and Kid Cudi. Apple Music and Spotify subscribers can stream the entire album below.
The album arrives today, June 8, which also happens to be Kanye West's birthday, and there could be no better gift he could've given to Cudi and his fans.
Just like Kanye's recently released solo LP, 'ye', Kids See Ghosts was premiered during a listening party live-streamed on the WAV app, though this time from Los Angeles instead of Wyoming. (Which isn’t surprising, since Kanye’s last party there got all rappers banned.) The listening party was centered around a bonfire and featured plenty of pyrotechnics, something that's not really the best idea in an open space in California!
As revealed earlier this week, the Kids See Ghosts artwork was designed by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, who also did the iconic cover for Kanye's 2007 studio-album 'Graduation.'
Again, just like Kanye's 'ye', 'Kids See Ghosts' clocks in well short of 30 minutes with just seven tracks, leaving the debate open as to whether it actually qualifies as a full-length studio album. If one very to abide by Trent Reznor's logic, it could still qualify as an album and not an EP.
As CoS points out, the album features a handful of guest appearances. Pusha-T (whose latest album 'DAYTONA' was the first in the Kanye-produced series) drops in on 'Feel the Love', Mos Def appears on the title track, and Ty Dolla $ign cameos on 'Freeee (Ghost Town Pt. 2)'.
There are also a number of prominent samples, most notably Kurt Cobain’s solo acoustic demo 'Burn the Rain'. The late trumpeter/singer Louis Prima is also credited as a featured guest on album opener '4th Dimension'.
It also appears that Kanye did not, in fact, produce the entire effort. He’s not credited at all on 'Cudi Montage' (Kid Cudi, Mike Dean, and Dot Da Genius) or 'Reborn' (Evan Mast, Cudi, Dot, and Plain Pat). Another noteworthy credit comes on the track 'Fire', which appears to have been co=produced by André 3000.
Next week should see a new solo record from Nas and then another one from Teyana Taylor, which form No. 4 and 5 respectively on Kanye's scheduled releases via his G.O.O.D. Music label.