This album’s importance comes from Kid Cudi being the first lyrically strong hip hop artist from, the now famous, XXL Magazine Freshman Class of ‘09 cover to drop a debut album.

Luckily for hip hop, Man on the Moon: The End of Day is shaping up to be one of the best musical works of ‘09.  Cudi blows away all expectations by creating a record about finding himself through personal expression.  This album has set the bar high for all the other emerging emcees such as Wale, B.o.B., J.Cole, and Mickey Factz, who have yet to drop their debut albums.  I hope these artists see Kid Cudi’s success as inspiration to create masterpieces of their own!

Kid Cudi put in a lot of hard work to get to this point, however, having moved from Cleveland to New York five years ago and slowly working his way into the hip hop spotlight.

To get a good feel for the Cleveland native’s rise to fame, we have to go back a year to when he linked up with 10.Deep to release his now classic A Kid Named Cudi mixtape.  Here is the trailer to the mixtape which offers good insight into Kid Cudi’s style and personality.

Without jokes or gimmicks, Kid Cudi set out to have people feel him in his music, and because of this, the mixtape enjoyed a great deal of success.  Eventually, Kanye West took notice of Kid Cudi and signed him to the G.O.O.D. Music family.

One of Cudi’s most successful tracks to date, “Day n Night” off of the 10.Deep mixtape enjoyed an incredible amount of success, both as the original version and the Crookers remix. Here is the original video for the Crookers remix, which was only released a few days ago. Word is that this video only cost $250 dollars to produce!

This dreamlike song easily fits into Kid Cudi’s debut album, and continues to be his most recognizable track to date.

His quick rise to fame, and the pressure to exceed everyone’s expectations soon caught up with the Cleveland rapper, who toyed with the idea of leaving the music industry entirely before his first album had hit the shelves.  It’s no secret that Kid Cudi has strong feelings about people critiquing his music!

Word is that Cudi wanted to retire because his personal life was suffering.  However, after making the announcement about quitting, his fans went crazy begging the rapper to stick with it and to ignore the haters.

The support from his fans changed Cudi’s mind, and inspired him to take the stage at 2009’s SXSW event to perform and announce that his retirement would no longer take place because hip hop was bigger than him!

Here is the video of that performance and statement.

Kid Cudi left SXSW determined to work on crafting his debut album into something the fans would love and, by doing so, brought us into his world with the record!

The whole album flows really well, especially with Common narrating between the different acts.  This is often not the case with successful mainstream hip hop albums where hit singles are forcefully placed on the album, disrupting its feel.

Every song on Man on the Moon: The End of Day falls into a personal theme of family, emotions, and Cudi’s rise to success.

Because of his undeniable talent and the value he brings to the world of hip hop, he was featured on the track “Already Home” off of Jay-z’s Blueprint 3.  Here is a video of Jay-z and Kid Cudi performing the track live in front of a sold out Madison Square Garden crowd.

Performing with Jay-z is quite an accomplishment, but Kid Cudi had an even better moment that same day, when he performed his third single off of Man on the Moon: The End of Day, “Pursuit of Happiness,” on The David Letterman Show.

This is one of the best live hip hop performances I have seen, and should be considered for the official music video for the single!

Kid Cudi is venting in this track, which was produced by Ratatat and features vocals by MGMT, showing us that following your dreams, no matter what other people think, is the only way to become truly happy.

“Living my life getting our dreams,
People told me slow my roll,
I’m screaming out fuck that,
Imma do just what I want,
Lookin’ ahead, no turnin back,
If I fall, if I die,
Know I lived it to the fullest,
If I fall, If I die,
Know I lived and missed some bullets.”

Those lines sum up the feel and inspiration behind Cudi’s album.

Cudi, who takes us with him on his search for self in his music, is also venturing into acting.  He has stated that acting is his first love, and is entertaining the idea of being in films as well as a comedy series.

Kid Cudi is going to be a major force in hip hop for years to come.

