Over the weekend, Kid Cudi clarified his feelings about his song 2008 “Day ‘n’ Nite” going viral on TikTok.
It all started with the TikTok trend, where users use the line “Now look at this” from “Day ‘n’ Nite” and cut to something strange, random, or funny. For example, there’s one where a boy mistakenly throws boiling hot water on himself which has over 18 million views.
Cudi expressed a general distaste with the trend saying he was “not flattered” and that he “didn’t approve” in a series of tweets last week. He also wrote that “my lyrics are most important to me.”
On Sunday, he wrote a longer message explaining his earlier tweets. He said it would be his last time addressing the topic and clarified that he was not “angry” or “pissed.” The Cleveland rapper wrote that he had no problem with the trend, but was thrown off because it was being used in a jokey manner.
While Cudi may have taken the meme the wrong way, it’s not surprising he would have strong feelings about the song. For one, “Day ‘n’ Nite” was Cudi’s breakout hit and it launched his career. More importantly, the song’s origin has a sentimental value for Cudi. In a 2009 interview with Complex, he explained why he wrote the song after falling out with his uncle:
My uncle that I lived with passed in 2006. We were actually beefing because he forced me out the house when I didn’t have another situation set up, so I was bitter. I never apologized for it, and that kills me. That’s why I wrote “Day ‘n’ Nite.” If he wasn’t there to let me stay with him those first few months, there would be no Kid Cudi. It f-cked me up watching him go, but it was like, “I have to fulfill this destiny now for sure.”
“Day ‘n’ Nite” was released in 2008 and eventually peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified 5x Platinum.
Read all the lyrics to Kid Cudi’s “Day ‘n’ Nite” on Genius now.
