This just in: Despite the rapid decay of Twitter — sorry, X — the platform is still capable of stirring up the most unexpected interactions on Earth. Including a half-playful exchange between Kid Cudi and Haasan Barclay.
The face-off between Cudi and the genre-jumping Boston musician unfolded yesterday (February 7), racking up over a million impressions as the two debated who could create a better version of Cudi’s 2015 record Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven.
First came an assertion from Cudi, who posted: “The thing about me is, my music cant be duplicated. I literally create music no one else can do. And thats what its about. Creating your own thing. Being you. I wanna be an example for all young artist, CREATE THAT NEW NEW, CREATE YOUR WORLD, AND WATCH THE GLORIOUS THINGS THAT HAPPEN.”
Then, the hefty gauntlet thrown by Barclay: “…I definitely could have done a better speedin bullet.” Other artists with over 2.6 million followers might have ignored the comment — but Cudi seemed to take it personally, responding with “No, no u could not have.”
What ensued is a melee of clips from Barclay, comments from defensive and impressed Cudi fans, and Bostonians pushing for a collaboration between the two artists. “Just make a hit with @haasanbarclay and call it a day!” chimed in MA-gone-L.A. musician Caliph. Boston DJ and producer Rilla Force echoed the sentiment, adding “Instead of hating, just collab.”
As the X thread between Cudi and Barclay grew, so did the view count on Barclay’s musical rebuttal to Cudi, which has garnered over 500,000 impressions (and counting). Cudi ultimately quashed the back and forth with the ol’ “Bless ur heart brother.” Barclay, for what it’s worth, remains rightfully confident, inviting Cudi to “Rip it to shreds I’ll reform immediately” and later clarifying that there’s no hate between the two artists.
As for who “won” the exchange — if you must frame it like that — perhaps Barclay said it best this morning, resharing his video response to Cudi with the caption “Half a milli is insane.”
Check out highlights from the exchange below.