''Entergalactic'' (stylized in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

) is a 2022

adult animated An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and ...

music

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of en ...

created by American musician and actor

Kid Cudi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ; formerly stylized as KiD CuDi), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Clevelan ...

, that serves as a

visual companion In observational astronomy, a double star or visual double is a pair of stars that appear close to each other as viewed from Earth, especially with the aid of optical telescopes. This occurs because the pair either forms a binary star (i.e. a ...

piece to the album of the same name. Initially announced as a

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

, in August 2022, ''Entergalactic'' was then redeveloped as a TV special. The special premiered on September 30, 2022, exclusively on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

, simultaneously with the album. Directed by Fletcher Moules, it is based on the album, which Cudi recorded before

storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of simple illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding proce ...

ing the TV special. Alongside Cudi, it stars the voices of Jessica Williams,

Timothée Chalamet Timothée Hal Chalamet ( ; born December 27, 1995) is an American and French actor. List of awards and nominations received by Timothée Chalamet, His accolades include a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to ...

Ty Dolla Sign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Griffin gai ...

Laura Harrier Laura Ruth Harrier (born March 28, 1990) is an American actress and model. She began modeling at the age of 17 after she was discovered by a Location scouting, location scout. She moved to New York City where she continued modeling and was rep ...

Vanessa Hudgens Vanessa Anne Hudgens ( ; born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer. After making her feature film debut in '' Thirteen'' (2003), Hudgens rose to fame portraying Gabriella Montez in the ''High School Musical'' film series (200 ...

Christopher Abbott Christopher Jacob Abbott (born February 10, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his work in independent films. In 2011, Abbott made his feature film debut in '' Martha Marcy May Marlene'' and his Broadway debut in the revival of the pla ...

070 Shake Danielle Balbuena (born June 13, 1997), known professionally as 070 Shake (pronounced "oh seven oh shake"), is an American rapper and singer. She is best known for her guest appearance on English singer Raye's 2022 single "Escapism (Raye song), ...

Teyana Taylor Teyana Me Shay Jacqueli Taylor (born December 10, 1990) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, model, dancer, choreographer, and music video director. After choreographing the video for Beyoncé's 2006 single " Ring the Alarm," she signed ...

Jaden Smith Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (born July 8, 1998) is an American rapper and actor. The son of Jada Pinkett-Smith and Will Smith, he has received various accolades, including a Teen Choice Award, an MTV Movie Award, a BET Award and a Young A ...

Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his deep voice and screen presence in over 300 roles in film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' The Thing'' (1982), ''Pla ...

, Arturo Castro, and

Macaulay Culkin Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin (born Macaulay Carson Culkin; ) is an American actor and musician. Considered one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, Culkin has received a Golden Globe Award nomination and other accolades. In 200 ...

. A

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

, ''Entergalactic'' uses an art style inspired by that of '' I Lost My Body'' (2019) and '' When Harry Met Sally...'' (1989). Billed as a "television event", it received critical acclaim for its animation, visual style, music, and story. ''Entergalactic'' is dedicated to Cudi's deceased friend, American fashion designer

Virgil Abloh Virgil Abloh (; September 30, 1980 – November 28, 2021) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. A trained architect, Abloh founded his own line of luxury streetwear clothing under the moniker Pyrex Vision in 2012, which he transfor ...

, who served as a

costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costum ...

on the project before his death, with the release date coinciding with Abloh's birth date. The series was also released on rapper T Pain’s 38th birthday, September 30, 2022.

Synopsis

Jabari is a charming,

streetwear Streetwear is a style of casual clothing which became global in the 1990s. It grew from New York hip hop fashion and Californian surf culture to encompass elements of sportswear, punk fashion, punk, Skateboarding#Culture, skateboarding, 1980s no ...

-clad artist on the cusp of real success. Mr. Rager, the character represented in his graffiti art across the city has been selected to be turned into a comic. After a chance run-in with his cool new photographer neighbor, Meadow, Jabari has to figure out whether he can make space for love in his life.

