Born: January 30, 1984
Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi was born on 30 January 1984 and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. His father — a house painter, a substitute teacher and an Air Force veteran — died of cancer when his son was eleven. That death reshaped his character and later his music: Cudi’s lyrics are largely autobiographical, and what they describe — depression, loneliness, alienation — began precisely then.
He moved to New York with a single aim, to make music, and took the first step himself: he posted Day ’n’ Nite on his own MySpace page. The song spread online, the producers Plain Pat and Emile Haynie followed, then the mixtape A Kid Named Cudi (2008), and after it Kanye West, who signed him to GOOD Music by the end of that year.
The debut Man on the Moon: The End of Day (2009) became a manifesto for a whole generation: melancholic, psychedelic, honest to the point of pain. From it comes Pursuit of Happiness with MGMT and Ratatat. The sequel, Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (2010), held the same intonation.
After that he kept stepping away from the formula: he put together the rock band WZRD with his long-time collaborator Dot da Genius, and their 2012 debut topped Billboard’s rock albums chart. The self-produced Indicud (2013) reached number two on the Billboard 200 and was his last release on GOOD Music. After the experimental records of 2014 and 2015, the critics came back to him with Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’ (2016).
In 2018 he and West formed the duo Kids See Ghosts and released a self-titled album, and in 2020 the single The Scotts, made with Travis Scott, gave him his first number one on the Billboard Hot 100. That same year came Man on the Moon III: The Chosen, and in 2024 INSANO.