Kid Cudi has teamed up with Virgil Abloh for a special merch drop that celebrates the release of Mr. Solo Dolo’s first single since 2016, “Leader of the Delinquents,” and features a sketch of Cudi drawn by Abloh himself across a single 7″ vinyl, a 12″ picture disk, a cassette tape, or a limited edition t-shirt. Or you know, all four if you’re a big Cudi fan. Dubbed the “Pulling Strings” t-shirt by the pair, Abloh’s sketch features Kid Cudi operating the strings of a marionette version of himself grabbing his crotch and flipping the bird, a reference to a pose Cudi struck while dodging an invasive TMZ interview back in 2012, according to Hypebeast.
Why or how Abloh thought to choose an 8-year-old incident to immortalize on Cudi’s first comeback single since 2016’s Passion, Pain, and Demon Slayin’ we’ll never know, but hey, that’s what makes him Virgil! On the back of the t-shirt, the single’s track is written in a stylized font that removes the vertical lines from every “E,” which kind of satisfies Abloh’s own 3% design philosophy.
While four years is a long time to take away from music, Kid Cudi hasn’t exactly been chilling all this time. 2018 saw Cudi appear as one half of the release of the underrated Kids See Ghosts album with Kanye West, and he’s spent a considerable amount time popping up on the big and small screen. Still, it’s nice to hear him shine on a solo project once again.
Head over to Kid Cudi’s site to shop the Pulling Strings t-shirt and other Leader of the Delinquents merch now.