Duffy
Duffy performing live at the Super Bock Super Rock on 17 July 2009
Background information
Birth name	Aimée Ann Duffy[1][2]
Also known as	Duffy
Born	(1984-06-23) 23 June 1984 (age 28)
Origin	Nefyn, Gwynedd, Wales
Genres	Blue-eyed soul,[3] pop, rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, actress
Years active	2003–present (hiatus)[4]
Labels	A&M, Mercury (US)
Associated acts	Bernard Butler
Website	iamduffy.com

Aimée Ann Duffy (born 23 June 1984), known as Duffy, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her 2008 debut album Rockferry entered the UK Album Chart at number one. It was the best-selling album in the United Kingdom in 2008^[5] with 1.68 million copies sold.^[6] The album was certified several times Platinum^[7] and sold over 6 million copies worldwide, spawning the hits "Mercy" and "Warwick Avenue". With "Mercy", Duffy became the first Welsh woman to achieve number-one on the UK Singles Chart since Bonnie Tyler topped the charts with "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in 1983.^[8][9]

In 2009, Duffy won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album for Rockferry, and she was nominated for two other Grammys at the 51st Grammy Awards.^[10][11] In 2009 she won three Brit Awards: British Breakthrough, Best Female Solo and Best British Album.^[12]

In 2010 she completed recording of her second album Endlessly that was released on 29 November and made her acting debut in the film Patagonia.^[13][14][15] In February 2011 it was announced that Duffy would take an extended hiatus from music before beginning work on her third album.^[4]

Early life[link]

Duffy was born in Bangor, Gwynedd, and brought up in Nefyn on the Llŷn Peninsula, in Gwynedd, Wales, with her twin sister, Katy Ann, and older sister Kelly; she would later write songs about both sisters. She grew up speaking Welsh as her mother tongue but soon learned English as well.^[16] Duffy's parents divorced when she was 10 and she moved to Pembrokeshire with her mother and sisters.^[17]

Duffy attended Ysgol Nefyn, on the Llyn Peninsula and Sir Thomas Picton School in Haverfordwest, as a child.

In September 1998, at the age of fourteen, Duffy was briefly put in a police safe house when authorities uncovered a plot by her stepfather's ex-wife to pay an assassin £3000 to kill her stepfather, identified as Philip Smith. Smith's ex-wife, Dawn Watson, was sentenced to a 3½-year jail term for soliciting to murder. "I was so terrified. I felt so ill," Duffy recounted in 2008, as reported by the NME and The Sun. A 1998 article in the Daily Mirror, another British tabloid, quotes a man identified as Philip Smith describing similar circumstances, though the stepdaughter's name is spelled Aimy – not Aimée – and the surname Duffy is not mentioned.^{[18][19][20][21]} Duffy describes living in the safe house as a dog-eat-dog, claustrophobic and isolating experience. At age 15, she ran away back to her father's home in Nefyn. Duffy said in retrospect, "It was a horrendous thing to do." Her mother and her sisters did not speak to her for about a year afterward. In reaction to her parents breakup the following three years were a rebellious period that included binge drinking and stealing a rowing boat.^[22]

Duffy's early introduction to soul music and inspiration to get into the music industry occurred while watching Whoopi Goldberg's performance in the movie Sister Act.^[23] It is known that Duffy did not hold a large record collection in her youth,^[24] instead being inspired by her father's videotapes of the 1960s television rock show, Ready Steady Go!^[25] Duffy was interested in music from an early age, beginning to sing at age 6, carrying a notebook that she filled with scribbled lyrics. Despite this, she was later asked to leave her school choir because her voice was "too big" and she "didn't fit in."^[26]

Music career[link]

2003–06: Musical beginnings[link]

After finishing her GCSEs in Pembrokeshire,^[24] Duffy returned to Nefyn, to live with her father, when she was fifteen, and started singing in various local bands. Duffy then spent six weeks in Switzerland (before she started college), collaborating with the writer-producer Soren Mounir, under the name Soulego.^[27] She was advised by a lecturer at Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor to "Go on the dole, love, and become a singer".^[24] She also built up a following at Alexander's, a local jazz and blues club in Chester, performing with guitarist David Burton from the band The Invisible Wires.^[28] Duffy returned to Wales in 2003 and was invited to appear on Wawffactor, a Welsh television talent show. She was expected to win but came second to winner Lisa Pedrick.^[29] She claimed that she was conned into the appearance, later calling it "the unhappiest time in my life."^[30] After a re-evaluation, she decided to just make music for no other purpose than her own fulfilment.^[31]

