Kid Cudi’s “Day ‘N’ Nite” Lyrics Meaning

Kid Cudi’s inspirations for writing Day ‘n’ Nite were two-fold. First and foremost was the death of his uncle. This was a man whose early support Cudi credited for his eventual musical success. However, before his passing, he and the Kid had developed some type of serious beef which the latter never got to apologize for before his uncle’s passing. And the fact that Cudi never did so bothered him to the point whereas he let forth such emotion in the lyrics.

Secondly, the rapper is a big fan of the Geto Boys’ 1991 tune Mind Playing Tricks on Me.  And he intentionally channeled the same type of sentiment of being mentally stressed into Day ‘n’ Nite.

And overall, the lyrics are based on the vocalist trying to cope with said psychological anguish. He classifies himself as a “lonely stoner”, i.e. the type of individual who likes to spend a lot of me time smoking bud. The first verse features him seeking inner peace, and apparently the ‘stress in his mind’ is largely attributable to some type of troubled interpersonal relationship he’s in. This may be with a romantic interest, as is kinda alluded to in the second verse, where it is revealed that he is troubled over a “girl [who] don’t seem to want him”. 

Then the third verse finds him chillin’ dolo, ‘freeing his mind’ by partaking of the aforementioned bud. And such is pretty much the overall theme of the entire track. Kid Cudi comes off as someone who perhaps we can say thinks too much. But at the end of the day (or more specifically the night), he is able to find relief via some solitary weed blazin’.

When did “Day ‘N’ Nite” come out?

This is the first official single of Kid Cudi’s discography. The track first came out on 5 February 2008 and is ultimately credited to the following record labels:

• Fool’s Gold Records
• Data Records
• Universal Motown
• GOOD Music

This song has been featured on Cudi’s debut mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi (2008) as well as his first studio album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day (2009). And in both cases it was the lead single from the project.

On the latter outing, the official name of the tune is “Day ‘n’ Nite (Nightmare)”. That’s due to the fact that Man on the Moon is partially based on a dream motif.

GOOD Music’s backing of Day ‘n’ Nite and Man on the Moon actually came after the song had already come out via A Kid Named Cudi. In fact this was the track which made Kanye West, the head of GOOD Music, to sign Cudi in the first place.

And apparently Yeezy knows good music when he hears it. And why? Because Day ‘n’ Nite went on to make Kid Cudi a star, reaching number 1 on Billboard’s Rhythmic chart and number 3 on the Hot 100. In fact it has been certified quintuple-platinum in the United States. And internationally it has charted in almost 20 nations.

Writing Credits

This classic was written by Kid Cudi alongside his musical homey Dot da Genius, both of whom also produced the track.

Remix

Day ‘n’ Nite was remixed by a pair of Italian DJs known as Crookers. And that particular version was also quite successful, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart.

Notable Awards and Nominations of “Day ‘N’ Nite”

The Crookers Remix earned Cudi a 2009 Beatport Music Award in the category of Best Indie Dance / Nu Disco Track. Meanwhile the standard version of Day ‘n’ Nite garnered the vocalist a couple of BET Hip Hop Award nominations in 2009 and two Grammy nominations in 2010.

Music Videos

This track has three official videos. Two of them are actually for the Crookers’ remix.  But the main one, directed by a French graphic designer who goes by the name So-Me, was filmed in Los Angeles and also briefly features Blink-182’s Travis Barker.

Meanwhile one of the Crookers’ videos was actually shot before the main one. It was helmed by a pair of directors known as BBGUN. And they were able to put it together for a measly $250, this being before Cudi was signed by the well-funded Universal Motown or apparently GOOD Music. But the more-known remix video, which features the vocalist working in a British supermarket, was pretty much disliked by everyone involved, including the Kid.