Voice cast

Production

Development

On July 23, 2019,

announced that

and Ian Edelman would write and produce what was originally going to be an animated music TV series adaptation of Cudi's album '' Entergalactic''. Cudi had previously collaborated with Edelman in 2010, on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series '' How to Make It in America'' and Cudi starred as William in the 2018 film The After Party, which Edelman directed. Cudi serves as an executive producer alongside

Kenya Barris Kenya Barris (born August 9, 1974) is an American film and television writer, producer, director, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the ABC sitcom ''Black-ish'' (2014–2022). Early life and education Barris, the second-youngest am ...

, through their respective production companies

Mad Solar Productions Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ; formerly stylized as KiD CuDi), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Clevelan ...

and Khalabo Ink Society. Kid Cudi originally planned for ''Entergalactic'' to be a

live-action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

series, before Kenya Barris convinced him to make it an animated series. In a November 2019 interview, when speaking on the dual projects, Barris said, "The idea of there's never been an album and a series dropped at the same time, so each song will have a 30-minute narrative that kind of explains what that song is about and it's a love story . . . It's a youthful love story told through Cudi's music." In September 2021, Cudi took to Twitter to thank the team that helped bring the project to fruition, and reassured fans they wouldn't be disappointed: "Wait til y'all hear and see ''Entergalactic''. ouhave no idea. I really wanna thank Kenya Barris, Mike Moon, Elizabeth Porter and the whole team for believing in my vision and helping bring it to life. Everything about this show is next level. Ull see." In an August 2022 interview with ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', Cudi revealed he recorded the music first—"a suite of songs on the beauty of being freed by love"—and worked backward to

the narrative before hiring a writing team to script it. On August 25, 2022, it was announced in a press release ''Entergalactic'' would instead be released as a television special. On October 1, Cudi clarified on Twitter: "Its a series but done in a very unique way broken up into chapters not episodes designed for binging! So, it feels like a movie ecauseits an hour and a half and can be seen in one sitting but this is a series. Hope that makes sense. The goal is for more

seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

Casting

In July 2019, Cudi was cast in the series. In June 2022, Jessica Williams,

, Arturo Castro, and

were revealed to be the rest of the cast. On June 8, Cudi revealed his real-life older sister, Maisha, would voice his on-screen older sister Ellie, among other voices.

Animation, design, and influences

The animation was handled and drawn by DNEG Animation in London, which also co-produced the special. A 3D map of New York was downloaded and rebuilt in the pipeline. Influences for the film's design were '' I Lost My Body'' (2019) and '' When Harry Met Sally...'' (1989).

Music

Kid Cudi's eighth solo album '' Entergalactic'' doubles as a

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

for the TV special. The album consists of original songs performed by Cudi, of which the TV special is based on. The special has two soundtracks: a film score and Kid Cudi’s eighth studio album. Additionally, a

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

composed entirely by American record producers

Dot da Genius Oladipo Omishore (born July 17, 1986), known professionally as Dot da Genius, is an American record producer and audio engineer. He first gained recognition for his production on Kid Cudi's 2008 single "Day 'n' Nite"; the two would later form th ...

and

Plain Pat Patrick Reynolds, known professionally as Plain Pat, is an American record producer, Talent Manager#Music manager, talent manager, record executive and disc jockey (DJ). He is perhaps best known for his work with American rapper Kid Cudi, havin ...

, was released on October 14, 2022, by Netflix Music, LLC. Other songs featured in the TV special include " By Design" by Kid Cudi featuring

André 3000 André Lauren Benjamin (born May 27, 1975), known professionally as André 3000, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he was one half of the hip-hop duo Outkast along with rapper Big Boi, which the two formed in 1992. Benj ...

, "

Inside My Love "Inside My Love" is a 1975 single by Minnie Riperton from her album ''Adventures in Paradise (Minnie Riperton album), Adventures in Paradise''. It was co-written by Riperton, Leon Ware and Richard Rudolph. Critical reception BBC Music wrote "O ...