In 2004, following success on Wawffactor, Duffy recorded a three-song Welsh extended play, titled Aimée Duffy, while working part time in two jobs as waitress and in a fishmongers.^[32] It later achieved 2008 Welsh chart success, charting at number-one on the "Siart C2" music chart. Duffy, now in high demand, appeared on Mint Royale's See You in the Morning as a back-up singer.^[33] Duffy was introduced to Jeanette Lee of Rough Trade Records in August 2004, after singing Richard J. Parfitt's "Oh Boy".^[34] Lee moved Duffy to Crouch End in London, orchestrating a meeting between Duffy and Suede's ex-guitar player Bernard Butler.^[35] Lee with Rough Trade would eventually manage Duffy.^[36] After Butler had given Duffy a soul music "education" by downloading tracks on to her iPod that she could listen to while around London or traveling back to Wales, the pair co-wrote with her and helped create a new retro sound.^[37] The music included tracks Al Green, Bettye Swann, Ann Peebles, Doris Duke, Scott Walker, Phil Spector and Burt Bacharach.^[24] Duffy was quoted as saying Bettye Swann "is one of my biggest inspirations" particularly her song "Cover Me" because "it marks the time I got interested in physical contact. I was 19, and here was a woman singing 'Cover me, spread your precious love all over me.' It's very tender, but it's also, hilariously, quite crude."^[38]

[edit] 2007–09: Rockferry and international breakthrough

Main article: Rockferry

Duffy was contracted to A&M Records (UK) on 23 November 2007.^[39] She performed on the BBC Two television show Later with Jools Holland,^[40] which resulted in a second appearance on the related broadcast Hootenanny, where Duffy performed with Eddie Floyd. On 22 February 2008, she appeared on Later with Jools Holland for a third time and performed "Rockferry", "Mercy", and "Stepping Stone". Duffy also made appearances on the BBC Two television programme The Culture Show on 23 February 2008, performing "Mercy". In January 2008, Duffy came second to Adele in the annual BBC News Online poll of industry experts Sound of 2008, for acts to emerge in the coming year.^[41] In Wales, following Duffy's recent promotion of her music, Aimée Duffy reached number-one on the "Siart C2" music chart.^[42] By 2007, Duffy was finalizing her debut album effort, to be titled Rockferry, after Rock Ferry, where her grandmother lives.^[1] She subsequently struck a US label deal with Mercury Records, a newly re-activated imprint of Island Def Jam Music Group. The first single from the album, also titled "Rockferry" was critically well-received with Allmusic calling it a "grand, sweeping ballad".^[43]

Butler and his musical partner David McAlmont, and a number of other musicians formed the backbone of Duffy's band for her debut album, Rockferry, which was released on A&M Records on 3 March 2008.^[44] The black and white album art and video for the title track were shot by directors Luke Seomore and Joseph Bull, on and around the Ffestiniog Railway in Porthmadog, which was renamed 'Rockferry' for the occasion.^[45] According to Duffy, "The album took nearly four years to make. We had to hire cheap, tiny studios and sometimes there would be three-week periods between writing and recording." Bernard Butler, who was not initially paid, produced four songs for the album, including the single, "Rockferry".^[46] The singles "Mercy" and "Stepping Stone", were co-written & produced by Steve Booker, and the second single "Warwick Avenue", by Jimmy Hogarth and Eg White. Duffy released the debut limited edition single "Rockferry" in November 2007 followed by the Steve Booker co-written & produced single, "Mercy", which went straight to number one. "Mercy" was the last song written for the album.^[47] The single was physically released on 25 February 2008.^{[citation needed]} She revealed that both "Mercy" and "Stepping Stone" are autobiographical; "Mercy" is about "sexual liberty" and "not doing something somebody else wants you to do", and "Stepping Stone" is about not expressing her feelings to a person she fell in love with.^[48] "Warwick Avenue" was the second single released from the album. The song occurred when Duffy, then 19 years old, was familiarising herself with the London Underground and accidentally found herself at the Warwick Avenue station. The following day the song "just sort of came out". At first the video for the song was meant to be an elaborate production but ended up a tearful head shot in a taxi cab with Duffy's mascara smudging. Duffy has said "That's as close as I'm ever going to get to doing a performance that's real in a video."^[49]

