Kid Cudi recently stepped back into the spotlight with Kids See Ghosts, his new collaborative album with longtime mentor Kanye West. And in Billboard’s latest cover story, he gives his first interview since that release, discussing the album, his struggles with mental health, and more.

Contrary to the public perception of Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Music Wyoming albums, Cudi says that he and Ye worked on Kids See Ghosts for a long time. “Kids See Ghosts did take us a little over a year-and-a-half to just get it tight and where we wanted it to be, but the actual songwriting process and putting the songs together wasn’t really hard,” he explains. “Months went by, and we just kept working on it and chiseling away at it. It was funny to us when people were talking about how the album was rushed or last-minute. I knew what it took. I was there the whole time.”

Kids See Ghosts is also apparently intended to be an ongoing collaboration and not a one-off. “There are some songs that we didn’t use that I’m hopeful we can put out later,” Cudi says. “But the plan is to do more Kids See Ghosts albums.” And that’s not all that he’s been working on. “Creating is making me happy again. I’ve been working on this TV show secretly for four years,” he adds. “I’m [in early development] on a pilot and getting it right. Monkeypaw Productions is [in talks to] produce it — Jordan Peele’s company.”

Cudi has worked in TV before, acting in HBO’s How To Make It America and serving as bandleader for Scott Aukerman’s Comedy Bang! Bang!. It’s cool that he seems to be getting his own show. But honestly, the main takeaway from the interview is that Cudi seems to be in a really good place right now. Good for him!

Cudi’s debut mixtape A Kid Named Cudi turned 10 this week; take a look at our retrospective on the project and Cudi’s influence since then.