5 essential tracks from Kid Cudi's 'Passion, Pain, & Demon Slayin'

Kid Cudi needed some good news.

The rapper has spent 2016 in the spotlight; the troubles  began with a series of high-profile rants against Kanye West, Drake and other rappers, and ended with him entering rehab for depression.

The artist’s outburst and subsequent hospitalization wasn’t the only time a high-profile rapper sought help this fall. Back in 2008, Cudi and his former collaborator Kanye West made it okay for rappers to make music about their feelings, even their depression, on West’s 808s and Heartbreak. In a cruel twist of fate, both sought treatment this year for mental health issues, with West entering the hospital in November for exhaustion.

Even as he was headed into darkness, Cudi had one bright spot ahead: the release of Passion, Pain, & Demon Slayin’ (** and a half out of four stars), his new album that he wrote and mostly produced himself. Stretching over an hour and a half, broken up into four mini-movements and featuring guest spots from Andre 3000, Pharrell Williams, Travis Scott and Willow Smith, the album takes its passion and pain seriously, showing Cudi grappling with his depression, not quite slaying his demons yet.

Along with his frank treatment of his mental health, another constant in Cudi’s career has been his ambitious recording projects; which sometimes, like his 2015 alt-rock album Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven, descend into self-indulgence. Like many other high-profile rap albums this year, Passion's long run time is its weakest point; its symphony-like structure stretches at least one movement too long. But there's plenty to celebrate in Passion's contemplative down-tempo rap and colorful psych-R&B, showing Cudi returning to, and expanding, the spacey production that first made him famous on his 2009 debut Man on the Moon. As his past year has shown, the singer is still chasing the Pursuit of Happiness he sang about on his eerily prescient breakout hit. On Passion, he's accepted that "you could try and numb the pain, but it'll never go away," as he repeats to himself on Passion track Swim in the Light. Thankfully, he's still swimming.

Ready to listen? Start with these five tracks.

ILLusions: This is classic Kid Cudi, tracing his lifetime of nightmarish hallucinations over spare production, attempting to banish "the demons in my head."

Does It: While Cudi spends much of Passion in his monotone singing voice, he switches gears on Does It with sung-spoken verses full of braggadocious lyrics, proving he's not quite finished talking trash.

By Design featuring Andre 3000:  This song is the better of Passion's two features from the former Outkast member, as he does his best approximation of Cudi's flow over hints of steel drums.

Rose Golden featuring Willow Smith: The combination of Cudi and Smith, two contemplative artists whose music is inherently spiritual, is Passion's most logical pairing, featuring their church-like chants about the universe's higher power.

Surfin' featuring Pharrell Williams: Passion's final track is its most celebratory, thanks to production by Pharrell as Cudi ends the album with a message of resilience: "I ain't ridin' no waves / Too busy making my own waves, baby."