By May, "Mercy" was a staple on VH1 and a hot Adult Contemporary radio hit and had been featured in the season finale of the American television medical drama Grey's Anatomy as well as being on the soundtrack album for Sex and the City: The Movie.^[50][51][52] A remix of "Mercy", featuring rap artist The Game, was released on 10 May.^[53] On 13 May Rockferry was released in the United States to positive reviews.^[54][55][56] Because of its cheap production values the album is reaping Duffy substantial financial benefits.^[46] Despite her album's success in the United States Duffy was quoted as saying “I don’t like how big American stars consider themselves an exception from humanity".^[57] In November 2008, the single Rain On Your Parade was released. The song was co-written & produced by Steve Booker. The song was first released on download sales only on 10 November 2008 before being released physically on 17 November 2008.^[58] Duffy describes this song as "a big, disco-y dance song".^[59] The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number twenty-two before rising to a peak of fifteen the following week. The track was included on the deluxe edition of Rockferry.

Duffy singing at SXSW, 15 March 2008.

At the 2008 MOJO Awards, Duffy won the "Song of the Year" award for "Mercy"^[60] and was nominated also for "Album of the Year" and "Breakthrough Act". These three nominations were the largest number of nominations for any one act.^[61] She also received a 2008 Q Award in the category of Breakthrough Act,^[62] a nomination for the Q category of Best Track for "Mercy",^[63] a Music of Black Origin Award nomination for Best UK Female.^[64] At the MTV Europe Music Awards, she received nominations in the categories of Album of the Year, Most Addictive Track, and New Act.^[65] She performed at the EMA show.^[66]

At the 51st Grammy Awards held in February 2009, Duffy won a Grammy Award in the category of Best Pop Vocal Album for Rockferry. Earlier she had been nominated for awards in the categories of Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her single "Mercy".^[10] Duffy equalled Coldplay with four 2009 Brit Awards nominations. She eventually won three awards, including Best Album for Rockferry, one behind the record held by Blur for the most won in one night.^[67] "I cannot tell you what this means after five years of hard work," said the singer.^[68] At the awards ceremony she performed "Warwick Avenue". Record producers & songwriters Steve Booker & Bernard Butler gained awards for their work on the Rockferry album. She shared a 2009 Ivor Novello Award in the category "Most Performed Work" with Steve Booker for their work on Mercy. Songwriter Eg White won the award for "Songwriter of the Year" in part for Warwick Avenue, which he co-wrote with Duffy.^[69][70] "Mercy" was played on United States radio and television more than 3 million times earning Duffy a 2009 Broadcast Music Incorporated award.^[71] The album was nominated and shortlisted for the Album of 30 Years category at the 2010 Brit Awards.^[72]

The album's success led to a period of confusion about her role in the music business that nearly led her to quit music.^[22]

Duffy has said that she did not mind people illegally downloading her music because she believes most people who do are kids who cannot afford the CDs and will buy them when they get older.^[73]

Duffy recorded a cover of Paul McCartney and Wings' song "Live and Let Die". It was used on the War Child charity album entitled War Child Heroes, Volume I.^[74] Acclaim came from Paul McCartney, saying that Duffy's version "is great – I was really impressed".^[75]

Duffy and Bernard Butler wrote the song Smoke Without Fire, which appeared on the soundtrack for the film "An Education".^[76]

[edit] 2009–10: Endlessly

Duffy's second album required her to slow her career.^[15]

In late January 2010 Rough Trade Management, who with Jeanette Lee had managed Duffy, announced that they and the singer had parted amicably. Duffy's new management stated that "the professional relationship between Duffy and Rough Trade management has run its course."^[36] She is currently with A&M/Universal.^[14]

On 16 September 2010 Duffy announced the release of her second album Endlessly. The album was recorded in New York, London and Spain^[77] in the year prior to the announcement. Duffy formed a songwriting partnership with Albert Hammond for the record. Endlessly was released in the United Kingdom on 29 November 2010 and placed at number 9 in the album charts of 5 December. The album's first single failed to achieve the success of previous singles, entering the UK charts at number 41 on 21 November.^[78] Called "Well, Well, Well", the single features a rhythm section by United States hip hop group The Roots.^[14][15][79]

