Kid Cudi Delivers Ted Talk at Old High School

Kid Cudi returned to Shaker Heights High School earlier this year to speak to students about how he went from a struggling student at the school to a famous rapper. Cudi is in good spirits throughout the 19-minute clip, offering words of wisdom to the students in attendance.

"I embraced the fear, the danger. I enjoyed the fact that I was going into unchartered territory. It was like a sense of wonder for me," Cudi said of deciding to leave Cleveland to pursue music in New York. He emphasized one point though, that "We are all the commanders of our own destiny," repeatedly telling the student body that there was nothing different between he and them.

"Music was my plan G," Cudi said. "I tried everything that I thought was a traditional thing a young boy should do. Sports. And even going college was me just trying to fulfill what I thought was my own destiny."

He shared stories of taking his mom to get her first tattoo and sending school carnations to girl's he would otherwise never have spoken to before closing with a piece of motivation.

"Life will throw you a ton of curve balls. It’s scary, but if you believe and if you want it and if you want to work hard enough for it, it can be so. Cause there’s no difference from me and you. I just really wanted this shit. I wanted it bad. And I didn’t want to be a failure. And nobody’s a failure in this room. Don’t ever think that. We can all win."

See Best Rap Performance Nominees & Winners at the Grammys Over the Years