Kids See Ghosts (album)

Guest contributions are included on Kids See Ghosts from Pusha T, Yasiin Bey, and Ty Dolla Sign, as well as a vocal sample of Louis Prima, who is credited posthumously as a featured artist. Kids See Ghosts handled the majority of the stylistically fragmented production that includes varying elements, with further contributions by Dot da Genius, Mike Dean, and Plain Pat, among others. The album was the third of five records produced by West in Jackson Hole as a part of the "Wyoming Sessions", each being released weekly in the summer of 2018. It succeeded the release of Pusha T's Daytona and West's Ye, while preceded the release of Nas' Nasir and Teyana Taylor's K.T.S.E.


Commentators noted the genre of Kids See Ghosts as a fusion of psychedelia and hip hop. The lyrical content includes references to mental health issues, which both West and Cudi had suffered from previously. The cover art was designed by Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami; he based it on Hokusai's landscape print series, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. The album received widespread acclaim from music critics, who generally pointed out the chemistry of West and Cudi in praise, while some noted an improvement from West's recent work. It was named to year-end lists for 2018 of many publications, including GQ Russia and Pitchfork.


In the United States, Kids See Ghosts debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 in 2018, alongside entering atop the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It attained top-10 positions in nine other countries, such as Canada and the United Kingdom. The album has since been certified gold and silver in the US and the UK by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), respectively. Kids See Ghosts performed live for it at the 2018 Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival and the 2019 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Music and production[edit]

According to Jordan Bassett of NME, Kids See Ghosts shows West and Cudi "catch[ing] up with the fragmented, fragile brand of hip-hop that they helped to shape", noting how "the ethereal, low-key beats" characterize the production.^[32] Christopher Thiessen of PopMatters called the tracks "brooding, somber, [and] psychedelic", observing that they often make use of minor chords,^[33] while Rrampt. magazine's Andrew Johnston deemed it a "truly adventurous movement in progressive hip-hop", with its seven songs traversing "scatted freakouts, bangers, space odysseys, psychedelic soul, and dream pop".^[34] Similarly, Dean Van Nguyen of The Guardian considered the album to be filled with "blistering electronics, laser-cut samples, psychedelic crescendos and edges as blurry as a half-remembered dream", while Van Nguyen categorizing track "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" as rap rock.^[35] Sidney Madden of NPR wrote that the track is "reminiscent of fuzzed-out psychedelic rock of the '70s" and also noted the rock elements of "Cudi Montage".^[36] The staff of Highsnobiety pointed out West "angrily scatting to the beat" on "Feel the Love".^[12] "4th Dimension" and "Cudi Montage" both include samples of posthumously released music: "What Will Santa Claus Say (When He Finds Everybody Swingin')" and "Burn the Rain" by American singers Louis Prima and Kurt Cobain, respectively.^[37] Prima received credit as a featured artist on "4th Dimension".^[38] "Feel the Love" and "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" include guest vocals from Pusha T and Ty Dolla Sign, respectively.^[39] "Kids See Ghosts" features rapper Mos Def, who is credited under his real name of Yasiin Bey.^[40]


The album includes prominent production from West and Cudi, though "Reborn" and "Cudi Montage" are the only tracks to not include production from West, while "Feel the Love" and "4th Dimension" are the only tracks without Cudi's production.^[39] Dean helped produce "Feel the Love", "4th Dimension", "Freeee (Ghost Town Pt. 2)", and "Cudi Montage".^[39] Shawn Setaro of Complex wrote that due to Dean's presence on Ye, "it makes sense he would be equally involved in Kids See Ghosts".^[40] Plain Pat contributed production to "Feel the Love", "4th Dimension", "Reborn", and "Kids See Ghosts". Evan Mast helped produce "Feel the Love", "Fire", and "Reborn".^[39] "Feel the Love", "4th Dimension", and "Kids See Ghosts" include production from record producer Noah Goldstein. Production was contributed to the tracks "Fire", "4th Dimension", and "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" by record producer BoogzDaBeast.^[39] Record producer Dot da Genius, Cudi's WZRD bandmate, co-produced the tracks "Reborn" and "Cudi Montage" for Kids See Ghosts.^[39][41] Musician Justin Vernon was partially responsible for the production of "Feel the Love" and "Kids See Ghosts". The latter and "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" include production from record producer Andrew Dawson. Kids See Ghosts also includes production contributed by Francis and the Lights, Cashmere Cat, André 3000, Andy C, Russel "Love" Crews, and Jeff Bhasker.^[39]

Themes and lyrics[edit]