2011–present: Hiatus and third studio album[link]

Following the poor sales to "Endlessly" it was confirmed that no more singles would be released from the album and in February 2011, it was announced that Duffy would take a two year break from music before beginning work on her third album.^[4]

In October 2011, producer/rapper David Banner announced that he and Duffy were to go in the studio for two weeks.^[80]

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• 2008: Rockferry
• 2010: Endlessly

Awards and nominations[link]

Touring and live performance[link]

Duffy performing at the 2008 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Duffy has performed at concerts and festival gigs around the world. Her first American performances took place at the SXSW conference,^[81] and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was her first festival gig. The Coachella performance started off with sound problems but she "delighted the crowd with 'Rockferry', 'Serious', 'Warwick Avenue' and 'Mercy'."^[82] To coincide with the release of Rockferry, Duffy performed at the Apollo Theater in New York City.^[83] Duffy received the honour of performing at the Royal Variety Performance 2008.^[84] In 2008, Duffy played many festivals in Europe. This included visits to French,^[85] Swedish and Irish^[86] summer festivals, amongst others. In the United Kingdom, Duffy visited venues such as Glastonbury and the Evolution Festival. She also toured the American summer festivals in 2008 for example a visit to Lollapalooza in Chicago.^[87] Duffy toured the United Kingdom and Ireland during November and December 2008.^[88]

To promote Rockferry, Duffy made many visits to American television, including Late Night with Conan O'Brien,^[89] and Saturday Night Live.^[90] Duffy played a fourteen-city North American tour. Plans had called for her to open for Coldplay on six of the dates.^[91] During a concert in Cleveland, Duffy accidentally set the left side of her hair on fire.^[92] In New York, Duffy was left apologising to an audience after briefly crying. She explained to the audience that this happens in one out of every 15 of her shows when she feels exposed for reasons she does not fully understand.^[93] Duffy also made a recording for British broadcaster BBC, performing at the LSO St. Luke's. The performance was televised in 2009 on the British television station BBC One.^[94]

Comparisons with others[link]

Under the sub-title, "The New Amys", Adam Thompson wrote in The Times on 30 December 2007 that "Duffy, Gabriella Cilmi and Adele lead the charge to be the next Winehouse. First sightings seem to indicate that they are all bright-eyed innocents with bags of talent – a familiar starting point, no?" She said at first she did not understand the comparisons to Dusty Springfield and believes the comparisons with others or putting her in a movement is "a gimmick" and noted that "nobody is replaceable".^[59] Later some of Springfield's friends sought out and befriended Duffy. Duffy was quoted as saying they tell her she is much like Springfield and talk to her as if she was around during the 1960s.^[95] Singer-songwriter Alison Goldfrapp said while Duffy has a great voice, she was trained to sound essentially like Amy Winehouse as part of a business plan, mistakenly believing that Duffy had attended the Brit School.^[96] Noel Gallagher of Oasis has a similar perspective.^[97] By 2009 people had stopped referring to Duffy as the "New Amy" or "New Dusty" a prospect that is a "bit more frightening because before I had certain references but now it's just me on my own".^[98]

British singer Estelle said that she does not agree with those who describe Duffy and Adele as soul singers but that she is happy that they have been successful.^[99] In North America, Duffy is seen as part of a recent wave of British singers or "British invaders" consisting of females with a unique take on writing and performing songs. Motown has been seen in this wave.^{[100][101][102][103][104]}

On 1 February 2009 The Times Encyclopedia of modern music named Rockferry an "Essential" Blue-eyed soul recording. Albums by Amy Winehouse and Adele were also named as essential Blue Eyed Soul recordings in the "recent" category.^[105]

2008 Mojo Awards[link]

Duffy claimed that at the Mojo Awards show in June 2008, Sex Pistols lead singer John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) heckled her.^[106] According to Duffy, when she went to make peace with him, "I walked past him, said 'Hi, you all right?,' and next thing I was literally slammed against the wall, pinned by his arm at my throat. He called me a c***. The violence was awful."^[57] According to Lydon, "I was doing an interview and she came up behind me – I didn't see anything."^[107] He claimed she was a "young girl who made the mistake of trying to jump on my back".^[108] He said he hadn't realised who Duffy was, saying: "Oh, she got an award? I quite like her."^[109] Although she left upset, Duffy later blamed herself for what happened.^[57] In November 2010, Lydon changed his story claiming the incident was a publicity stunt created by Duffy's staff. Duffy believes that explanation is an attempt to brush off behaviour Lydon is ashamed about.^[77]

