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Kanye West and Kid Cudi have a relationship that goes back decades. But at one point, West decided to put Cudi on his album Yeezus without Cudi’s knowledge. This put a bit of a crack in Cudi’s friendship with the Chicago MC.

Kanye West once turned down the chance to sign Kid Cudi

Kid Cudi at the Grammys.
Kid Cudi | Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images

West knew about Kid Cudi perhaps before many others were even aware of the artist. Cudi had a chance meeting with West while shopping for records. Even after all of Cudi’s success, it was an encounter he never forgot.

“At Virgin Megastore, I was looking at CDs that I couldn’t buy, and he was standing right next to me looking at CDs … that he could buy,” he once said in an interview with MTV News.

Cudi introduced himself to West, and the awestruck rapper would then try to convince the Grammy-winner to sign him.

“I had no pitch,” Cudi recalled. “I was just this kid that was like, ‘Can you sign me?'”

But West declined.

“‘Unless you on some Biggie and Tupac-type stuff,'” Cudi remembered West telling him.

However, Cudi managed to leave an impression on West that day. At least enough for West to ask Cudi what his name was.

“‘Scott, but my rap name is Kid Cudi, so be checking for me,'” Cudi told West.

Kid Cudi was upset that Kanye West used him on a feature without his knowledge

Kid Cudi would eventually achieve his dreams of becoming a successful artist. This led to Cudi collaborating with his idol West on several records. “Make Her Say,” “The Joy,” and “Erase Me” were just a few of the many hit records the two artists created. But there was one record of West’s that Cudi didn’t appreciate being featured on.

In 2013, Kanye West released his hit album Yeezus. One of the songs on the acclaimed record was Guilt Trip, which included vocals from Cudi. But in a 2014 interview with Complex, Cudi shared he had no knowledge that his vocals would be included for the song. Let alone the album.

“The vocal that I did on that song was a couple years old,” Cudi said. “I forgot which session it was, but it was just a reference. I discovered that I was on the song via Twitter. I saw kids hitting me up, like, ‘Are you on ‘Guilt Trip!?’ or saying ‘Great job!’ and I’m like, ‘What the f*** is everyone talking about?'”

Cudi had mixed feelings about being on Yeezus.

“Part of me was flattered, like, it’s kind of cool that he thought of me. Then I started thinking about it more,” he continued. “It was like, why not call me and have me come in there and give it? Why underuse me? Why put four bars of vocals to coax my fans into thinking this is a legitimate Kid Cudi feature on this song and it isn’t?”

Cudi would later assert that he simply preferred not to be on the song at all.

Why Kid Cudi is no longer friends with Kanye West

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Cudi has fairly recently stated that his friendship with West is over. This stemmed from West taking Cudi off of his album, Donda 2, because of Cudi’s friendship with Pete Davidson. West developed a grudge against Davidson after the young actor and comedian started dating West’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian. Cudi was no less than livid at West’s actions

“He used his power to f*** with me. That pissed me off,” Cudi told Esquire, “You f****** with my mental health now, bro.”

Cudi felt West’s actions irrevocably damaged their relationship beyond repair.

“I’m not one of your kids. I’m not Kim. It don’t matter if I’m friends with Pete or not friends with Pete. None of this s*** had anything to do with me,” Cudi continued. “If you can’t be a grown man and deal with the fact that you lost your woman? That’s not my f****** problem. You need to own up to your s*** like every man in this life has.”

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