Kid Cudi tapped Ben Baller to craft an extremely intricate “tv pixelation pattern” grill and according to the jeweler it was “tedious work that drove me mad.”
Taking to Twitter yesterday, Baller revealed that the piece in question incorporated a staggering 3,000 diamonds. “For any jeweler who follows me,” he explained, “You already know how fucking much of a pain in the ass it was to set the stones to match that impossible tv pixelation pattern.”
Baller shared a video of Cudi wearing the grill, teasing, “A closer look. I’ll post professional pics on Monday.” The reveal followed Cudi's SNL musical guest spot where the rapper paid homage to two of his late heroes; Kurt Cobain and comedian Chris Farley.
Stepping out in an Off-White™ spaghetti strap dress to perform “Sad People,” Cudi honored the later singer, who took his life 27 years ago last week. Designer Virgil Abloh revealed that the garment was “specially reserved for Mr. Rager only” and later, Cudi tweeted, “Virgil designed the dress for me. I told him I wanted to show love to Kurt [with] a floral print sundress and this man made a masterpiece. Thank you @VirgilAbloh [your’e] a fucking genius!! Love you man, we did it!!!” The rapper also revealed, Cudi also revealed that the dress is part of an upcoming Off-White™ collection. “I’m doin a collection [with] Off-White and the dress will be included!!” he tweeted.
Decades before Harry Styles and Jaden Smith were hailed as pioneers of gender-fluid fashion, Cobain was donning floral dresses on stages, red carpets, and magazines. In today's cultural landscape, Cudi's homage is less transgressive than it is heartfelt. The rapper has long revered Cobain, tweeting that he's “Never not thinkin’ about Kurt Cobain,” and “Im obsessed with Kurt Cobain. I wish he was still here, so he could teach me guitar tricks.”
The 37-year-old rapper even got Cobain's likeness from Nirvana's MTV Unplugged performance tattooed on his forearm. Performing “Tequila Shots” Cudi channeled this same performance — wearing a green sweater, flannel shirt, and distressed graphic tee combo to evoke the late singer's legendary look. The olive green Manhattan brand sweater that Cobain wore for the performance recently sold for $334,000.
Cudi's t-shirt also featured an image of the late SNL cast member Chris Farley. Farley died of a drug overdose in 1997 after battling addiction and depression. Cudi himself has been open about the pressure of being admired and how being seen as a hero exacerbated his own depression.
Speaking on Red Table Talk, Cudi said, “I have to live up to be this person, and I don't feel like that. It's like doing a comedy but you're miserable. It's like my life was like this show and I was always supposed to be on, but when the show was over I was completely miserable.”
More recently, Cudi has spoken about how he has overcome some of his mental health challenges by focusing on music. He revealed, "It took me a while to get to this place of commitment, to say I'm gonna get through this. To know that we can take our pain and turn it into something."
If you or someone you know needs help in combatting addiction or depression, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones. If you’re in the U.S. you can call directly at 1-800-273-8255 Readers in the UK can call the Samaritans at +44 (0) 8457 90 90 90.
