Kid Cudi has removed one of his most beloved songs from SoundCloud after a fan said they preferred it to the official album version.
While interacting with his 2.7 million Twitter followers on Wednesday (November 9), the Cleveland, Ohio native seemingly took offense to a fan professing their love for “love.,” a loose track he originally uploaded to SoundCloud in 2015.
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A leftover from his 2014 album Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon, “love.” is a favorite among Cudi fans thanks to its soothing and uplifting message (“Don’t be so down, come on young homie / You’ll be ok, you’ll find real love,” he croons on the hook).
The song — which samples “Sunblocks” by Ratatat, who produced Kid Cudi’s 2009 hit “Pursuit of Happiness” — was officially released on streaming platforms as a bonus track on his greatest hits album The Boy Who Flew to the Moon Vol. 1 this past summer.
“U know i released this officially right?” Cudi replied to the fan, who had posted a screenshot of them listening to “love.” on SoundCloud.
After another fan chimed in with: “The OG version on SoundCloud hits different,” the Lonely Stoner abruptly announced he’d be removing the song from the streaming platform, seemingly out of spite. “Taking it off,” he wrote back.
Lo and behold, “love.” has since been pulled from SoundCloud, with an error message reading: “This track was not found. Maybe it has been removed.”
After his decision was met with disappointment and disapproval — with one fan tweeting: “it’s really hard to like this guy” — Kid Cudi addressed the backlash in a series of follow-up tweets.
“Anybody switchin up and talkin shit about me taking off my song on soundcloud thanx for showin who u truly are,” he wrote. “Its one of the reason i dont want to do music anymore. (Some) fans can be toxic and not cool sometimes. And this app really be showin some of yall true colors.”
He added: “Dont get it twisted either im happy and this is not a rant before headlines make it that haha just being honest w everyone.”
Kid Cudi is no stranger to sparring with his own fans — literally. During a show in Vancouver in December 2009, Mr. Rager punched a fan in the face over a misunderstanding involving a wallet being tossed on stage.
Cudi patched things up with the fan the following year by bringing him onstage during his performance at the Sasquatch Music Festival in Washington.
“Remember that kid I punched in Vancouver? This is him,” he told the crowd. “I brought him out here to hang out. It’s all okay, he forgives me.”
Despite robbing fans of the SoundCloud version of “love.,” the Entergalactic visionary has a treat for his long-time listeners up his sleeve. U-turning on recent comments about retiring from music, Kid Cudi announced earlier this month he plans on “doing one more album” featuring “all new music” for his day-one fans.
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Fans may have to remain patient for the project, though, as Cudder suggested it won’t arrive until at least 2024. In the meantime, revisit “love.” (the official version) below.
