Kid Cudi is playing Jean-Michel Basquiat, and he wrote the script himself

Kid Cudi is playing Jean-Michel Basquiat, and he wrote the script himself

Scott Mescudi did not call a studio. He did not wait on a greenlight. On the night of October 21st, he posted on Instagram, dropped a black-and-white wardrobe photo of himself in a suit and tie with a free-form dreadlock wig, shared the first page of a screenplay dated August 25, 2026, and told his followers: filming in 2027.

Variety was among the first to report the news: the musician penned the script himself and will direct the film, titled JEAN, about the famed artist, after making the announcement on social media and posting images of himself in character. The film's subject is Jean-Michel Basquiat, the Haitian-Puerto Rican Brooklyn-born painter who became one of the most celebrated and mythologized figures in American art before dying of a heroin overdose in 1988 at 27.

The rapper has been fielding the comparison for years. In his Instagram post, Cudi wrote: "For years people have asked me about playing Jean-Michel Basquiat in a film. But no project actually came to be. This year, I finally said fuck it, ima write it myself." That's one way to solve a development problem.

Cudi shared an image of the first page of a draft of his script, dated August 25, 2026, and said filming is set to begin in 2027. In the post, he noted that people had been encouraging him to play Basquiat for years but that no project materialized, so he decided to write it himself.

He shared a mock-up poster featuring a black and white photograph of himself as Basquiat, stylishly dressed in a suit and tie and smoking a cigarette, with a wig mimicking Basquiat's trademark free-form dreadlocks. About that wig: Cudi said of his look as Basquiat, "This isnt the final just a rough, trust me we gon get it perfect."

ARTnews noted that Cudi opened up about the process of writing the film, calling it a "challenge" but a "welcomed one." "A lot of research, books, talks with people that knew him," he continued. "This film will be a love letter to Jean, the 80s and NY city. Jean has inspired me all through out my career, and it will be the biggest honor to tell his story in a way we haven't seen before."

The internet landed somewhere between seated and skeptical, which is usually a good sign. Fan accounts flooded with side-by-side comparisons of Cudi and Basquiat, and Black America Web asked the question directly in its headline: "Can Kid Cudi Pull Off Playing Basquiat?" The answer from the timeline: mostly yes, though the wig needs work.

A crowded field

Here is the part that makes this more complicated. JEAN is not the only Basquiat film in the pipeline. Deadline noted the timing: Cudi's film will have plenty of competition. Last fall, a different Basquiat biopic, Samo Lives (named after his graffiti tag, Samo©), began filming in the East Village. Kelvin Harrison Jr. is playing Basquiat and Julius Onah is directing, though updates about the project have been scarce and there is no release date.

Cudi's film will also presumably need to differentiate itself from the 1996 biopic Basquiat, written and directed by artist Julian Schnabel and starring Jeffrey Wright as Basquiat. That film is thirty years old and still the definitive screen version of the story. Schnabel made it from inside the New York art world he actually inhabited. Cudi is coming at it from a different angle entirely: a hip-hop artist who sees Basquiat as a spiritual forerunner, a fellow Black creative who operated across worlds and refused to be contained by any of them.

The post also confirmed that the movie will start shooting in 2027, making it Cudi's third film in two years. He is already in post-production for Doe, his feature directorial debut, and his follow-up, the horror movie Wrong Number. Mescudi writes, directs, stars, and executive produces those projects as well. The Playlist raised the obvious question about whether a filmmaker still establishing himself can carry a subject this big. The Grio framed it more generously, pointing out that Cudi has built a career that extends beyond hip-hop into acting, producing and other creative work, and with JEAN he is stepping into a project that places him in multiple key roles behind and in front of the camera.

Also dropping this week: Anderson .Paak and Cordae finally made their album

Lost a bit in the Basquiat news cycle: two of hip-hop's most reliably interesting artists put out a long-awaited record. Anderson .Paak and Cordae released Heavy Is the Crown, an 11-track collaborative album that brings together two of hip-hop's most distinctive voices, out October 23rd via APESHIT, Mass Appeal, and EMPIRE.

The duo first announced the project back in August. The chemistry between the two goes back to "RNP" from Cordae's 2019 debut The Lost Boy, and fans have been asking for more ever since. Complex reported that the album, led by "A Good Day" and its Friday-homaging video, was first announced to the world back in August with the reveal of official cover art that finds the duo giving fans their best Step Brothers impression.

The producer list reads like someone called in favors from the entire West Coast alumni network. Production credits reportedly include J. Cole, 9th Wonder, Hollywood Cole, Conductor Williams, and Swizz Beatz, who also drops ad-libs on closer "Godfather II," per Apple Music. Rolling Stone Australia noted that alongside the digital release, the duo announced a special alternate-cover vinyl edition of Heavy Is the Crown featuring original artwork by contemporary artist Lauren Halsey, available through heavyisthecrown.net.

The record runs 31 minutes across 11 tracks. Cordae opens up about his mother siding with his ex, and .Paak admits to showing up drunk to his child's birthday party. That's a heavy admission for a project with a comedy-inspired cover. Lead single "A Good Day" had already generated significant buzz, with its accompanying music video surpassing four million YouTube views and the track breaking into the US Rhythmic Radio Top 25.

Two very different kinds of creative swings landed this week. One is a short rap album with a tight running time and a Step Brothers cover. The other is Kid Cudi in a wig, standing in an airy studio, mid-wardrobe test, with a first-draft script and a date two years out. Both feel earned.

Sources

• Variety, Kid Cudi to Star as Jean-Michel Basquiat in Self-Written and Directed Film 'Jean'
• Deadline, Kid Cudi To Direct, Write & Star In Basquiat Movie
• ARTnews, Kid Cudi to Play Basquiat in 'JEAN,' Biopic He'll Also Write and Direct
• The Grio, Kid Cudi to write, direct and star as Jean-Michel Basquiat in new film 'JEAN'
• The Playlist, 'JEAN': Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi To Write, Direct & Star In New Biopic
• Black America Web, Can Kid Cudi Pull Off Playing Basquiat?
• Rolling Stone, Anderson .Paak and Cordae Join Forces for New Album 'Heavy Is the Crown'
• Complex, Anderson .Paak and Cordae's Joint Album 'Heavy Is the Crown' Is Here
• HotNewHipHop, Heavy Is The Crown, Album by Anderson .Paak & Cordae