Credit: Alamy

Kid Cudi and Kanye West go way back. Ye signed Cudi to his G.O.O.D. Music label in 2007 and played a significant role in his 808s and Heartbreak album, featuring on ‘Welcome to Heartbreak’ and also contributing to ‘Paranoid’ and ‘RoboCop’. In 2009, the Cleveland rapper released his debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day on the imprint, featuring hits like ‘Day ‘n’ Nite’ and ‘Pursuit of Happiness’. The rest is history.

Fans have always loved their partnership, whether collaborating on ‘Make Her Say’, ‘Erase Me’, ‘Gorgeous’, or ‘Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1’, to name a few. That led to their release of a joint album, Kids See Ghosts, in 2018. The project was recorded as part of the Wyoming Sessions at West Lake Ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, alongside Kanye, Pusha T, Nas, and Teyana Taylor albums.

However, their relationship hasn’t been without its issues. Cudi once called Kanye a “fuckin dinosaur” after he removed him from his Donda 2 album over his friendship with Pete Davidson, who was dating his ex-wife Kim Kardashian at the time. He added that he “ain’t no friend” after publicly commenting about him. In response, Ye stated, “Cudi always made it seem like it was me and him against everyone. Now that I’m fighting for my family, he not by my side.”

In 2016, Cudi checked himself into rehab due to depression and suicidal urges. In an honest message to his fans, he said, “Anxiety and depression have ruled my life for as long as I can remember, and I never leave the house because of it. I don’t trust anyone because of it, and I’m tired of being held back in my life. I deserve to have peace. I deserve to be happy and smiling.”

On the Saint Pablo Tour in September 2016, Kanye put their issues aside and showed love to Cudi. He noted his impact on music over the past decade and sent him well wishes. “The most important artist of the past 10 years,” he said in Houston, Texas. “The most influential and I hope he’s doing well. I just want to this time out to say Kid Cudi is my brother. The most influential artist of the last 10 years and I hope he’s doing well tonight.”

That moment meant a lot to Cudi. During an interview with The Los Angeles Times, he recalled breaking down into tears over Ye putting their feud behind him at a time when he needed it most. It was a way of showing their brotherhood was deeper than anything else.

“My mom was visiting me,” he remembered. “And [she] came up to me and was like, ‘Look at this.’ And it was Kanye in concert. I started bawling my eyes out. Like I just started weeping like a big baby. Because we had fallen out and there was beef. But that’s my brother. I just kind of realised in that moment, I realised that he really loved me.”