Vintage Pabst Blue Ribbon T-shirt from Buffalo Exchange in New York City; Cudi’s own necklace, watch, ring, Levi’s denim cutoffs, Louis Vuitton belt, and Nike sneakers (throughout).

The shirt is a Pabst Blue Ribbon label flattened onto the chest. It could have been a promotional item—a free giveaway at a dive bar—but now it’s in the possession of one of the most influential style icons on the airwaves. He can afford better clothes and better beer (Heineken has tapped him for marketing programs), but for a fraction of the cost of a cocktail in Manhattan, he is now the very proud owner of a shirt that he wants to take for a test run on the streets.

“I’m ready to stop traffic with my string bean arms,” he says as he tosses his white T-shirt to a buddy, throws on the PBR top, and slips into a pair of madras Vans, also from Buffalo Exchange. The hum of the city plays catalyst to amp up his already restless energy (he tells us he has ADD). To see how the new outfit feels in action, he climbs a sidewalk tree onto the top of a parallel-parked Budget moving truck. The rapper transforms into the silver-tongued surfer.

Pleased with his and the clothes’ performance, he hops down and leads us to the next shop, just around the corner—No Relation Vintage. This thrift store is a little bit more low-key. Its men’s selection is vast, with a variety of spent local softball shirts and the prominent replica jerseys of pro athletes who will never even sniff the Hall of Fame (a Muggsy Bogues Hornets jersey, anyone?). Cudi bobs his head to Q-Tip’s stylings on the speakers while digging in the racks. “This is the shit,” he says. Whether he’s alluding to the music, the clothes, or the vibe it matters not.

Cudi’s first major album release, Man on the Moon: The End of the Day, debuted at number four on the Billboard charts last year. Complex named it Best Album of 2009, and Entertainment Weekly called Cudi “the rarest of rap phenomena: a hyped upstart who really does represent a promising new phase in the genre’s evolution.” Now, a year to the month later, Cudi is releasing the follow-up, Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. He isn’t as fast as he is quick. When looking at clothes, his method involves taking time with each piece but not waffling when he sees something he likes. In a similar style, he didn’t hastily throw together the album, but rather let it unfold organically.

“If I didn’t come out with an album this year or I did put one out it wouldn’t really matter to me,” he says. “My mother always taught me not to rush anything, and I take that into account with my music. I think people are going to be pleased that I didn’t rush this album. That’s how the people in our circle operate, that’s how Kanye [West] is. We all take our fucking time but it just so happens that it comes quicker to us than most.”
The artist is deeply self-aware, which is reflected through his music and his ink. “I drew all my tattoos,” he says, looking at the pinup on his left forearm and then at the script of his two middle names, “Ramon” and “Seguro.” “My songs are also all about my life,” he continues. “It’s my story. My life really inspires all of it, and then I throw in whatever other artsy idea I have for the project.”