For a city that doesn’t even crack the top 50 biggest in America, Cleveland, Ohio has had an outsized impact on pop culture. But two of its most successful natives appear to have a disagreement on just how much one of them is beloved in the city itself.
After fellow Cleveland natives Rich Paul and Jake Paul (… no relation, oddly enough) noted that the city doesn’t really “embrace” him the way it should, Kid Cudi posted a long response to them on Twitter, arguing that he makes “most people in that city and the state of Ohio proud.”
During his appearance on Jake’s podcast BS w/ Jake Paul, Rich noted, “You can’t expect somebody to treat a situation any differently than how they were treated.” While Jake claimed that Cudi “acts like he’s not from there,” noting that the natives have major pride for it.
However, he said, Cudi charged him an “astronomical fee” to perform at one of Jake’s recent boxing matches. Rich defended him, saying he couldn’t blame Cudi for pursuing his business.
However, Cudi seemed to take these statements personally, offering the below commentary before deleting his post altogether:
Ok so I just saw this and heres my thoughts:
Rich Paul doesn’t know me. He doesn’t know my life. My mom lives in Cleveland and lye been goin there on holiciays and summer breaks for years. Mostly when im in Cleveland, its family time. Im not throwin events in the city cuz its already too hot for me in the city. When im there I like the chill. It hangin at Cleveland clubs or in the streets or whatever the fuck else u expect me to do. Oh I get it, was I suppose to catch a couple Browns or Cays games? Im the most lowkey guy around. You aint suppose to see me brother. Thats number 1. Number 2: I will say the city of Cleveland has embraced me over the years. So I disagree. Radio in Cleveland might not play my shit, but I had 20k people at Moon MaAs Landing in Cleveland last year. A success. And were cloin it again too. Not only does the city embrace me, I make most people in that city and the state of Ohio proud. Everytime I record a record I mention the city. Thats all day. Everybody that listens to my music knows Im proud of where im from. And 3rd, as far as Jake Paul, listen chief, Im an artist. Areal one. I make art for a living. Im not some guy that comes out to perform at boxing matches. I entertained it tho cuz it was u, anci tho it went against what I stand for I submitted a fee. My fee is my fee. Especially for some shit thats not my style. If im gonna do it its gonna be worth it for my pockets and time. This is business baby. Im not these other rappin ass niggas that will show up for a lil check. U came to me u shoulda knew what time it was young man. U dont know me either to say im anything broski. So theres that. Ok, these are toy thoughts.
Cudi’s well within his rights to respond (although it looks like he’s mistaken Jake’s comments for Rich’s — which doesn’t seem surprising given Cudi isn’t really a sports guy), but the length and otne of his response is giving “The lady doth protest too much, methinks” energy. Perhaps he got some more context and that’s why he deleted the post; the internet has a way of removing context and generating friction where there shouldn’t be any.