Wednesday night (Oct. 28) in NYC, Cudi hosted a listening party for his forthcoming album MOTM II as various industry insiders and media showed up to hear the follow up to Cudi’s freshman album. MTV’s Rap Fix attended the listening session but they also previously heard the album while interviewing Cudi:

Cudi stopped by the MTV News office on Tuesday to talk about his much-anticipated album, Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. And before we even sat down to get started, he was really excited to play us his new album and each of the MTV News staff that listened was blown away to say the least.

Time Out NYC has a nice (but short) song by song recap along with a writeup of the event:

The Legend of Mr. Rager is darker than Man on the Moon. Not in an emo, hand-to-brow way; it’s less cinematic and generally bleaker, while also being far more danceable. It also firmly establishes Cudi as a singer-songwriter—not just a rapper with a knack for hooks.

PrefixMag.com:

There was a cloak of literal darkness about the bar hosting the secret listening party for Cudi’s upcoming sophomore album, Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. The venue looked like another world, dimly lit, cloudy, and blanketed by a network of green laser lights. The man himself entered the building with sunglasses on, sporting a Freddy Krueger glove. Cudi sang and danced like a man possessed as the album blasted out of the venue’s speakers. He is clearly proud of what he has done.

The night was kicked off by Cudi as he told the crowd, “I want everybody to focus and listen to the jams. This is one of those albums that you just gotta listen too” At that point the music started and we were introduced to the Legend of Mr. Rager. The album starts off with one of the best songs on the record called “Scott Mescudi vs The World” featuring Cee-lo on a powerful hook and production by Emile (who contributed 9 songs to MOTM II).

Man on the Moon II is an amazing listen from start to finish as you immerse yourself in a new but familiar Cudi sound as he explores a darker side to his story. Each song has its own distinct sound that you’ll find yourself wanting to replay it over and over to fully understand his story and appreciate the subtle additions.

I won’t go into much detail on everything else since I feel like I would need a few listens to give an accurate overview of each song individually. It’s definitely worth reading the Time Out NY feature if your looking for a song by song breakdown.

Finishing off the album is the Dot Da Genius produced “Trapped in My Mind”, another stand out track from the album. Cudi ends the song and album in a semi-spoken tone as he explains – “I’m trapped in my mind baby, I don’t think I’ll ever get out”.

After the album was done playing, Cudi took to the mic to discuss a few topics. He thanked his fans for pre-ordering the album as both the deluxe (#1) and regular (#3) editions sit in the iTunes Top 10. Here’s a few select quotes:

“I never thought I could play an instrument, I down played that shit. If you think you can’t do something, don’t down play that shit. Now I pick up a guitar and I have a natural nack for it and I’m learning”

“The story is real, I come from this town. We really trying to make music for ya’ll on an everyday basis so ya’ll can get through your situation. I made this album for people to get through any problem they have. When I was growing up, I didn’t have songs like this. This is my motivation.”

Wrapping up the night Cudi added:

“I kind of used my self as a muse, to help people get through their problems. Thats kinda why the album is so dark, why the album is so honest. I’m happy ya’ll f*ck with it, I really am”

Timeout NY says “We can’t wait to hear the album again”, I’ll second that as Man on the Moon II is another stepping stone for Cudi and his music.

Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager is in stores Nov. 9
Pre-order your copy today from iTunes, Amazon and more!

While I was in NYC a few weeks ago Jack of ImaginationDetionation.com hit me up asking to do a quick interview. We sat down for a bit and talked abouta few topics. We talked about how DatNewCudi came about and where it is now, about my work, projects I’m working on now and plans for the future and more. Sidenote: the longer we talked the louder the kids got at the park so excuse the crap audio towards the end.

Spent a week in NYC at the end of August, here’s a handful of pictures I took during the trip. Slideshow above and individual shots below.

Above photo is of my current set up at home. 3 months into having my iPad and I’ve got to say I love it. Even did this post on my iPad while being as lazy as possible laying in bed.

I was in Seattle this past week for the 2010 An Event Apart conference which was a much need creative time to get my lack of inspiration up and new ideas flowing. Of course I’m a sucker for skylines so going up to the Space Needle was a must for me. Here’s a handful of photos (mainly from the needle) from my trip to Seattle.

Right after Canada won the Gold in Mens Hockey I jumped in my car and made my way downtown to join in on the celebrations. Above is a quick video recap as I walked the streets around Granville & Robson as huge crowds gathered in Vancouver’s core to celebrate. Keep reading for a selection of photos.

Some more photos during the 2010 Olympics here in Vancouver as I spent the weekend in the heart of the action or kaos depending on mood. You’ll see photos of kids playing a game of street hockey in the towns busiest street (Granville), the Olympic Cauldron, Sochi House (aka Science World) and more.

Revisited & touched up some of my photos from my trip to NYC last summer.

Took my new Rebel T1i out for the night (Feb. 13) as the Olympic celebrations were in full force on Day 2 as hundreds of people partied in Robson Square and roamed around Granville & Robson.

Torch relay came threw today as it made its way to downtown Vancouver. Work sent me out to film as the Torch was lit and sent off. Pretty cool to see so many people in the rain cheering them on.