Looks like Paul McCartney isn’t the only man using 2020 to follow through on a trilogy. Kid Cudi posted a video to Twitter on October 26 teasing III, which those of us who’ve spent the past ten years waiting know refers to Man on the Moon III. Cudi released his groundbreaking concept album debut, Man on the Moon: The End of Day, in September 2009, before following up with Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager in November 2010. Cudi didn’t follow through on Man on the Moon III for nearly a decade, despite releasing the album Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon, meant to set up the Man on the Moon III story line, in February 2014.
The clip Cudi shared on Twitter doesn’t give many details about the project. It just shows a few clips of Cudi including one in which he is smoking a joint underneath a red full moon. “The trilogy continues …,†it teases. “Soon.†Featuring a certain Hollywood fan this time, we wonder? Cudi had been teasing fans about a new album called Entergalactic for over a year now, and it’s unclear whether that project will still be released as well. Cudi’s last solo album was 2016’s Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’. Recently, he’s been more generous, joining Kanye West on their collaborative album Kids See Ghosts in 2018 and teasing fans about a collaborative project with Travis Scott as “the Scottsâ€after their debut single became Cudi’s first No. 1. He also released a collaboration with Eminem in July and just featured on Ty Dolla $ign’s new album Featuring Ty Dolla $ign. After all that, we’re more than ready to journey back to the moon.
Update, December 7: Prepare for takeoff. Kid Cudi has shared a track list for Man on the Moon III: The Chosen on Twitter and confirmed that the album will finally be out on Friday, December 11. Notably, the album features collaborations with late rapper Pop Smoke and indie darling Phoebe Bridgers, along with rappers Skepta and Trippie Redd. Equally as notable, Cudi’s Kids See Ghosts collaborator Kanye West isn’t listed as a producer or feature — as he was on the past two Man on the Moon installments.