Kid Cudi Hooks Up With Drake, Josh Hartnett For New Video

Kid Cudi
Photo: MTV News

Kid Cudi recently wrapped filming on the first season of his new HBO series "How to Make It in America," opened for Lady Gaga on her Monster Ball Tour and is even set to headline his own shows soon — and he's also found time to work on the video for "The Pursuit of Happiness" with Josh Hartnett and Brody Baker.

MTV News caught up with Cudi on his final day of filming for the HBO series and he explained how he got Hartnett to produce and Baker to direct his next video. "I was actually telling Josh that I wanted to shoot the video. We were hanging out one day, and he [Hartnett] was like, 'Aw, I know this one guy, he's done great work. He's really dope and refreshing.' I was familiar with his stuff. He [Baker] did the music video for Animal Collective's 'My Girls,' and I was a fan of that video."

Cudi gave Baker a rough idea of what he wanted and the director embellished it, presenting something "dope" and special to him.

"I just saw the first rough cut the other day. Drake is in it. He has a cameo ... a bunch of my homies that I knew coming up," Cudi said. "We were just kicking it. When you see the video, it just makes me feel good, because I'm seeing all my friends and people that matter in my life. We were all celebrating. It's like a New Year's Eve-type thing. Everybody's just getting wasted."

While "The Pursuit of Happiness" features MGMT and was produced by Ratatat, they weren't available for the video shoot. However, Cudi is thinking about making another version featuring both groups.

"I'm going to pull the Kanye and do multiples," he laughed.