Other projects[link]

Since her fame, Duffy has endorsed several products. In August 2008, Duffy appeared in Fashion Rocks, supporting a new range of Nivea products.^[110] Duffy has also appeared in various European television commercials endorsing the beverage Diet Coke. The campaign, showing Duffy cycling through a supermarket singing "I Gotta Be Me", was launched on British television station itv, following the 2009 BRIT Awards, which saw Duffy take home three awards for her work.^[111] Duffy was named as the "face" of the brand, alongside other famous women.^[112][113] The advert went on to spark unexpected complaints about the health of children when it showed Duffy riding without protective gear, to the United Kingdom's Advertising Standards Authority. However, these claims were ultimately rejected.^[114]

Duffy received a phone call from a famous Hollywood producer who offered her a chance to be a star. Feeling that she was not ready she instead made her film debut playing the character of Sissy in the 2010 drama film Patagonia, directed by Marc Evans. Sissy's character is "a Welsh student who livens up the holiday of a young Argentinian man on a trip to Wales".^[15][115] The film is about Welsh Argentines living in Y Wladfa, Patagonia. Patagonia premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival on 10 June 2010,^[116] and was released in October 2010.^[117]

Personal life[link]

In September 2008, Duffy mentioned that she was "on the borderline of a nervous breakdown" because of the pressure that fame has brought her. She also said that she had considered becoming a recluse, but eventually decided against the idea for the sake of her fans. Although acknowledging that most people do mean well, she finds it "scary" when people recognise her in the street, and has been fearful of her image possibly changing the person she truly is.^[118][119]

In April 2009 Duffy had a special variant of daffodil (a flower traditionally associated with Wales) named after her called the "Duffydil".^[120] She picked the variant she wanted to be named after her from a selection grown by the Really Welsh Trading Company in Wales.^[121] Duffy said of this, "The Duffydil, brilliant! Maybe now I can forgive myself for stealing them from people's gardens!"^[121][122]

Duffy's estimated fortune of £4 million placed her in 16th place in the 2009 Sunday Times listing of Great Britain's wealthiest young musicians.^[123]

Duffy dated Welsh International rugby star Mike Phillips from September 2009^[115] to May 2011.^[124]

In 2011 Angela Becker, Duffy's former manager, sued Duffy claiming breach of contract. Duffy has stated she intends to counter-sue.^[125]

References[link]

External links[link]

	Book: Duffy
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Official website
• Duffy at Allmusic
• Duffy at BBC Wales
• Duffy discography at Discogs
• Duffy at the Internet Movie Database
• Duffy at NME

Duffy may refer to:

People[link]

• Duffy (surname) - people with the surname Duffy, O'Duffy or Duffey
• Duffy (singer), (1984—) Welsh singer, born Aimée Ann Duffy
• Duffy Lyon (1929–2011), American farmer and butter sculptor

Other[link]

• Duffy, Australian Capital Territory, suburb of Canberra, Australia
• Duffy Fairgrounds, stadium in New York, United States
• USS Duffy (DE-27), US Navy destroyer
• Duffy antigen system, a type of cell marker proteins and the gene which codes for them
• Duffy & Partners, international branding and design firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Duffy & Snellgrove, Australian book publishing company
• Duffy the Disney Bear, an anthropomorphic teddy bear character featured at Disney theme parks
• Duffy (film), movie starring James Coburn

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Kid Cudi
Kid Cudi performing in Denver, Colorado in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi
Born	(1984-01-30) January 30, 1984 (age 28) Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Genres	Alternative hip hop, neo-psychedelia, pop rock
Occupations	Rapper, singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, drums
Years active	2003–present
Labels	GOOD, Universal Republic,[1] Wicked Awesome
Associated acts	WZRD, Dot da Genius, Kanye West, Chip tha Ripper, Ratatat
Website	www.KidCudi.com

Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi^[2] (born January 30, 1984),^[3] better known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( /ˈkɪd ˈkʌdi/ KID KUD-ee), sometimes stylized KiD CuDi, is an American alternative hip hop recording artist, singer-songwriter, guitarist and actor. He first gained major attention after the release of his debut mixtape A Kid Named Cudi. In 2009, his single "Day 'n' Nite" reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. "Day 'n' Nite" was included on Cudi's debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day, which was later certified Gold. In 2010 he released his second studio album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, preceded by the release of two singles "Erase Me" and "Mr. Rager". In October 2010, Cudi announced that he would be forming a rock band with Dot da Genius called 'Wizard', later renamed WZRD. Their self-titled debut album was released on February 28, 2012.^[4] Kid Cudi has sold over 4.6 million digital singles and has worked with Kanye West, Common, David Guetta and other artists signed to the GOOD Music label.^[5]

In 2009 Cudi, along with record producers Patrick "Plain Pat" Reynolds and Emile Haynie launched their record label, Dream On, in partnership with Kanye West's GOOD Music and Universal Motown. On February 26, 2011 Cudi took to his Twitter account to announce that the label had been dissolved due to differences. In April 2011, while performing at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom Kid Cudi announced he was launching his own label: "Wicked Awesome Records".

Biography[link]

1984-2008: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Kid Cudi was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in Shaker Heights and Solon. He is the youngest of four children, with two brothers, Domingo and Dean, and a sister, Maisha.^[6] His father, a house painter, substitute teacher and World War II Air Force veteran was Mexican-Native American, while his mother, a middle-school choir teacher at Roxboro Middle School, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, is African-American.^[7][8] When he was eleven years old, Mescudi's father died of cancer; his passing would have a significant effect on Mescudi's personality and subsequently his music.^[8] Mescudi attended Shaker Heights High School for two years, then transferred to Solon High School, and later earned his GED. Eventually, Mescudi studied film at the University of Toledo then dropped out after a year.^[6]

It was towards the end of high school that Mescudi first began rapping, inspired by alternative hip hop groups such as The Pharcyde and A Tribe Called Quest.^[8] He moved to Brooklyn in New York City to pursue a music career.^[2] In July 2008, Kid Cudi released his first mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi, in collaboration with New York street-wear brand 10.Deep as a free download.^[9] The mixtape quickly caught the attention of Kanye West, which in turn spawned his signing to GOOD Music later that year.

Kid Cudi was featured on Kanye West's 2008 album, 808s & Heartbreak, singing with West on the track "Welcome to Heartbreak", and helping with songwriting on "Heartless" and "Paranoid". "Welcome to Heartbreak" peaked at #87 on the Pop 100,^[10] and music videos for both songs have been released. Cudi was then tipped as an artist to watch for in media such as Rolling Stone, Vibe, The Source, XXL and BBC News's Sound of 2009 poll of up-and-coming acts.^[11] MTV News also reported on Cudi on a series of reports MCs To Watch In 2009.^[12]

Kid Cudi performing at Central Park Summerstage in New York City, in 2008.

His first television appearance was at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, alongside Travis Barker and DJ AM. On February 17, 2009, he appeared on Snoop Dogg's MTV talk show Dogg After Dark performing "Day 'n' Nite" at the end of the show. Two days later on February 19, 2009, Cudi appeared on BET's 106 & Park with Kanye West to debut the video of "Day 'n' Nite". On March 16, 2009 Kid Cudi performed on mtvU's Spring Break special, and the next day he performed three songs on NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly. He has also appeared as a musical guest on The Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

Kid Cudi also made a cameo appearance next to Solange in the video for the song "T.O.N.Y." in February 2009, and later in The Black Eyed Peas' video for "I Gotta Feeling", with David Guetta. He has also been on two magazine covers, Complex (August/September 2009) and URB (August 2009). Bape awarded Cudi his own t-shirt in September 2009, in reward for his music and past employment there when living in New York City.

[edit] 2009–2010: Man on the Moon series

Kid Cudi performing on August 6, 2009.

Cudi's debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day was released on Universal Motown Records on September 15, 2009^[13] and sold 104,419 copies in the first week and charted at #4.^[14] The album's lead single "Day 'n' Nite", Kid Cudi's greatest commercial success thus far, charted well both in the U.S. and in Europe. The second single was "Make Her Say" (originally titled "I Poke Her Face"), which features a sample from Lady Gaga's hit single "Poker Face" and performances by Kanye West and Common.^[15][16]

On February 25, 2009, Cudi self-leaked a "teaser trailer" ^[17] for the upcoming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen film using his song "Sky Might Fall" in the background, later he posted that he made the trailer himself and was in talks to possibly make it official.^[18]

With Emile Haynie, Cudi produced an exclusive single called "Switchin Lanes" for the video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles, part of its "South Central Premium Upgrade" downloadable content (DLC) which came out March 19, 2009 for the PlayStation 3 and March 27, 2009 for the Xbox 360.^[19]

He revealed information about his future plans via his blog, saying that a possible collaboration with Chip tha Ripper could be followed with a collaboration project with electrorock duo Ratatat.^[20] During the summer of 2009, Cudi joined rapper Asher Roth for the Great Hangover concert tour.^[21] Kid Cudi was featured on the highly anticipated Jay-Z album The Blueprint 3 (2009), on the song "Already Home".^[22] In a late 2009 interview, Cudi announced that the follow-up to his debut album will be a collaboration album called Cudder and the Revolution of Evolution. He stated he has already recorded songs with Snoop Dogg, Travis Barker, Clipse, Cage and Pharrell and would also like to work with Drake, Green Day, Kings of Leon, Robin Thicke, The Killers and The Postal Service on the album. Also it was rumored that Man on the Moon: The End of Day will be followed up by a sequel titled Man on the Moon: The Ghost in the Machine and that the Man on the Moon will be a trilogy, but was not been confirmed.^[23] Kid Cudi was nominated for three 2010 Grammy Awards for his singles, "Day 'n' Nite" and "Make Her Say".^[24] Kid Cudi was featured on Snoop Dogg's re-release of Malice n Wonderland, More Malice (2010), on the song "That Tree",^[25] as well as teaming up with Johnny Polygon to remix Polygon's "The Riot Song" which appears on his mixtape, Rebel Without Applause(2010)^[26] On April 20, 2010, Kid Cudi announced that the name of his second album has been changed from Cudder and the Revolution of Evolution to Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager.^[27][28] On June 11, 2010, Kid Cudi was arrested in the Chelsea neighborhood of the Manhattan borough New York City and charged with felony criminal mischief and possession of a controlled substance.^[29] Despite his arrest, he was released and made it to Manchester, Tennessee in time to play at Bonnaroo.

The lead single for Cudi's second studio album titled "Erase Me" featuring Kanye West and produced by Jim Jonsin, debuted on a Cleveland radio station June 30, 2010 and was officially released to Rhythm/Crossover radio on August 17, 2010.^{[30][31][32][33]} The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 169,000 copies.^[34] In its second week it crossed the 200,000 sales mark.^[35] 2010 also featured Kid Cudi on a number of songs for Kanye West's weekly free music giveaway G.O.O.D. Fridays appearing on "Good Friday", "Christian Dior Denim Flow" and "The Joy", which later became a bonus track on Jay-Z and Kanye West collaborative effort Watch the Throne (2011).

2011-present: New direction and WZRD[link]

In October 2010, Cudi announced that he would be forming a rock band with Dot da Genius tentatively called 'Wizard'.^[36] However, in early 2011, he announced that he would be releasing a mixtape prior to the rock album.^[37] On February 26, 2011 Cudi took to his Twitter account to announce that Dream On, the record label he launched back in 2009 with partners Patrick “Plain Pat” Reynolds and producer Emile Haynie, has been dissolved.^[38] However in an interview with Complex Magazine he explained they were still on good terms: "I wanted to try something new, and I wanted to take control of things myself. Those are still my guys, Pat and Emile, and I'm still going to work with them in the future. When we start working on Man on the Moon III I’ll be calling them up to see if they want to be a part of it. I know Emile is definitely down. We had an issue, but we’re men and we were able to figure it out and move forward. There’s no hard feelings."^[39]

In March 2011, Cudi announced that a music video for "Marijuana" will be released in the spring,^[40] followed by a music video for "Mr. Rager" in the summer of 2011.^[40] As well as a short film inspired by his song "Maniac" with Cage, directed by Shia LaBeouf^[41] will be released in October 2011.^{[dated info][40]}

