Even if you think you’ve never heard of Kid Cudi, you’ve probably heard one of his songs on the radio or seen him act in your favorite television shows. The 37-year-old rapper, whose full name is Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi, is probably best known for his 2008 debut single “Day ‘n’ Nite.” Now that the song has been co-opted by TikTok users, he’s spoken out about how unhappy he is with the trend.
TikTok users cut up “Day ‘n’ Nite” audio, and Kid Cudi isn’t thrilled.
For any regular TikTok user, you’ll know that the app frequently generates trends of isolating audio from popular films, TV shows, or songs to create more hilarious video clips. In the most recent trend, a bar of “Day ‘n’ Nite” stating “now look at this” plays, while the user showcases an odd scenario.
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In a series of Tweets on Mar. 12, 2021, the musician explains why he doesn’t appreciate his song being on TikTok. “I don’t f—- w what they did to my song on tik tok takin out the lyrics. We live in a strange time. I’m not flattered,” he writes.
Fans quickly jumped to his defense. “I’ll fight them all for u Cudi,” one fan says, while another says, “Wait till you see what happened to American Boy.”
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Kid Cudi wasn’t finished, and when a fan clapped back at him, “It ain’t that deep.” The artist explained the reason for his displeasure, replying, “I dont think im makin it ‘deep’ by tweetin how I feel. Now if I was ranting thats another thing. Nothing wrong w me stating I don’t approve, plus if u are such a fan, u know my lyrics are most important to me.”
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In summary, it sounds like the use of the song itself isn’t the issue, but rather, cutting out the lyrics he so painstakingly intended to be heard in full. As one user pointed out, “Day ‘n’ Nite” isn’t the only song that’s become a victim of this sort of selective remixing.
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“Day ‘n’ Nite” is especially close to home for the musician, who explained in a 2009 interview with Complex that the song was written for his uncle, with whom he had lived after he moved from Cleveland to New York. His uncle kicked him out of the house after a huge argument, and Kid Cudi wrote the song. Unfortunately, he was never able to apologize before his uncle died in 2006.