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"Day 'n' Nite (Nightmare)" is a song by American rapper Kid Cudi. The song was written and co-produced by Kid Cudi, alongside his longtime collaborator and friend, Brooklyn-based producer Dot da Genius. It was issued as Cudi's commercial debut single on February 5, 2008, but had initially been released on Cudi's MySpace page and later featured on several music blogs in November 2007.
The single, which was included on his breakout mixtape "A Kid Named Cudi", also serves as the lead single from his debut studio album "Man on the Moon: The End of Day". The song has since sold over 2,000,000 digital downloads in the United States.The song peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was ranked at number 15 on the "Best 25 Songs of 2009" list by Rolling Stone and also ranked at number seven on Complex's "100 Best Songs of The Complex Decade".
As a young man, Cudi moved from his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, to New York City, to pursue a music career. Upon his arrival, he stayed with his uncle, accomplished drummer Kalil Madi. His uncle later kicked him out, which subsequently led to Cudi writing "Day 'n' Nite":
"My uncle that I lived with passed in 2006. We were actually beefing because he forced me out the house when I didn’t have another situation set up, so I was bitter. I never apologized for it, and that kills me. That’s why I wrote "Day 'n' Nite." If he wasn’t there to let me stay with him those first few months, there would be no Kid Cudi. It fucked me up watching him go, but it was like, "I have to fulfill this destiny now for sure." Things were moving but they weren’t solidified yet. I had "Day ’n’ Nite," we were just getting started, and I was like, "This shit has got to pop off." I wasn’t taking no for an answer."
On Cudi's debut album "Man on the Moon: The End of Day", the song is listed as "Day 'n' Nite (Nightmare)", following the album's dream sequence. In 2012, in an interview with Complex, Kid Cudi revealed that the 1991 single "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" by the Geto Boys also inspired him to write and record "Day 'n' Nite", saying: ""My Mind Playing Tricks On Me" is my favorite song in the world. I love it so much I wanted to make my own version of it. And then "Day 'N' Nite" came out of it."
In January 2014, Cudi announced he had recorded a remix of the song the day after he made the original in 2007. He revealed a snippet of the remix was briefly previewed on the intro of his 2008 breakout mixtape "A Kid Named Cudi". The remix was slated to appear on 2014's Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon, however it failed to make the cut and was ultimately unreleased.
The song is parodied on American singer "Weird Al" Yankovic's thirteenth album Alpocalypse, in his signature polka medley series, "Polka Face". "Day 'n' Nite" has been covered by American alternative rock band Sugar Ray, live in concert and have recorded their version for RAWsession. The song was also covered by American experimental punk rock band ChainGang. British electropop singer-songwriter Little Boots, recorded her rendition and uploaded it to YouTube. It was also interpolated by American rapper Travis Scott on his track, “Through the Late Night”, which features Cudi. In 2022, British rock band Coldplay covered the song and officially released it through Spotify Singles. Also in 2022, Canadian soul band Chiiild, released a cover of the song exclusively through Amazon Music, as part of their Black History Month rollout.
In 2022, the song was featured in the trailer for American television miniseries "Moon Knight".
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