Kid Cudi was born in Cleveland, Ohio and lived in the diverse upper class suburb of Shaker Heights. Just prior to receiving his GED he attended Shaker Heights High School in Shaker Heights, Ohio and also Solon High School in Solon, Ohio. Cudi first began rapping towards the end of high school, inspired by alternative hip hop groups such as The Pharcyde and A Tribe Called Quest. He moved to Brooklyn, New York to pursue a music career. In July 2008, Kid Cudi released his first mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi, in collaboration with New York street wear brand 10. Deep as a free download in 2008. The mixtape has had so much continued success that on May 18, 2009 10.Deep announced they were going to be doing a re-release of the "Up There" t-shirt and hard copies A Kid Named Cudi mixtape in their webstore on May 20, 2009 at 12:00 PM EST. Shortly after the shirt went up for sale the server crashed due to heavy traffic of fans wanting to buy the t-shirt and the mixtape.
Kid Cudi has a guest feature on Kanye West's 2008 album, 808s & Heartbreak, singing with him on the track Welcome to Heartbreak, providing additional vocals on Paranoid with Mr Hudson and helped with songwriting on the second single Heartless. A music video has been made and released for Welcome to Heartbreak with him in it. He also featured on the song Welcome 2 the World with Kevin Rudolf from his album In The City, and on 88-Keys debut album The Death of Adam on the track Ho' is Short for Honey.
He has been featured in many medias such as XXL and BBC News's Sound of 2009 poll of up-and-coming acts. He has also been featured in Vibe, Complex, The Source, Rolling Stone, URB and Interview magazine.
Kid Cudi first appeared on shows in 2008, when he performed at the 2008 VMA's alongside Travis Barker and DJ AM. On February 17, 2009, Kid Cudi made his TV debut on Snoop Dogg's new MTV talk show Dogg After Dark, performing Day 'n' Nite at the end of the show. Two days later on February 19, 2009, Cudi appeared on BET's 106 & Park with Kanye West to debut the video of Day 'n' Nite . On March 16, 2009 Kid Cudi performed on mtvU's 2009 Spring Break special. On March 17, 2009 Cudi appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly where he performed three songs. Kid Cudi has also made cameo appearances in Solange's video for her song T.O.N.Y. and in the Black Eyed Peas video for I Gotta Feeling.
Kid Cudi, along with Emile, produced an exclusive single called "Switchin Lanes" for the video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles, part of its "South Central Premium Upgrade" Downloadable Content (DLC) which came out March 19, 2009 for the PlayStation 3 and March 27, 2009 for the Xbox 360. He contributed to the soundtrack for Capcom's Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition. The game was released on June 24 2010.
Trauma
KiD CuDi Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hanging on the front porch how do I deal
I saw my dad's corpse
When I was eleven I saw my dad's corpse innocence lost
Hanging on the front porch how do I deal
I saw my dad's corpse
When I was fifteen I saw a friend's corpse innocence gone
I saw a friend's corpse
When I was fifteen I saw a friend's corpse innocence gone
Love and a blow torch how do we deal
I saw a friend's corpse on the way to school today
The lyrics of Kid Cudi's Trauma evoke a painful and traumatic childhood experience that he had to endure. The repetition of the phrase "I saw my dad's corpse" and "I saw a friend's corpse" underscores the traumatic nature of the events and the lasting impact they have had on Kid Cudi. The opening lines reveal that he witnessed his father's death at the tender age of eleven. Witnessing his father's lifeless body hanging on the front porch would have been a harrowing and deeply scarring experience, as it signifies an abrupt end to the security and support that a father figure provides a child. The repetition of the phrase "how do I deal" highlights the lingering emotional pain and the difficulty in grappling with such a traumatic loss.
The second verse reveals that Kid Cudi's trauma did not end with the death of his father. At the age of fifteen, he saw the body of a friend who had died tragically. The lyrics "Love and a blow torch how do we deal" suggest that this was a violent and gruesome death that must have jolted Kid Cudi's fragile psyche. The lyric "innocence gone" highlights the loss of youthful naivety and the sudden exposure to the harsh realities of the world. The final line of the song, "I saw a friend's corpse on the way to school today," suggests that the trauma is an ever-present part of Kid Cudi's daily life, and he is forced to confront the memory of his friend's death constantly.
Overall, Trauma is a deeply poignant and emotional song that explores the lasting impact of trauma on a person's psyche. Through his vivid and haunting lyrics, Kid Cudi invites the listener to empathize with the visceral experience of trauma and its lingering effects.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was eleven I saw my dad's corpse innocence lost
At the age of eleven, I witnessed the lifeless body of my father on our front porch, causing me to lose my sense of purity and naivety.
Hanging on the front porch how do I deal
My father's hanged body was prominently displayed on the front porch, leaving me struggling to cope with this traumatic experience.
I saw my dad's corpse
I witnessed the lifeless body of my father, which has left an indelible mark on me.
When I was fifteen I saw a friend's corpse innocence gone
At the age of fifteen, I witnessed the dead body of a dear friend, losing my sense of innocence in the process.
Love and a blow torch how do I deal
The violent and gruesome way in which my friend died, exacerbated by the use of a blow torch, left me struggling to come to terms with the reality of the situation.
I saw a friend's corpse
The sight of my friend's lifeless body was an incredibly painful experience that has scarred me deeply.
On the way to school today
Even today, on my way to school, I am forced to confront the memories of my friend's death and the trauma it has caused me.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Kid Cudi
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind