It's all good between Kid Cudi and Kanye West.
Phew.
Kid Cudi joined the disgraced superstar on stage Sept. 4 in Chicago, a pairing that got a less than positive reaction from some of the singer's fans.
It seems a few still hold a grudge against the man known as Ye. After all, the hip-hop singer was peddling antisemitism before one political party piled on. The gifted musician got ostracized on all fronts, and he continued to spiral.
He even recorded a pro-Hitler song. That's a bridge too far for many.
Except earlier this year West took out an ad in the Wall Street Journal, where hip hop lives, to apologize for his actions. The musician's mental health struggles are no secret, but it'll take more than one mea culpa for his sins to be expunged.
Not for Kid Cudi. He answered some of his critics via a grammatically wonky social media post.
That man is my brother. U don’t have a relationship w him like I do. Damn near 2 decades of art and friendship...U not family. So I get it. I’ve been around Ye, and I can honestly say talking to him now is how it use to be when I first signed to him, but even better.
He's the forgiving kind, it appears. Quibble if you like, but forgiveness still matters and we often see too little of it in the public space. Just ask Roseanne Barr, who hasn't had a single mainstream entertainment gig following her racially-charged Tweet mocking Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett.
That's assuming West was sincere and he's successfully battled his considerable demons.
We'll see.
Yet Kid Cuid was in a far less forgiving mood when his opening act shared some right-leaning views earlier this year.
British singer M.I.A. shared some "problematic" thoughts at the start of the tour, the kind of messaging you rarely hear from a pop star in today's climate.
Some might deem it ... triggering.
We can’t perform [my song] Illegal, though some of you could be in the audience...All right, I’m illegal. Half of my team are not here because they didn’t get the visa, OK? I want you to know that. All right? So don’t listen to what the bots say on the internet.
She also predicted her own cancellation at the time.
I’ve been canceled for many reasons. I never thought I would be canceled for being a brown Republican voter.
And, right on cue, Kid Cudi fired her.
After the last couple shows, I’ve been flooded with messages from fans that were upset by her rants. This, to me, is very disappointing and I wont have someone on my tour making offensive remarks that upsets my fanbase.
"Offensive" means any opinion that doesn't align with the woke Left playbook, apparently.
Except M.I.A. didn't take the cancellation lightly. She later sued Kid Cudi on First Amendment grounds.
West has also struggled to play before live audiences this year. He's been banned from performing in several countries, including the U.K., and French officials were brainstorming ways to keep him out, too.
Musicians can find themselves out of a job either by praising Adolf Hitler or channeling their inner Rush Limbaugh.
