Cudi, you tweeted that you’re working on new music. What can you tell us about that? How does it sound?

Kid Cudi: I can’t say much ’cause the music isn’t gonna come out till next year. But I will tell you this: I’m working on a Netflix TV show, an animated TV show, and Kenya Barris is producing it. My next album will be the music for the first season of the show, and the music will narrate the story. So a lot of the songs aren’t really from the Scott perspective; they’re from the perspective of the character.

That’s different for you.

Kid Cudi: Yeah, and it’s a new, fun, and exciting way to write music. I have eight albums. I needed to do something different.

It’s interesting that it’s not from your perspective, because your previous albums have been so personal. What made you want to go that route? Is the music slightly based on you, or not at all?

Kid Cudi: No, it’s not. A lot of the songs are about love and relationships. I’m not in a relationship right now, so it’s purely written from my imagination and writing as this character. That was something that was exciting to me because, after Kids See Ghosts, I felt like I said all I had to say.

About yourself?

Kid Cudi: About the point where I’m at right now, post-rehab. And Kids See Ghosts was that album for me. I didn’t know if I was gonna drop anything after Kids See Ghosts anytime soon. I was thinking about taking five years off.

Five years is a long time.

Kid Cudi: But I had other things I wanted to do. I’m shooting an HBO mini series.

And you’re doing something with Jordan Peele, right?

Kid Cudi: Yeah, I’m working on a TV show with Jordan. I have a lot of things I’m working on, so I wanted to give myself time to focus on those things, but the music was something that just called to me. I was just feeling inspired to work, and I’m always in the studio tinkering around with sounds and trying to create stuff.

I had this idea for the show, and then it was like, how can we incorporate the music? How can we have the music be a part of the show? I initially wanted to make a visual album, but I was like, that’s been done before. How can we give it a little twist? How can we do something different? That’s how I came up with the idea for the show, Entergalactic. I’m trying my hardest to still introduce new sounds and push the envelope, sonically. So it’s still gonna be like everything that people love about Kid Cudi music. The only difference is that it’s gonna be told from a different perspective. Some songs, not all songs. I have some songs where I’m just rapping—it’s just Cudi having fun again, and I think people miss that side of me. I used to do that a lot on my mixtape, so getting back into that was fun, and I think people are gonna be into it. I think this [album] is my perspective on love, and people haven’t really heard that. I’m not somebody who makes R&B music, and I’m not somebody who makes lovey-dovey songs like that. I’ve just never really had much luck in relationships, so I’ve never had anything to write from. And if I did write about my relationships, it would’ve been all disasters, so I needed something to inspire me to get me there, to wanna write about relationships, and this show did it for me.

Are we getting a Kids See Ghosts 2 album anytime soon?

Kid Cudi: There will be more Kids See Ghosts albums. Kanye already told me he wants to start working on the second one. It’s kinda weird, ’cause with the first album, I didn’t know how serious he was about making a collab album with me. He had mentioned it, but I thought it was just a good idea he had in the moment. But then he kept bringing it up and kept having me come to his house, listen to music, and work on beats, so I was like, “Wow, he’s really into this.” We had a discussion where he said he wanted to make a spiritual album and I told him, “Great. That’s what I do. I would love to do that, something I can sink my teeth into.” So there will definitely be more.

NIGO®, earlier we talked about the DNA and formula you’ve created. You’re no longer at Bape, but I feel like Bape doesn’t exist without your DNA. You created such a legacy there that the brand can’t just hire a new creative director or revamp the label. How do you feel about that?

NIGO®: To be honest, I think people who like Bape and the people I click with don’t really overlap at this point. To me, Bape is an old design, and my main focus now is Human Made. If anything, I find it unusual that people don’t go as much for my new stuff. I’m not saying, “Hey, buy my gear.” I just think it’s more fun to always be doing something new, right? It’s like pursuing your dreams. I often wonder why people are still stuck on that.

You’ve helped shape much of what streetwear is today. When you look at the industry now, what’s your biggest takeaway?

NIGO®: When we started, it was a genuine scene. It was really small, and it meant something because everybody who was in the scene had a certain level of shared understanding. Now, what is called streetwear is huge, mainstream, and, frankly, ordinary. In itself, I don't think it means anything anymore. The challenge now is to be able to do something in that world that can be unique or even just to have a reason for it to exist.

What do you guys want to be remembered by?

NIGO®: Well, I’m kind of like Yoda in Star Wars at this point. I’m just quietly going about my business, so I don’t really have a big statement to make. But if someone were to approach me and want to work on something, I’d definitely be on board. I’m not going to turn down any interesting projects.

Kid Cudi: I guess I want people to remember me as an honest person. That every line I ever rapped, everything I ever said, was all true. It all came from a real place. And I want people to know that when it’s all said and done, doesn’t matter if they like me or they hate me, they just know I gave it my truth and I always have been living in my truth. And I want people to also see that I wanna help people, that I’m trying to make the world better.*