Kid Cudi Gives Fans a Chance to Rap on His Beat

August 12, 2026

Kid Cudi is opening up one of his beats to aspiring artists, giving fans a chance to submit their own versions for consideration in a new group he plans to create and sign.

On Aug. 5, Cudi pitched the idea of creating a trippy rap group made up of artists discovered through his fanbase.

“What if I made a beat, put it on SoundCloud, let u guys rap/sing on it and then I choose the illest versions and make a group?” he wrote on X, adding that he would sign the best ones to his Mad Solar label and “f**k up the world together.”

While he initially set a goal of 100,000 likes and 20,000 reposts, he quickly lowered the threshold to 2,000 likes and confirmed the beat would be released on SoundCloud.

He later warned prospective artists that he would be “very critical,” explaining that he was looking for polished, original performers with “a story and something to say.” He also emphasized that participants would have a week to work on their submissions and instructed them not to manipulate the beat.

Cudi finished the track two days later and released it early for fans to begin working on their versions, saying he would add further instructions on how to submit the finished tracks later.

But before even getting to that point, fans found their own way to submit, with Cleveland musician Dave Zup sharing his version with Cudi on X on Tuesday (Aug. 11). And Cudi seemingly really liked it, as he responded by directing Dave to check his DMs.

Check out all of Kid Cudi’s posts about the initiative below.