Kid Cudi on His Friendship with (and Being ‘Big Bro’ to) ‘Timmy’ Chalamet: ‘Goes Beyond the Industry’ (Exclusive)

Kid Cudi and Timothée Chalamet’s relationship may have started as a bond between an artist and a fan, but nowadays, they’re “really homies.”

Speaking with PEOPLE about his new book, Cudi: The Memoir — in which he reflects on his first encounter with the now-Oscar-nominated actor — Cudi looked back at the “crazy” way their bond blossomed after their initial meet-up over a decade ago.

In the book, Cudi, born Scott Mescudi, writes of meeting the then-17-year-old, “up-and-coming actor” at a Montreal show. At the time, Chalamet was a bit disappointed after some of his scenes were cut from Christopher Nolan’s 2014 film Interstellar, but Cudi came through with some valuable advice: “This is your destiny,” he writes in the book of his message to Chalamet. “You’re gonna be fine, bro.”

“Man, it’s kind of weird for me because… I know that I help people with the music, but I try to not dwell on it too much,” Cudi tells PEOPLE now. “Because I feel like you start thinking about that s—, you start getting a big head and whatever, whatever. It’s like I try to pretend like I’m in denial about it, but Timmy is the type of friend where he’s going to remind your ass.”

“You know what I’m saying? He’s going to remind you and let you know, ‘No, bro, I f— with you big bro and you’re a legend and all the things, you’re the GOAT.'” It’s a beautiful thing, man.”

Cudi’s first hangout with Chalamet was intended to be an opportunity to “meet a fan,” but the two have built a lasting friendship in the years since, the musician says.

“I was like, ‘Oh, cool, I’ll meet little dude.’ He’s 17 at the time. I was like, ‘Yeah, have him come through, have him bring his friends.’ And it was so cool to just hang out with him then and [have] us still be homies,” Cudi, 41, says. “It’s a crazy thing, man. I love the fact that me and Timmy have this relationship that goes beyond the industry s—. We really homies.”

The love between Chalamet and Cudi has certainly been reciprocated. In his March 2018 GQ cover story, the actor raved about his encounter with Cudi, before singing his praises at his 40th birthday party in 2024. The pair also starred alongside each other as part of the ensemble cast for Netflix’s Don’t Look Up, and Cudi notably tapped Chalamet for his Entergalactic special.

“If you know anything about me, he’s my favorite artist,” Chalamet, now 29, said at Cudi’s party last year. “It’s crazy to be at his birthday… I’m watching you as a friend and watching you as a fan as I always have. Another year around the sun, continues to do amazing work.”

Cudi reflects on plenty of other friendships in the new memoir — which arrives alongside his 11th studio album Free and has since become a New York Times Best Seller. The book details the rapper’s childhood in Cleveland, breakout in the late ’00s and life now as a loving father and husband who continues to build upon his legacy.

“I hope it gives [fans] some hope that you do come out on the other side and into the light and God puts us through things because he wants to teach us something,” Cudi says of the book. “It’s always a lesson in there, always. Even if it doesn’t seem like it could be possible, because in the moment, everything just seems like all is lost, you know what I mean? But if you really think about it, everything happens for a reason.”

Cudi: The Memoir is out now via Simon & Schuster and Cudi’s new album Free is now available via Wicked Awesome and Republic Records.

For more on Kid Cudi, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, available on newsstands everywhere now.