Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager is the cinematic title of Kid Cudi’s sophomore album and the epic second chapter of his Man on the Moon series. Released in 2010, it’s the sequel to 2009’s Man on the Moon: The End of Day in story and sound. Yet again, Cudi takes us on a trip down his psyche, but it’s even darker this time around (just take a look at the album’s artwork). The album deeply explores Cudi’s battle with his past cocaine addiction. It tells the story of a man turning into an evil and reckless version of himself through substance abuse, with Cudi as his own protagonist and his other self as his enemy—Cudi dubs this alter ego of his “Mr. Rager” and with that sort of personifies his addiction. A much more dramatic synopsis, the album was advertised as: When he starts to have trouble adjusting to his new life, our hero Cudder (Mescudi) goes out in search of a brand new thrill destined to become numb to all problems and worries. What he ends up finding is a dangerous new friend The Rager, an unstoppable, self-destructive version of himself who won’t rest until Scott is numb for good and he is alive forever. The concept album is a five-act narrative with a story arc; in its course, we are to witness Cudi’s ‘transformation’ into The Rager. While the first half of the album is pretty light and upbeat and sees Cudi having a good time partying, drinking, and smoking of course, the second half is sonically much darker and finds Cudi under the pernicious influence of drugs, with the title track “Mr. Rager” as the grand climax, before the story comes to self-reflective ending in the final act. The album’s arc can be seen as an allegory for one of Cudi’s coke-filled nights, but it can also be interpreted as an allegory for the progression of his addiction. As such, the album is not reliant on standout tracks; instead, it’s one cohesive work and therefore best listened to in its entirety. Originally, Cudi started doing coke to cope with the fame; first he resorted to the substance to “get through interviews”, then he needed it to “get through the day”. Some antics followed, even an arrest, and the drug use turned into a near-fatal addiction. Cudi later admitted that he was “high-fiving death a couple of times” and that he almost overdosed once. He has since abandoned cocaine. With the album, Cudi sought to come to terms with his addiction, but he also intended to be honest with his fans and tell them the truth about his struggles. What we get are blunt lyrics which make a personal and sincere ‘confession’ album with somber content matter wrapped in an intense narrative. In his October/November 2010 Complex cover story, Cudi talked a lot about his album: It’s explicit, but smart explicit. I’m not holding back. I have no regard for what people consider right or wrong […] I want my shit to be like you’re reading a novel […] I felt like the last album was too short. This one is a little bit longer, it’s 18 tracks and counting […] The story’s deeper, darker, with no holding back. It’s beautiful, man. It’s an emotional album. Featuring trippy production from Emile Haynie, Plain Pat, Dot Da Genius, and others, the album built on its precursor and carried forward the revolutionary experimental alternative psychedelic rap style of Cudi’s early career. Cudi’s mentor Kanye West also has a guest appearance. Man on the Moon II reached RIAA platinum status with over 1,000,000 sold copies. For more information on the album’s content and cover art, read here. Cudi’s Man on the Moon series was originally intended to be a trilogy, so since The Legend of Mr. Rager, fans have been waiting eagerly for Man on the Moon III. But Cudi changed his plans, cancelled MOTM3, and took a different direction with the rock album WZRD in 2012 and Indicud in 2013. However, on October 26th, 2020—almost 10 years after Man on the Moon II—he unexpectedly made yet another U-turn and launched a trailer for Man on the Moon III with the caption “The Trilogy Continues,” finally signaling the 3rd installment coming to life.