Luckily for Really Doe, his good friend GLC shared his dream of wanting more from life than what the streets had to offer. Through a mutual friend, these two eventually met up with another ambitious Chicago youth, Kanye West, and in the mid 90’s formed the group, the Go Getters.

The group started building a name for themselves in Chicago’s hip hop scene, and eventually Kanye West’s production skills landed him a deal at Roc-A-Fella Records.  Upon receiving his deal, Kanye promised to one day help Really Doe and GLC advance their careers.

Kanye made good on his promise in 2005,  when he signed Really Doe to his G.O.O.D. Music label, and added the performer as the opening act on the College Dropout Tour.

The tour’s success lead to Kanye’s sophomore album, Late Registration, where Really Doe appeared on the track “We Major,” both performing the hook and ghostwriting Nas’ verse.  Can you imagine ghost writing for God’s Son!?

Listen to Really Doe kill the hook below:

Being featured on this track really helped to increase his exposure, which eventually lead to a demand for a solo album.  Really Doe released this debut album on August 18th, through Kanye West’s marketing director, Griffin Guess’ Cartel Records.

HipHopAtLunch.com sat down with Really Doe before the listening event surrounding his First Impressions album, to talk about his music and to get a better glimpse into his personality!

Really Doe has put in his fair share of work, patiently waiting for the right time to come onto the hip hop scene as a major solo artist. Wisely, Really Doe used this time to  learn from all the industry greats surrounding him and his G.O.O.D. Music family.

However, there is a lot more to Really Doe than just his music, and if you too are interested in zoology or just want to talk to him about your pets hit him up on Twitter:@ReallyDoeChi.  Let him know what you think about First Impressions and the interview!

After our interview, Really Doe took the stage and performed a number of tracks off of his recent release.  Wasting no time, he jumped into the first track from the album, “Sew It Up.”

Really Doe displays some of his lyrical side on this track with lines such as:

“This is more than a nigga with a chain,
Size up my life, I’ll show you hunger pains,
I breath success, it flow through my veins,
You niggas lucked up, and found lose change,
I throw it out the window, play feed the bums.”

Another stand out performance was the track, “Million Dolla.”

This is the best song with the word “million” in the title that I’ve heard since Maino’s “Million Bucks!”  Pay attention to Really Doe’s explanation of the lyrics at the end of the video, it really adds to the song’s overall feel.

Eventually Really Doe performed his hit single, “Mesmerized.”  The official video for Mesmerized can be seen below, and if you are interested in watching the live performance click here.

When filming the music video, Really Doe made Mesmerized stand out, giving it more of a cinematic feel than your everyday hip hop music video.  Here is some behind the scenes footage.  As you can tell from the video, this song appeals to a wide demographic of music fans.

Enjoying the success of his debut album, Really Doe will be touring with Kanye West and Lady Gaga this fall, as well as headlining the 15th Annual Music Fest and Fireworks Extravaganza in San Francisco.  He’ll also be making an appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show on October 16th.

Keep an eye out for this artist, because you don’t want to miss your chance to see Really Doe perform live when he comes to your city!

Jay-z speaks about the Blueprint 3’s cover artwork and what it stands for.  He is setting out to create a new classic with this album.  Listen up!  More on 2DopeBoyz.com

Yung Joc speaking on Big Block and the homie Harve Pierre… This is some serious stuff. If you’re an aspiring artist, this video can teach you a bit about the industry. More on OzoneMag.com

New single from Chicago MC Really Doe.  Being signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music label will keep this man’s music under the spotlight.   More on NahRight.com

New mixtape from the “Polo King of Rap” himself, Young Dro.  Hopefully this mixtape will hold us over until P.O.L.O. drops!  More on YouHeardThatNew.com

The Twitter fiend Mr. Fab has finally made a video for his”Hit Me on Twitter” song.  Not sure if I like this twitter video as much as the last video from Joell Ortiz..  More on WorldStarHipHop.com

Everyone’s favorite West Coast new comer, Nipsey Hustle, dropped his latest mixtape today. Check out his mixtape “Bullets Aint Got No Names, Vol. 3″ More on PocketFullOfPaper.com

With the amount of hustle and hard work he has put in over the past 4 years of being signed to Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Music label but never being put into the spot light, Sean has already built up a following and set of work that speaks for itself.