In April 2011, while performing at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom Kid Cudi announced name of the record label he is launching. The new label, which he will be releasing his third studio album on is called “Wicked Awesome Records”. He also renamed his band on the same occasion to '2 Be Continuum' renaming it from the original 'Wizard'. Kid Cudi explained his reasoning saying: "I needed something more original, something different, but it’s still wizardry at its finest."^[42] On August 12, 2011, Kid Cudi released the music video for "No One Believes Me", directed by Fright Night director Craig Gillespie. Although the song was recorded as a collaborative song with Dot da Genius, the single was released under Kid Cudi's name.^[43] On August 21, Cudi announced that he is no longer releasing the mixtape A Man Named Scott so that he can focus on his rock project and his third solo album Man on the Moon III.^[44] Kid Cudi released a video for Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager's title track "Mr. Rager" on September 8, 2011. The video has received all-positive reviews from critics and fans alike.^[45]

Despite saying he will not do many more features for other artists in Complex magazine's October/November 2011 cover story,^[46] he appeared on Bryan Greenberg's second studio album We Don't Have Forever (2011), Travis Barker's Give the Drummer Some (2011), The Knux's Eraser (2011), and Wale's Ambition (2011) respectively.

On October 30, Cudi released the Maniac, a short horror film co-starring Cage and directed by Shia LaBeouf, through his blog.^[47]

On November 13, 2011, a previously unreleased mixtape of material Cudi had recorded from 2002-2003 titled Rap Hard was released. On November 18, 2011 renamed his band, for the second time to 'WZRD'.^[48] He also announced that the upcoming rock project will be released on his 28th birthday, January 30, 2012.

In late 2011, Cudi was mentioned in a viral video by Ben Breedlove about his near death experiences.^[49] After Breedlove's death on December 26, 2011, Cudi commented on his thoughts about inspiring the young kid. "I am so sad about Ben Breedlove," Kid Cudi wrote on his Tumblr blog. "I watched the video he left for the world to see, and him seeing me in detail, in his vision really warmed my heart. I broke down, I am to tears because I hate how life is so unfair. This has really touched my heart in a way I cant describe, this is why I do what I do. Why I write my life, and why I love you all so much. Life is really f---- up sometimes, but I know Ben is at Peace, and I hope he gets a chance to sit and talk with my Dad. We love you Ben. Forever. Thank you for loving me. To Ben’s family, you raised a real hero, he’s definitely mine. You have my love."

In January 2012 Cudi appeared on two songs off Chip tha Ripper's mixtape Tell Ya Friends, "Ride 4 You" which also featured Far East Movement and "GloryUs" which credited the duo as they are collectively known, The Almighty GloryUs, which led to speculation that a project from the two was underway. On January 31, Cudi announced through his Twitter feed that he had completed Man on the Moon III and that his next album was the collaborative effort with Chip tha Ripper.^[50] In 2012 Cudi was featured on the soundtrack to the film The Hunger Games, crafting an original song for the film titled "The Ruler and the Killer". Cudi wrote on Twitter, "I could not have done it with out my producing partners on the project for the film, The legendary and Godly T Bone Burnett and Greg Wells!", referring to "The Ruler and the Killer"^[51]

While working on WZRD, Cudi claims he had writer's block for almost 5 months because of his new sobriety. Something that never has happened to him for such an extended period of time. According to Kid Cudi, bands that inspired the album include Electric Light Orchestra, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and Pink Floyd. The album includes a song titled "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", a cover of the same titled song by Nirvana who in turn was inspired by blues guitar legend Lead Belly's rendition of the traditional folk song.^[52]

Acting career[link]

Kid Cudi starred in the new HBO comedy series How to Make It in America until its cancellation after 2 seasons. He is credited under his real name.^[53]

Personal life[link]

On March 26, 2010, his daughter, Vada Wamwene Mescudi, was born.^[54][55]

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Man on the Moon: The End of Day (2009)
• Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (2010)
• Man on the Moon III (2012)^[56]

Collaborative albums

• WZRD (2012) (with Dot da Genius as WZRD)^[37]
• Cruel Summer (2012) (with GOOD Music)^[57]
• The Almighty GloryUS (TBA) (with Chip tha Ripper)

Mixtapes

• A Kid Named Cudi (2008)

Awards and nominations[link]

Filmography[link]

References[link]