"Frequency" (previously titled "The Frequency")[1] is a song recorded by American rapper Kid Cudi. It was released on September 30, 2016, as the first single from his sixth studio album, Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin' (2016). The song was written and produced by Mike Dean, Plain Pat and Kid Cudi.[1]
Release and composition
"Frequency" originally premiered on Cudi's SoundCloud account on March 25, 2016,[2] but was released for digital download on September 30, 2016.[3] It is the first offering from his sixth studio album, Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin', which was released on December 16, 2016.[4] "Frequency" runs for a duration of four minutes and fifty-eight seconds.[3] It was described as "a low-key hip-hop ballad" by Rolling Stone reviewer Elias Leight.[5]
Critical reception
Ryan Middleton of Music Times gave the song a positive review, saying "it has the spacey, stoner sound that fans loved from the Cudi on his first couple of albums".[6]Fuse's Tyler Lauletta wrote that "the song is a return to form for Cudi, with shout-outs to women and psychedelic drugs in his signature sultry tone".[7] Chico from Respect. wrote that Cudi "hums, sings and even lyrically dances all over this one, like we always knew he could".[8] C. Vernon Coleman II of XXL wrote; "The dreamy production is highlighted by odd sound effects and spaced out chords".[9]
Music video
The music video for the song, directed by Cudi himself, premiered on October 12, 2016, via his Vevo channel. The five-minute video features Cudi performing the song shirtless in a dark jungle.[10] It also shows him having a threesome in a mushroom cave.[10] Peter A. Berry of XXL wrote that the video is "simultaneously dark and colorful, much like the music Cudi’s provided for fans over the last eight years".[11] The Boombox's Jacinta Howard called the video "dark and artistic", while Rap-Up called it "dark and smoky".[12][13] Elisabeth Brier from Uproxx wrote; "It’s a sort of R-rated Wonderland. That’s perhaps the best way to describe the world depicted in Kid Cudi‘s new music video for "Frequency"."[14] Pigeons & Planes named it as one of the best music videos released in October 2016.[15]
