International superstar Kid Cudi tells the story of his musical journey in his new documentary, “A Man Named Scott.” Released on Nov. 5 on Amazon Prime, the documentary dives into the ups and downs of Kid Cudi’s musical career. 

The 94-minute documentary featured some familiar faces as well as people that stay behind the scenes and work their magic from the recording and production studios. Some of the most notable people in the documentary include rappers such as Ye, ASAP Rocky and Schoolboy Q. Others were actors, like Timothée Chalamet and Shia LaBeouf. The inclusion of these A-List celebrities put the effect Kid Cudi has on such a wide range of people into perspective. 

Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, but moved to New York to follow his dreams. The documentary showed the raw, emotional and upsetting path the rapper took before and during his rise to fame. That path was filled with drugs, alcohol, healing, and the creation of meaningful, relatable and iconic music. 

The documentary also showed Kid Cudi’s life through different mediums. There were old photos and small anecdotes from his Cleveland friends. One interesting method of telling his story was a two-part act recounting the most emotional periods of his life where singer, actor and activist Jaden Smith portrayed young Kid Cudi in the performance. The interpretive dancing and the intricate movements that Jaden made to convey the rollercoaster of emotions were effective and thought-provoking. 

The celebrities that were featured gave insight as to how Kid Cudi’s music helped them through rough times they have faced. They explained how rappers write about money, girls and living like rockstars, but Kid Cudi writes about feelings that people are afraid to express. They talked about how he spoke straight to their hearts and said the things they either could not put into words or never speak about out of fear of being seen as weak. 

In addition to the celebrities, ordinary fans were featured to give their input on how Kid Cudi and his music helped them. They all spoke about how his music saved them because they found someone they could truly relate to and he made them feel less alone. 

The documentary showed how Kid Cudi’s, or Scott Mescudi’s, life was not the easiest by any means. It was filled with success and love, but part of it was fueled by drugs and alcohol. He went to rehab but relapsed, and he spoke about how the album he created during that relapse is difficult to talk about. In the interview where they ask about the album, he gets emotional and explains that he does not like to talk about that specific period in his life. One of his best friends, Shia LaBeouf, explained how Kid Cudi’s drug use and relapses would cause him to close himself off. 

The overall vulnerability that Kid Cudi presented in the documentary was powerful and the way other artists, fans and people that he has worked with spoke about him and his music is telling of who he is as a person. This documentary showed that you do not have to follow what everyone else is doing in order to succeed. If you do your own thing and do and write about what feels right, you can become one of the biggest names in the music industry today.