In a recent Esquire magazine article, Kid Cudi criticized Kanye West. For many years, the two musicians were close friends and frequent collaborators, but in February, Kanye cut Cudi’s contributions from his “Donda 2” album because Cudi is acquainted with “Saturday Night Live” actor Pete Davidson, who dated Kim Kardashian after she ended her marriage to West.
“I’ve been on every one of that man’s albums. He’s only been on two of mine. That should tell you something,” Cudi told Esquire about West. “And don’t think I didn’t ask.”
Following Cudi’s exclusion from “Donda 2,” West published a number of anti-Cudi photos on his Instagram feed. In one image, Timothée Chalamet, Cudi, and West were seated at a table. Except for Chalamet, West marked everyone’s faces with a “X.” Additionally, he altered the “Captain America: Civil War” poster to show Davidson, Cudi, and Kardashian as the opposition squad.
“Do you know how it feels to wake up one day, look at your social media, and you’re trending because somebody’s talking some shit about you?” Cudi said. “And then you got this person’s trolls sending you messages on Instagram and Twitter? All in your comments? That shit pissed me off. That he had the power to fuck with me that week. That he used his power to fuck with me. That pissed me off. You fucking with my mental health now, bro.”
Cudi told Esquire that he’s at a place in his life where he has “zero tolerance for the wrong energies,” adding, “I’ve watched so many people throughout the years that are close to him be burned by him doing some fucked-up shit. And then they turn around and forgive him. And there’s no repercussions. You’re back cool with this man. He does it over and over.”
“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 shit 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 fucking problem. You need to own up to your shit like every man in this life has. I’ve lost women, too. And I’ve had to own up to it. I don’t need that in my life. I don’t need it.”
“With all due respect, I’m not Drake, who’s about to take a picture with him next week and be friends again, and their beef is squashed,” Cudi said. “That’s not me. What I say, I mean. I will be done with you. It’s gonna take a motherfucking miracle for me and that man to be friends again. I don’t see it happening. He gon’ have to become a monk.”