Indicud is the upcoming third studio album by American hip hop recording artist Kid Cudi, set to be released on April 23, 2013 under Universal Republic and GOOD Music. After his crossover into rock music with Dot da Genius, on their 2012 project WZRD, Cudi soon began working on his third solo studio album.[2] The album was initially going to be the third installment to his Man on the Moon series, which he announced when he revealed he would not be releasing the A Man Named Scott mixtape, to focus on his rock project and "MOTM3".[3][4] Be that as it may, in the summer of 2012 Cudi announced the title of his third studio album when he tweeted: "My new album is entitled indicud, it will be my version of The Chronic 2001, some songs i'll produce, others i'll feat &/or play songwriter".[5] On June 8, 2012, Cudi announced Indicud, would be a double-disc album,[6] until tweeting on October 28, 2012 that "Indicud will not be a double disc but will contain a maximum of 17 brand new jams."[7] Kid Cudi also tweeted: "The overall tone of indicud is positive and confident," adding: "The energy of Indicud is its own new thing. New format with some of my favorite musical tricks here and there. The album moves dope".[7] Before the album's release, in December 2012, Cudi dedicated Indicud to the late Ben Breedlove and all his fans that passed away, continuing: "My journey shall continue in your honor. Never forgotten."[8] The album is upbeat and optimistic, very much unlike his previous studio album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (2010), which can be considered darkly erratic, to say the least.[9] The surprisingly positive vibe stems from Cudi's desire to always change and reinvent: "I always try to push myself to the next level with everything I do. Since I've been in the business, critics have known that about me. When I started working on Indicud, I just wanted to bring more energy into my sound. Most of my old music was driven towards relaxed, chilled out smoke music. And that was my goal first coming in. Now it’s like, 'What’s a side of me that people haven’t seen?' The only time people have seen me on up-tempos is on remixes or some shit. So I just wanted to take the energy to the next level. That ultimately inspired the subject matter. It was a chain reaction. With the up-tempos came more positive lyrics. It just brightened up the whole shit."[9] After the album cover's unveiling, Cudi took to Twitter to explain his decision for the artwork: "The album art represents me. A ball of flames in a rose gold frame." On August 12, 2012 Kid Cudi released the lead single from Indicud, a song titled "Just What I Am", featuring his longtime collaborator and friend, fellow Cleveland rapper King Chip.[36] On October 2, 2012, "Just What I Am", was released to iTunes as the first single from the album.[37] The single's music video, which marked Cudi's directorial debut, was released November 6, 2012 via Kid Cudi's VEVO. On September 29, 2012, Cudi released a podcast where he previewed "King Wizard", a new song he was "very excited about".[38] On October 3, 2012, one day after "Just What I Am", the album's lead single was officially released via iTunes, Cudi liberated "King Wizard" as the second offering from Indicud via SoundCloud.[39][40] Cudi who also produced the track, had teamed up with Samsung Mobile to release the clean version of the newly mastered “King Wizard” as a free download. The download was available by heading to Samsung Mobile USA’s Facebook page under the “music” tab. The explicit version and the music video were officially released via iTunes, on December 18, 2012.[41][42] On October 29, Cudi announced he would be releasing the album's second official single at the end of November.[43] On November 7, he revealed the upcoming single's title to be "Immortal", and that it again was produced by himself like the two previous releases, "Just What I Am" and "King Wizard". He claimed the song "will make you feel amazing in the heart and soul."[44] However, on November 30, he revealed "Immortal" would not be released until 2013. "Immortal" would be premiered on March 1, 2013 via SoundCloud.[45] The song was produced by Cudi, with the main sample being a track from one of his favorite bands MGMT's, "Congratulations". He reversed the song, sped it up, and produced over it.[46][47] The song was officially released via iTunes on March 14, 2013.