Lyrically, Kids See Ghosts includes references to mental illness throughout.^[12] "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" and "Reborn" are related to the recovery from the state, showcasing a transition to happiness.^[12] The album includes the duo battling against their mental fears and anxieties to achieve comfort in a better spirit, with them mostly doing so on the aforementioned tracks.^[36][42][44] As Robert Christgau summarized for Vice, they demonstrate male bonding and "acknowledge their madness, with West shitcanning his meds" and Cudi becoming enough of "a rehab nut" that it leads to the mantra of "I'm movin' forward" being heavily repeated.^[45] Kids See Ghosts also acknowledge their past successes, as well as failures.^[46] Pop culture and historical references are frequent throughout Kids See Ghosts, mostly in "4th Dimension".^[46]


The album's opener, "Feel the Love", includes a verse from Pusha T, while West contributes gun noises ("vocal rat-a-tats", as Christgau described)^[45] to the track and Cudi sings a hook about being able to "feel the love".^[35][36][42] The staff of Highsnobiety noticed that the position of "Fire" after the track serves as a reminder "of the ping-pong nature of mental illness — sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down", with the song lyrically seeing Kids See Ghosts take "a softer approach to diagnosing the self, exposing the failures of the aforementioned duo".^[12] Within "4th Dimension", Kids See Ghosts prevent being burdened by their feelings by putting forward the random in the form of the duo's current thoughts; this is an example of bipolar disorder.^[12] West shows that he is numb to criticism on "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)", which is about the mind becoming free of any impediments.^[12] The song interpolates lyrics from the original "Ghost Town".^[27] "Reborn" is linked to getting past mental lows that inspire depression and usage of drugs.^[12] The throes of paranoia are addressed on "Kids See Ghosts",^[12] which also features political ideas from Yasiin Bey: "Civilization without society / Power and wealth with nobility / Stability without stasis / Spaces and places."^[45] In contrast to the song's lyrical content, "Cudi Montage" features Cudi remarking about the journey to his mind's reconstruction and West referencing an environment's cycle of violence.^[12] The track was described by the staff of Highsnobiety as closing out Kids See Ghosts "on a whimper, purposefully, to dictate the cyclical nature of mental illness".^[12]

Commercial performance[edit]

Unlike Ye, Kids See Ghosts failed to give West a chart topper on the US Billboard 200, debuting at number two on the chart behind Dave Matthews Band's ninth studio album Come Tomorrow (2018).^[93] The album totalled 142,000 album-equivalent units, which included 79,000 pure album sales and over 90 million streams.^[93][94] On the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, Kids See Ghosts entered at number one.^[95] On January 29, 2021, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for registering 500,000 certified units in the United States.^[96] Kids See Ghosts peaked at number two on the Irish Albums Chart, tying with Graduation and Late Registration (2005) for West's second highest charting albums on the chart.^[97] On the Canadian Albums Chart, Kids See Ghosts entered at number three, standing as the second highest debut of the week, one place behind Come Tomorrow at number two.^[98] This gave Cudi his highest charting album in Canada since his third studio album Indicud attained the same position in 2013.^[98] Kids See Ghosts also peaked at number three on Estonia's Albumid tipp-40, the Latvian Albums Chart, New Zealand Albums Chart, and Norwegian Albums Chart.^{[99][100][101]}


The album debuted at number four on the ARIA Albums chart, becoming West's second top-10 album in 2018 and Cudi's first appearance on the chart since Indicud.^[102] This also led to Kids See Ghosts becoming the fourth major hip hop act to have an album reach the top-10 of the ARIA Albums chart in 2018, joining West with Ye, J. Cole with his fifth studio album KOD, and ASAP Rocky with his third studio album Testing.^[103] A top-five position was also attained by Kids See Ghosts in the Netherlands, with it peaking at number five on Dutch Album Top 100.^[101] The album ranked at number 13 on the midweek album sales chart in the United Kingdom for the week of its release, before debuting six places higher at number seven on the UK Albums Chart.^[104][105] The debut made Kids See Ghosts the week's third highest entry, though was a position five places lower than Ye gave West when peaking at number two on the chart earlier in 2018.^[105][106] On April 2, 2021, the former was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of 60,000 units in the UK.^[107]


All of the seven tracks from Kids See Ghosts debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Reborn" entering the highest at number 39; West had previously achieved this feat with Ye.^[108] The song was later certified platinum by the RIAA for amassing 1,000,000 certified units in the US on June 11, 2020.^[109] All the tracks also entered the ARIA Singles Chart, Canadian Hot 100, and Irish Singles Chart, with "Reborn" charting the highest in Ireland too.^{[110][111][97]} The song charted on the UK Singles Chart along with "Feel the Love" and "4th Dimension", all three of which reached the top-50.^[112]