Jaden Smith just returned with his sophomore album ERYS. His longtime mentor and friend Kid Cudi on the track, “On My Own.”
Amid a wall of bass, this motivational track touches on Jaden’s distrust in the media:
I see the light in you, stay strong
Don’t worry, we’ll follow you back home
Since I’ve seen space, it’s been too long
That’s why I stargaze in my room
Bite the dust, I don’t know Venus
We ran off with diamonds
The media mislead us
Meanwhile, Cudi’s lines center on self-empowerment during the chorus:
In the zone, in this life, arms open wide
In the zone, caught off and I’m floatin' by
In the zone, in this life, arms open wide
In the zone, let’s go up
Baby, yeah we can go up
The two previously collaborated on Jaden’s “Higher Up” and Cudi’s “Kitchen.” The Cleveland rapper previously helped promote Jaden’s song “Fallen” by premiering the video on his Twitter account.
Smith previously talked about his relationship with his mentor on Beats 1 with Zane Lowe. “Me and Cudi have been making songs together since before I released my first project,” he said. “He’s kind of been mentoring me my entire exploration through music, literally before I released Cool Tape Vol. 1 [in 2012].
Cudi didn’t mince words when it came to advising the “Icon” artist during his early days. “He was telling me that I need to get better,” Smith continued. “He was telling me that I wasn’t ready. He would say, ‘This isn’t good enough.’”
ERYS includes a handful of notable features, including A$AP Rocky, Tyler, the Creator, and Smith’s sister Willow.
Elsewhere, Cudi was cast in the upcoming Bill & Ted Face the Music film starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter.
Read all the lyrics to “On My Own” on Genius now.
