Jim Jones reveals how he helped Kid Cudi start his career.
Kid Cudi started his musical career after moving from his hometown Ohio to New York City, where he had a couple of encounters with Kanye West, which helped him kick off his career. But before that, Jim Jones also played a major role in Cudi’s career in the beginning. The Dipset rapper was the guest on VIP Saturdays on Sirius XM, where he talked about being the first big artist to appear on Cudi’s “Day N Nite” single.
“Kid Cudi was nobody,” Jim Jones said. “He worked in a f**king store under Koch Records. I was signed to Koch Records. I didn’t even know Kid Cudi worked down there. Lisa Brunt’s nephew at the time was doing some work for me in my studio, and he’s like, ‘Yo, I manage these video directors, and I want them to shoot a video for you,’ and sh*t like that. I’m like, ‘Show me the video.’ They showed me the video, ended up being a Kid Cudi video that they shot for free for him.”
“They’re like ‘This is the kid that works in the f**king rock-n-roll store under Koch. They just did it for him,’ and I was like, ‘Give me the record, and I’ll let y’all shoot me a video.’ They got me the record, they shot the video.”
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He then recalled the story behind “Day N Nite” landing on Hot 97, from where it got popular. “I put it on YouTube. Somebody at Hot97 ripped it off of YouTube and started playing it at Hot97,” said Jones. “When he got his deal, they took me off the record and went for ads without me on the record. DJ Cassidy did that, you dig. You know I bumped into him, but that’s my man, though. It’s always a joke, though, but it happens like that. I’m solely responsible for Kid Cudi’s career. You can go tell him that, and he’s going to tell you, ‘He’s right.’”
Jim Jones’ charges have elicited no response from Kid Cudi, but he may not be the only one with something more to say. Plain Pat, Kanye West’s former A&R, and DJ A-Trak were other important figures in Cudi’s early career, with Kanye’s 2008 album 808s & Heartbreak helping to bring Mr. Rager to a broader audience.
Of course, the following year, Kanye signed Cudi to his G.O.O.D. Music label and included him on his fan-favorite first album Man on the Moon: The End of Day. Unfortunately, Kanye West and Kid Cudi’s friendship is currently strained.
Check out the interview below.
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