Sounds of Summer: Kid Cudi

Summer, more than any other season, is often defined by the songs played or listened to while lying on the beach, driving with the windows down or lazing outside during a backyard barbecue. To hear the words "summer of 2003" is to hear Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love" blasting through the speakers in our heads. That said, we here at PAPER think that this eclectic crop of bands -- the electro freak-out that is Passion Pit, the spaced-out hip-hop of Kid Cudi, teenage awk-rawk of Tiny Masters of Today, the nostalgic twang of Woods and the smart pop of Little Boots -- are all poised to make an appearance on the soundtrack to your summer of 2009.

Kid Cudi (born Scott Mescudi) just bought some scented candles for his Tribeca apartment -- the man behind the still-current stoner anthem "Day 'N' Nite" has to cover his tracks, and we don't mean the musical kind. "I don't want everything to smell like buds. I got my mom coming here," he kindly explains. Aside from his mom's visit, these days the 25-year-old "lonely stoner" is looking forward most to the August release of his debut album, Man on the Moon: The Guardian. His first single, "Day 'N' Nite" -- on heavy club rotation since late 2008 -- has him sitting pretty at the top of a new class of hipster-friendly hip- hop artists that includes Wale, Bobby Ray (formerly B.o.B) and Drake, who are developing a more cerebral and genre-mixing brand of rap.

Cudi's look crosses the geeky oversized glasses of his friend and mentor "Ye" (that's Kanye West to you and me) with Pharrell fashion favorites like G-Shock and BAPE. But his musical tastes are more akin to those of a shaggy-haired white guy from Williamsburg. Cudi listened to Band of Horses's "The Funeral" on his iPod "for mad long" before posting his own version of it on YouTube, and counts emo-electronica band Postal Service and the instrumental duo Ratatat among his influences for Moon, the title of which is a metaphor for how he felt when he first arrived in Brooklyn five years ago from Shaker Heights, Cleveland. The record is a mix of spacey, melodic beats and Crookers-remix-ready hip-hop, and includes collabs with Snoop, Common and West. "I have such an eclectic ear, and I just kind of create whatever I feel in the moment," he says.

It was after his mix tape A Kid Named Cudi landed in the producer-happy hands of West (by way of their shared manager, Plain Pat) that Cudi then made a cameo on West's 808s and Heartbreak and later signed to his G.O.O.D label. The exposure has since yielded film and acting opportunities. This fall he'll appear on HBO in a new show from the Entourage creators, and to help promote Moon he made trailers that will be seen in movie theaters over the summer. And there's no telling what might come after that: "I don't go in the booth like, 'I gotta make a rap song.' I kind of just do whatever feels right, and it's always just off emotion."

Kid Cudi wears one of his favorite vintage t-shirts and a chain by Ambush.

Grooming by Margina Dennis for Smashbox Cosmetics

Photographer's Assistant: Josh Maupin * Interns: Dave Gonz, Eduardo Javier and Lyndsay McGregor

* SOUNDS OF SUMMER *
Tiny Masters of Today
Passion Pit
Little Boots
Woods