It seems as though G.O.O.D. Music simply put his project on the backburner until now, with his first major album, Finally Famous, set to be released this year and Kanye West jumping in on the Hype Williams produced video for Sean’s cocky chest thumping track “Get’cha Some.”

Big Sean uses this video, one of the best hip hop videos I have seen in a very long time, to showcase his personality and fashion sense. Fans of Billionaire Boys Club and Bape will definitely be feeling this video:

If you need more of an intro than that, give big Sean’s “Intro” track a quick listen as he brings you up to speed!

As you can tell, Big Sean is a true lyricist, so much so that he actually got signed to G.O.O.D. Music by simply running up on Kanye West and spitting a freestyle!  As the story goes, Big Sean approached Kanye as he was leaving a radio station interview in Detroit and asked if he could spit for him. Kanye told him to spit his 16, but Sean impressively gave Kanye about 100 bars and the rest is history…

Now it definitely hasn’t been all clear sailing since the fairy tale meeting with Kanye West, as Big Sean points out with his track “Say You Will” off his latest mixtape uknowbigsean. This track is basically a letter to Kanye as well as a self reflection on Big Sean’s life in the industry thus far. Listen closely as Sean lays out his frustrations on the slow reflective beat produced by none other than Kanye West himself:

“This rap shit is something that you got to be designed for, Meetings at the labels saying they going to make Sean blow, Turn the radio on and do I hear Sean? No, Man please do not gimmick me, Put me on the shelf and not remember me, And treat me like a John Doe…And I’ve been signed to ‘Ye for well over a year now, It’s clear now, I’m going to focus on my career now, You taught me to create a process, Saying that you changed my life dog is me being modest, But honestly I wish that I can take you off tour, Put you in the studio so you can focus more on my shit, And I don’t mean to sound selfish, But I’m not an artist that’s selfless.”

While listening to that verse, I can’t help but assume that Big Sean was inspired by Kanye’s “Big Brother” track off  Graduation, the track which Kanye used to document his relationship with his own mentor Jay-z. (Big Sean’s “Say You Will” is definitely not as meaningful as Kanye’s “Big Brother,” but lets not forget that Sean’s career is only beginning…)

Another standout track from Big Sean is “You” off his debut mixtape Finallly Famous.  This track sets the tone for the entire mixtape, where Sean aims to prove his skills and impress us with his quick witted metaphors. The first verse of “You” has Big Sean spitting lines such as:

“Now there’s a lot on my back like J Lo, heaven on Earth, All I’m missing is a halo, Won’t stop till I am the greatest on my label, And I’m on G.O.O.D. Music that’s the greatest of the labels, It’s hard trying to build a palace outta legos, 19 got it in early like egos, Never did anything illegal for a payroll, so without Kain I was always Able, Get it?, You’re dumb with it if you ain’t able, and life is better with bread like mayo, so I was young like how we going to get paid bro, Now I’m on Rodeo fresher than a day old.”

Since it is widely understood that the Detroit native is about to make some serious noise with the help of Kanye West and the rest of the G.O.O.D. Music Family, his live shows are like Hip Hop networking events, with everyone in the industry coming out to hear him spit. So, if the recession is making it hard for you to find a job in the music industry, I suggest you grab your business cards and heard over to the next Big Sean show! (All joking aside, Big Sean’s music definitely seems to be catering to the “in” crowd.)

But not only in music does Big Sean strike a cord with the “influential people.”  Fashion is another area where no one can deny that Sean’s game is on point.  His obsession with having the latest clothes, shoes, and styles has lead to Sean making appearances in Lookbooks for fashion lines from Society to Billionaire Boys Club.  Never seen without rocking the freshest gear, one has to wonder whether Big Sean spends more time picking out his clothes or practicing for shows…   However, if his mixtapes are any indication of the upcoming album, this is one you will definitely want to pick up!