New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Universal Motown) -
Dream On/G.O.O.D. Music/Universal Motown Grammy-nominated, multiplatinum hip-hop innovator and actor KID CUDI released his second album, MAN ON THE MOON II: THE LEGEND OF MR. RAGER, to critical acclaim and impressive numbers on November 9, with 55,000 copies sold at iTunes during its first day of release. The night before the album was available for purchase, 26,000 pre-orders were sold at iTunes, marking one of the biggest pre-orders in the history of Universal
Music Group and placing KID CUDI in elite company with chart-toppers such as Jack Johnson, Maroon 5, Kanye West, and Eminem. Physical reorders of MAN ON THE MOON II have also out-performed opening week sales projections at national retailers such as Target, Walmart, and Best Buy.
'...a cohesively constructed concept album that will reward repeat listens. No other major-label rapper in 2010 is pushing boundaries in quite the same way. Grade: A-.'
-Entertainment Weekly
'...the Cleveland rapper has created a cutting-edge record that sounds like an evolutionary step in hip-hop.'
-The New York Post
'Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, the sequel to The End of Day, is a revelation, boldly reshaping Cudi's sound with vivid production.'
-Spin
Inspired by KID CUDI's deeply personal struggles with fame, MAN ON THE MOON II is a confessional album divided into five acts. Guests include Cee Lo Green, Mary J. Blige, Kanye West, and Cage & St. Vincent. KID CUDI also enlisted many of today's hottest producers, including Jim Jonsin, Dot Da Genius, Blended Babies, Anthony Kilhoffer, Chuck Inglish, Dot& Cud, along with Dream On label co-principals Plain Pat and Emile Haynie.
KID CUDI celebrated the release of MAN ON THE MOON II-which is available as a standard CD, a vinyl LP, and a deluxe CD/DVD-with a hugely successful outdoor performance at the Bape Store New York, the downtown clothing boutique where he once held a day job. Throngs of fans showed up to purchase the new album and a limited edition Mr. Rager T-shirt.
MAN ON THE MOON II arrives in stores as the album's first single, 'Erase Me,' featuring Kanye West, remains in the Top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100 chart and occupies the No. 11 spot on Billboard's Digital Songs chart, while 'Memories,' a collaboration with David Guetta that appears on the Grammy-winning French dance producer's debut album, One Love, is climbing up Billboard's Dance/Cub Play Songs chart. 'Erase Me' was featured in the season premiere of The CW's 90210 and has sold more than 300,000 copies to date, including 100,000 units sold in its first week of release.
The press is already raving about MAN ON THE MOON II, one of the most anticipated albums of the year. The Chicago Tribune says, 'The music is as consuming and intoxicating as the lifestyle Cudi describes.' Entertainment Weekly writes, 'The former lonely stoner takes us for a ride on his spaceship with a trippy, utterly original, genre-defying album that chronicles his journey to the dark side of stardom and back.' But perhaps the biggest praise comes from none other than Kanye West: 'Kid Cudi is my personal favorite artist in the world right now. His whole take on the game is just proper, unfiltered, uncensored artistry... If you want to hear raw, uncut, unapologetic, ill-ass melodies-that's what Kid Cudi's thing is.'
KID CUDI is currently connected with 3 million Facebook friends, an incredible 2.8 million increase from when his Facebook profile launched in spring 2009, in addition to more than 500,000 MySpace friends. His songs have received more than 100 million plays on MySpace and his music videos have collectively received more than 48 million views on VEVO. He currently reigns as one of the most microblogged-about music artists and one of the most frequent trending topics on Twitter, and according to Hype Machine, KID CUDI is among the Top 10 most blogged about artists on the web.
Driven by KID CUDI's rabid online fan base, his 'Erase Me' application at iTunes quickly became the eighth most-downloaded free music app with a link to buy the new album. He has also formed strategic alliances with major brands such as Heineken, Vitamin Water, and Converse, in addition to partnering with VEVO for a live performance at the Bape Store New York that was taped for VEVO's Go Show concert series and has received more than 55 million views to date.
Cleveland native KID CUDI burst onto the music scene in 2009 with his groundbreaking debut album, Man On The Moon: The End of Day, which debuted at No.4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and has scanned nearly 500,000 units, with weekly sales averaging between 4,000 to 6,000 since January 2010, in addition to 4.8 million singles sold and 1.5 million ringtones. That same year, he landed a co-starring role in the HBO original series How To Make It In America, which returns for its second season in early 2011. KID CUDI has been busy promoting the release of MAN ON THE MOON II with recent performances on The Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, where he showcased a song from the new album called 'Maniac,' which will soon be adapted for a short film to be directed by Transformers star Shia LaBeouf. KID CUDI will perform on TBS's Conan on November 29, followed by an appearance on The CW's One Tree Hill on November 30.
