"Day 'N' Nite" (CD single) (by Kid Cudi, Rap)

DAY 'N' NITE is the breakout rap/hip-hop single from Scott Mescudi, a.k.a. Kid Cudi -- a young Kanye West protégé who hails from Cleveland, OH. Though Cudi originally released the song on his summer 2008 mix-tape, the single gained real traction after Cudi began to appear alongside the likes of West, Snoop Dogg, and other big-name rappers. The track's dark story arch is a guy who attempts to keep his feelings of depression and isolation at bay by smoking pot and pacing the streets alone at night.

A hypnotic beat threads through this single, giving it a musical appeal beyond its dreary lyrics. While those lyrics tell a depressing tale about a guy who can't escape his emotional problems, there's a refreshingly real and honest air about them: "I look for peace, but see, I don't attain / Madness to magnet keeps attracting me / I try to run, but I'm not that fast." It's a departure from the tedious bravado that characterizes so many rap and hip-hop songs. But at the end of the day, finding salvation in pot doesn't send a positive message about how to deal with problems.