Kid Cudi has no plans to reconcile with Kanye West. After a highly publicized falling out in February over Kid Cudi hanging out with Pete Davidson, Kim Kardashian’s then-boyfriend after divorcing West, the “Day ’n’ Night†rapper says he doesn’t see a point in mending a relationship that’s “fucking with my mental health†in an Esquire profile. “Do you know how it feels to wake up one day, look at your social media, and you’re trending because somebody’s talking some shit about you?†he asks. “And then you got this person’s trolls sending you messages on Instagram and Twitter? All in your comments? That shit pissed me off. That he had the power to fuck with me that week. That he used his power to fuck with me.â€
Cudi believes West has evaded accountability for his actions. In his words, he’s seen people close to West “be burned by him†only for those same people to forgive him. “And there’s no repercussions. You’re back cool with this man. He does it over and over,†Cudi says. One of those people? “With all due respect, I’m not Drake, who’s about to take a picture with him next week and be friends again, and their beef is squashed,†he says of the Honestly, Nevermind rapper, who reunited with Ye in December after a feud. Cudi addresses West directly, reading his former friend for filth, in full below:
“I’m not one of your kids. I’m not Kim. It don’t matter if I’m friends with Pete or not friends with Pete. None of this shit had anything to do with me … If you can’t be a grown man and deal with the fact that you lost your woman? That’s not my fucking problem. You need to own up to your shit like every man in this life has. I’ve lost women, too. And I’ve had to own up to it. I don’t need that in my life. I don’t need it.â€
If it’s not clear, Cudi isn’t planning on making up anytime soon. “It’s gonna take a motherfucking miracle for me and that man to be friends again. I don’t see it happening. He gon’ have to become a monk,†he says. “The twisted thing is that I love him, but I love you so much that I can kick you the fuck out of my life and be done with your ass. ’Cause you are not good for me.†Cudi even notes that he’s “been on every one of that man’s albums†yet Ye has only been on two of his — “and don’t think I didn’t ask.â€
“I love myself more now,†says Cudi, who’s working on a Netflix animated series called Entergalatic. He tells Esquire that he suffered a stroke years ago. “Everything was fucked,†he says. Two weeks after checking himself into rehab (for “depression and suicidal urges,†he wrote in a 2016 Facebook post), he was hospitalized for a stroke. In the months that followed, his speech and movement were slow, contributing to his decision to take a break from music. He returned with his 2018 project Kids See Ghosts, a collaboration with West.