Fans of rap music and artistic animation have a new Netflix series to watch entitled “Scott ‘Kid Cudi’ Mescudi’s Entergalactic” released, on Friday September 30, 2022 in the United States.
The special follows street artist Jabari, voiced by Kid Cudi, after he lands his dream job making original music. He then moves into a new apartment where he has a chance encounter with his neighbor, causing the two to fall in love and grow their relationship.
Each episode of Intergalactic is named after a song on Kid Cudi’s newest album.
As for the story, some critics describe it as predictable, but currently Rotten Tomatoes ranks it at a 95% critical rating and a 96% audience rating.
Fans of Kid Cudi say the music works well as a companion to the special, even if the album itself isn’t groundbreaking. The special stands as an innovative way to promote and memorialize an artist’s work, especially given rumors that Kid Cudi might retire his rapper persona. The special could be the finale for his rap career as he pivots in a new direction.
This special also highlights the evolution in the cultural perception of animation, which has often been relegated as kid’s media, and is elevating it to a more sophisticated art form.
Throughout the series, there are artistic tributes to life in New York, and it paints the city in brilliant colors. It takes stylistic inspiration from the animated Spider-man movie, Spiderman into the Spiderverse, with the animators adding 2D details to 3D models.
Adult animation is a growing market, and a wide variety of popular musicians use animated music videos to highlight the uniqueness of their work.
If the Netflix special continues to be well received, perhaps more musicians will explore similar promotional strategies. It will be interesting to see how the reception to Entergalactic changes the market in the future.
