Insano (Nitro Mega)

Insano (Nitro Mega) is the tenth studio album by American musician Kid Cudi. The album was released on February 23, 2024, through Wicked Awesome and Republic Records. It serves as a partner album to Insano, which was issued the previous month. While initially planned as the deluxe version of Insano, it was confirmed by Cudi that the project was a separate album, without any shared tracks from the previous album. The album features guest appearances from Wiz Khalifa, Chip tha Ripper, Pusha T, Steve Aoki, Lil Yachty, Layzie Bone, and Krayzie Bone. Production was primarily handled by record producers who had worked on Insano, such as Cudi and Lil Yachty themselves, alongside Anthony Kilhoffer, Justin Raisen, Jean-Baptiste, Dot da Genius, Sadpony, and Bnyx, among others. The deluxe is pretty much a whole nother album, in the spirit of INSANO, but a continuation, a elevation of the vibes. 18 tracks. #INSANO February 3, 2024

Background
Following the release of Insano, Cudi had been hinting at new music throughout much of January and February. Finally, on February 14, he announced the record on social media. Cudi clarified that the record was not just a deluxe edition of Insano, but rather a "continuation of the energy" of Insano. Cudi also stated that "This album is me saying, 'I LOVE YOU' to all my fans that ride for me. It really is a big hug for y’all. There's some things only you guys would appreciate on there. [You'll] see."

The track "Ill What I Bleed" was first released as a promotional single for Insano on September 5, 2023, later being released as a commercial single on October 24, 2023 alongside a music video. Despite this, the track was left off of Insano, instead getting placed on this record as the fourteenth track.

The album features two older tracks, "Dose of Dopeness", a track that was initially previewed prior to Cudi's debut album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day, and "Rocket", recorded during Cudi's time with side project WZRD.

In July 2023, Cudi had announced Insano (2023) would have multiple deluxe editions. In a August 15 tweet, Cudi revealed there would be more featured guests throughout the different deluxe versions of the album. Cudi would later nix the idea for multiple deluxe editions with different bonus tracks, in favor of releasing all the added tracks on one record, Insano (Nitro Mega).

Music and lyrics
Commenting on “Ill What I Bleed”, Billboard stated “Cudi dials down the temperature […] and provides more melodic flair than raps.” HipHopDX called “Ill What I Bleed” a “festival-ready banger featuring a woozy, thumping beat and Auto Tune-tinged vocals from Cudi, who defiantly sings about surviving life’s trials and tribulations.”

Release and promotion
According to Cudi, the album had a troubled release. On February 22, Cudi went onto Twitter to announce that his label, Republic Records, was having issues releasing the album. Due to this event, the album was not released on time. In a social media post on Twitter elaborating on this, Cudi stated that:"“Hey fam, the label fucked up and didn’t start loading my album up in time, so it won’t be out at midnight,” Cudi tweeted around 10 pm ET. “I’m workin on this now in real time and my plan is that it comes out tonight just a bit later. I’m waitin on a time and ima keep y’all posted.”"Later in 2024, Cudi will embark on a world tour, in promotion of this album and his previous album Insano. The tour will feature support from Pusha T, Jaden Smith, among others. Dates were announced on March 6, 2024.

Reception
Zachary Horvath of HotNewHipHop wrote that Nitro Mega shows Cudi [go] back to his experimentative roots", noting that "while it is still filled with bangers, it is not nearly as heavy on the trap/psychedelic sounds", citing "ElectroWaveBaby 2.0" as an example.

In a review by Ratings Game Music, they believed that the record felt like it primary consisted of tracks that didn't make the cut for Insano, stating that they didn't feel as compelled to "analyze this album extensively". Albeit, still believing that the record "emphasizes Cudi’s unwavering authenticity throughout his career, regardless of the era, collaborators, or production style." Another less positive review by Mark Chinapen of Medium stated that while a step up from Insano, still features "lackluster songwriting and a bloated tracklist full of filler." Positive aspects of the record included the production, which they considered to be much better than Insano, with specific highlights including "All My Life", "Win or Lose", "Everybody Like", and "Moon Man Shit". Negative aspects according to them were the songwriting, which they deemed as lazy, the lyrics, which they believed left much to be desired, and featuring a ton of filler that could have been left out.