The synth-laden hums of Kid Cudi’s 2009 debut Man on the Moon: The End of Day and its 2010 follow-up, Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, rocketed him to stardom and injected the hip-hop genre with his spacey, conceptual sound.  Since then, Cudi has been seemingly less sure of his vision and vitality in the industry. As other rappers built huge careers off the psychedelic pop/hip-hop foundation he laid down, Cudi’s prowess faded. No longer a forerunner, Kid Cudi experimented, playing with deeper psychedelic sounds and even a double album of alt-rock songs, but these were not met with the enthusiasm of his groundbreaking early work. Now, a decade since his debut and four years since his last solo album, Kid Cudi released Man on the Moon III: The Chosen to a music scene that he helped craft. The record's richly intricate album art and intriguingly cryptic promotional videos lure his fans back with an air that Cudi finally has something he wants to prove: his artistry and his relevance.

With the release of Lucky Chops’ first fully original album titled Lucky Chops comes an explosion of brass, pop, jazz, and creativity. Throughout the eleven tracks, Lucky Chops fills the spaces...