Kid Cudi Artistfacts

January 30, 1984
Kid Cudi has lived in every borough in New York City, even Staten Island.
Although his initial introduction to the music world was via his first mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi, Kid Cudi would garner more and more attention, most notably from Kanye West, who, upon hearing the mixtape, signed him to his own label, GOOD Music. Since then, the two have worked together on many occasions, including on Cudi's singles, "Make Her Say," and "Erase Me."

This talking point of Kanye West launching Cudi's carrer started wearing on him because he was already on the rise. "Kanye West did not come and pluck be out of Applebee's or the Bape store," he told Esquire in 2022.
Due to the enormous pressure of being a successful musician, Kid Cudi nearly retired from music in 2009, writing in his blog, "After the release of my first LP this summer, I am not making anymore solo albums. I am falling back on being an artist. The drama that comes with it is more overwhelming than I was dealing with when I was piss-poor broke." Nearly a week later, he changed his tune, saying, "You remember when Spiderman didn't want to be Spiderman no more? I understand that I need y'all and y'all need me, so I can't stop."
In 2011, Kid Cudi split with his label because he felt they had different ideas about how his music should sound. During the split, he contemplated a rock career.
He has listed both Pharcyde and A Tribe Called Quest as major influences in both his sound and lyrical style.
Kid Cudi's father was a WWII Air Force veteran and became a substitute teacher later in life. His mother was also a teacher; she taught choir at Roxboro Middle School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Cudi has appeared as a guest on various songs by Kanye West, Robin Thicke, Snoop Dog, Cam'ron, John Legend, Lloyd Banks, Common, Solange Knowles and Travis Barker.
He's known for reaching outside the hip-hop realm and working with artists like MGMT and the electronic music duo Ratatat. Cudi has also expressed an interest in working with other musicians like Drake, Postal Service, Kings of Leon and Green Day.
Kid Cudi once got expelled from high school for threatening to punch his principal.
Rock stars going to rehab is nothing new, but they usually go to great lengths to keep it quiet. When Cudi went in 2016 he posted about it on Facebook, explaining he was dealing with "depression and suicidal urges." He's since become a high-profile advocate for mental health.
In 2012 Cudi dated Cassie Ventura, who was Puff Daddy's ex-girlfriend and later became the star witness in his 2025 trial. Cudi was called to testify in the trial, where he told a story about his Porsche being firebombed following threats by Puffy. "The top of my Porsche was cut open, and that's where they inserted the Molotov cocktail," he said on the stand.
Kid Cudi married his longtime partner Lola Abecassis Sartore on June 28, 2025, at the Hôtel Cap Estel in Èze, in the South of France. The ceremony was a lavish affair at the opulent seaside venue near where his bride, Lola Abecassis Sartore, grew up.

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