Dot Da Genius on Producing and Scoring Kid Cudi’s ‘Entergalactic’: ‘It Just Tapped Into a Different Side of the Brain’

EJ Panaligan
·5 min read
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Dot Da Genius spent many years in the early 2000s grinding it out in New York City, living with and producing music for his close friend Scott Mescudi, better known as his hip-hop alias Kid Cudi. He was behind the boards on “Day ‘n’ Nite,” which launched Cudi into the mainstream in 2008 with his debut mixtape “A Kid Named Cudi.”

Dot and the 38-year-old rapper have since maintained a long creative partnership, still trusting one another to this day to explore new artistic mediums together. Such is true with Netflix’s “Entergalactic,” Mescudi’s adult animated special that blends tracks from his 10th studio album of the same name into a visual story about the intrinsic power of finding love.

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Dot also had the additional task of scoring all of the ambient music that adorns the special. “There’s a freedom in scoring, and it was fun and challenging at the same time because it got me to step outside of what I normally do,” he said of working as a first-time composer for the special.

Below, Dot Da Genius spoke with Variety about pulling double duty on “Entergalactic,” both scoring the special and producing the companion album.

Cudi has said that you guys started out with three songs: “Do What I Want,” “Angel” and “Willing to Trust.” What was the creative process like behind some of those earlier sessions for the album?

Both “Do What I Want” and “Angel” came out of sessions with (producers) Take a Daytrip and Rami Beatz. “Angel” came from Jean-Baptiste, who’s a frequent collaborator. Knowing that we were creating this album, I started to source music. I work with a lot of producers and they’re always playing me stuff, and whenever I hear something that I feel could work for Cudi, I snatch it up and I play it for him.

During this project, I was handling all things music. I was responsible for bringing music to the table, producing music, finalizing songs and bringing songs over the finish line. It was a long process, a long time in the studio just working through songs.

I saw the behind-the-scenes video you posted from the sessions for “In Love,” and there are a few seconds of Pharrell Williams singing over some early production for it. How was he involved in that?

We had a session with Pharrell that day. He was handling a couple of things at once. Me and Cudi, whenever we’re in the studio and there are keyboards, we’re always creating. So, in the middle of working on “In Love,” Pharrell comes into the room and catches a vibe and does a reference track. He did the melody line, he’s the one that kind of came up with the hook. Just by feeling the music and doing the reference track, he added direction to the record, for sure.

Did any songs from the album come together sort of effortlessly?

Honestly, there were a lot. In most of the songs, there is a certain level of effortlessness whenever Cudi’s inspired. He kind of just goes. But “New Mode” was particularly easy. I already had the music to it beforehand. When I played it for Cudi, he laid down the song without any drums, period. But I wanted to make sure it had legs to run, so I programmed drums after he laid his parts down, and then he went back in after and added more.

How did scoring the special differ from producing the album?

I thoroughly enjoy both. As a producer, I tend to create what I feel at any moment, but with this project, there was an emphasis on the feeling of the compositions. What was interesting and fun about this was that I was able to play in different genres that I naturally wouldn’t gravitate toward — I mean, there was a dubstep moment and a jazz moment.

For the score, it was definitely a multi-step process that involved liaising with Netflix, getting the vibe for the scenes, having everything organized and working on it as the animation trickled in, figuring out if things worked or didn’t work. So that required revisions, working closely with Fletcher [Moules], the director and animator, on trying to achieve the feeling for each piece of music. That was a little bit different, it just tapped into a different side of the brain.

With the animated special being set in New York City, it’s obviously a place where you and Cudi have a lot of history. What was it like to see this story, which is based on a lot of your collective experiences, reflected back to you?

It’s trippy, because obviously Jabari is a stand-in for Cudi, and he’s mirrored a lot of moments that Cudi and I have experienced in real life throughout the show. It captured the vibe of the city. Even when we went back for the premiere, riding through the city, I felt like I was in “Entergalactic.” Jabari’s apartment reminded me a lot of Cudi’s. It was trippy to see all of that unfold the way it did.

What were your mentalities like back then, compared to how far you two have been able to come since?

It was an emphasis and focus on getting better and actually making it. Back then, everything seemed so far away, and [we did] not have any idea how the industry works. But one thing about me and Cudi is we’ve always been creative people, so whether there was or wasn’t a chance, we would be creating anyway. So there were a lot of conversations back then about what we would do, what it would be like and how far we could take it.

Looking back, my younger self would be in awe of how long this has been going on, and how lucky we’ve been in music and this industry. So the fact that we’re now crossing into multimedia, providing the soundtrack for these sophisticated visuals, it feels like a new chapter for us.

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