In June 2022, Cudi announced his first arena tour with To the Moon World Tour, set to begin in Vancouver on August 16, 2022, and conclude in Milan on November 22, 2022.[2] On July 4, 2022, Kid Cudi took to Twitter to announce the release of his first "best-of" album, along with the re-issue of his debut mixtape A Kid Named Cudi on July 15 to digital streaming platforms (DSP).[3][4] He revealed the compilation would be released on July 8.[5][6] On July 5, Cudi unveiled the compilation's album cover, which features Cudi on a New York City rooftop wearing black Gucci x The North Face overalls.[7] The following day, July 6, he revealed the track listing.[8][9] Later that day he announced plans to release volume two of the collection at the end of 2022.[10]
Content
The Boy Who Flew to the Moon, Vol. 1 consists of 18 tracks spanning 14 years of music from Kid Cudi's career, including collaborative work with André 3000, Pharrell Williams, MGMT and other artists.[11] Three tracks come from Man on the Moon III: The Chosen, the most to be featured from one album. "Day 'n' Nite", Cudi's breakout single represents the oldest material on the compilation, having originally been recorded in 2007 for his debut mixtape A Kid Named Cudi (2008).[12] The second track on the compilation, "Pursuit of Happiness", appeared on Cudi's 2009 major-label debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day.[13] The compilation also features "The Dream Time Machine" and "Upper Room", album cuts taken from WZRD, the debut album of Cudi and Dot da Genius’ collective side project, alternative rock band WZRD.[14] Also included are "Confused!" and "Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven" the lead singles from Cudi’s punk rock/grunge-inspired fifth album Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven.[15] The song "Love", which appears as the bonus track, contains a sample of "Sunblocks" as performed by American electronic rock duo Ratatat and was originally recorded in 2013 during the Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon sessions, however had been officially unreleased due to sample clearance issues.[16][17][18]
Neil Yeung of Allmusic gave it a 4 and half out of 5, writing “packaged together, this compilation provides a fascinating peek into both Cudi's evolution and artistic scope, presenting a figure that maybe doesn't get enough credit for the creative leaps he's taken and the inspiration that he's provided to contemporaries and up-and-coming artists alike.”[19]
Track listing
The Boy Who Flew to the Moon, Vol. 1 track listing