" by

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American soul singer and songwriter best known for her 1974 single " Lovin' You", her five-octave vocal range, and her use of the whistle register. Born in 1947, Riperton grew ...

, " In My Bed (So So Def Mix)" by

Dru Hill Dru Hill is an American R&B boy band, whose repertoire included soul, hip hop soul and gospel music. The group was founded in Baltimore in 1992 by Tamir "Nokio the N-Tity" Ruffin, and as of 2023, is still active. Dru Hill recorded seven top 40 ...

and "Feudal Castle" by Derek Fiechter and Brandon Fiechter. *All music composed by Dot da Genius and Plain Pat, except where noted.

Release

On September 15, 2021, Cudi revealed that the series, and the album, is set to premiere in 2022. In September 2021, Cudi released a short trailer in promotion for the Netflix series, which revealed the music would be produced by his longtime collaborators

and

. On April 24, 2022, Cudi wrote on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

: "''Entergalactic'' is gonna be something really fucking special. Minds will melt. This cast?? The MUSIC?? Listen. ouheard it here first. Remember this tweet. Stay tuned for more news in June!" On June 8, Netflix unveiled the "first look" at ''Entergalactic'', in a trailer that also revealed the cast. On June 10, the first original song created for the series, titled "Do What I Want", was issued on streaming platforms as the album's first official single. On July 12, Cudi revealed on Twitter, the official trailer for the show will premiere in August, featuring two new songs, with one of the songs set to be released as the second single. On September 12, Netflix unveiled a new trailer for ''Entergalactic'', which included the aforementioned single, " Willing to Trust".

Reception

Critical response

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 10 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Rendy Jones of ''

Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...

'' wrote, "''Entergalactic'' is as sweet a

as it is an ethereal animated odyssey. It's a stylish, colorful love letter to animation and the simplicity of Black love in the modern age. It feels like the lovechild between ''

When Harry Met Sally ''When Harry Met Sally...'' is a 1989 American romantic comedy film directed by Rob Reiner and written by Nora Ephron. Starring Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, and Bruno Kirby, it follows the title characters from the time they meet ...

'' and ''

Spider-Verse Spider-Verse is a comic book series issued by Marvel Comics since 2014. Its first major event/storyline started on November 5 in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' (2014) No. 9 along with an individual issue named ''Spider-Verse Team-Up''. This event ...

'' for a Black demographic, who deserve stories like this no matter what medium they're presented in." Chase Hutchinson of

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...

wrote, "A rare gem of an animated work, Kid Cudi guides us on a sublime journey that explores the bond between two people drawn together by love." Justin Charity of The Ringer wrote, "It's saucy and cute, which is to say, it's a sharp attitude adjustment for such a dreary rapper and refreshingly effective as such. Netflix's ''Entergalactic'' is a feature-length promotional complement to his latest album, but it's also a creative breakthrough in its own right." Rachel Ho of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' gave it a 8/10 rating, stating that "the story of Jabari and Meadow may be one we all know very well, but it's the world of ''Entergalactic'' that captures the imagination, sonically and visually." Joshua Alston of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' concluded with "what's available of ''Entergalactic'' is frequently intoxicating. Director Fletcher Moules doesn't miss a single opportunity to add beautifully animated flourishes to the script written by Mescudi, Ian Edelman, and Maurice Williams. There are sublime musical numbers, for lack of a better term, that let Mescudi's music breathe and crank the visuals to 11. But the shifts between ''Entergalactic''s spacy elements and its grounded moments aren't always smooth, another consequence of the series-to-special evolution. There's much to love about Mescudi's love story, except the fact that there isn't more of it to love."

Accolades

Future

On October 1, 2022, Kid Cudi revealed via

that while ''Entergalactic'' was "like a movie", its purpose was closer to that of a

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

, revealing that he intended to produce "more

" ("hour and a half"-long films) making up an ''Entergalactic'' series, per the project's original announcement as being a television series. In December 2022, Cudi revealed that although ''Entergalactic'' is a standalone special, he is working on a new animated project.

References

External links

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