In the eleven years between releasing Man on the Moon: The End of Day and Man on the Moon III: The Chosen, Kid Cudi has had his ups and downs. The original Man on the Moon quickly became regarded as a classic album, as did its sequel, Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. Following the release of these two albums however, Cudi released a string of albums that did not receive the same reception, including Indicud and Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven. He later redeemed himself on Kids See Ghosts, his widely acclaimed collaboration with Kanye West. Finally, in December of 2020, Cudi announced the release of Man on the Moon III: The Chosen, which was a fitting end to the Man on the Moon trilogy.

Kid Cudi has always been known to open up about his emotions and mental health struggles in his albums, and he paved the way for a variety of rappers to do so as well. On Man on the Moon III, Cudi continues to open up about his mental health in the same way that he did on the previous two Man on the Moon installations. This is immediately apparent on “Tequila Shots,” the album’s second track. On “Tequila Shots,” Cudi repeatedly raps “This time I’m ready for it / Can’t stop this war in me” on the hook, indicating that he is finally ready to overcome his mental health challenges. The mental health theme continues on tracks highlighted by “Mr. Solo Dolo III,” where Cudi mentions the substance abuse that contributed to his troubles, and “Sad People,” where he references his previous experiences with depression and how he wants to move past them. The album closes with “Lord I Know,” on which Cudi is finally ready to overcome his mental health issues, rapping “Lord, I know you can make it right.” Considering that Man on the Moon III is supposedly the final album of the Man on the Moon series, Cudi does an excellent job of bringing the trilogy to a close on “Lord I Know.”

Although Man on the Moon III is quite a strong album, it has its flaws. The beginning stretch of the album includes several tracks that sound like poor renditions of a Travis Scott song. Among these tracks are “Another Day” and “She Knows This,” both of which have a trap style that Cudi has never been able to perfect in the past. Cudi also experiments with a different style on “Show Out,” a drill-inspired track which features UK rapper Skepta and a posthumous appearance from Pop Smoke. Although some of these tracks are good individual songs, they are not consistent with the style Cudi utilized on the previous Man on the Moon albums, nor are they consistent with the latter half of Man on the Moon III. 

Man on the Moon III: The Chosen was a solid end to the Man on the Moon trilogy. Despite the album’s slow start, Kid Cudi does a great job of continuing the themes of mental health and redemption that were seen on the previous two Man on the Moon albums. Kid Cudi has had a number of peaks and valleys throughout his career, and Man on the Moon III is surely one of his peaks. 

Rating: 8/10