Album Review: Kendrick Lamar-good kid, m.A.A.d city

Kendrick Lamar has been one of the most hyped MC's to come along in the past couple of years. He has made a lot of waves in the hip-hop community since his debut in 2010 mixtape (O)verly (D)edicated and made even more with his debut full-length Section.80 last year. The hype and accolades over the past couple of years landed him a deal with Aftermath Records. His Aftermath debut good kid, m.A.A.d city is going to keep the well-deserved hype about him going for a long time.

good kid, m.A.A.d city came out of nowhere for me at least. I assumed because he had done tours with Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller and was getting picked up by the ever-declining in quality Aftermath Records that he wasn't worth checking out, I was dead fucking wrong. Saying that good kid, m.A.A.d city is a special album would be an understatement. Kendrick Lamar poured everything he had into this album and it shows. It takes some balls and ambition to releases a concept album for your major label debut and he is able to pull it off flawlessly. This is a throwback to the old-school days of Nas and A Tribe Called Quest when hip-hop was about telling stories and let me just say, Kendrick Lamar is a hell of a storyteller. From the early tracks where is he is talking about being a stupid, horny teenager focusing on gaining money, girls and power to the deeper, more emotional tracks where he talks about losing some of his friends to the gangs and the street life of Compton, He proves that he can talk about anything with the same amount of skill and power. The honesty in his lyrics just bleeds through the entire album no matter how serious or childish the content of the song is.

The magnum opus of this album is "Sing About Me/I'm Dying of Thirst". I can say without a doubt that is one of the best songs of 2012 and one of the best hip-hop songs of the past decade. This is just such a moving and emotionally powerful song and it doesn't let up for it's entire twelve-minute duration. The second part, "I'm Dying of Thirst", is especially impressive. Kendrick lets loose a three and a half-minute behemoth of a verse without coming up for air and it just absolutely floored me as a listener. There is plenty of other killer tracks besides "Sing About Me/I'm Dying of Thirst". Cautionary tales "The Art of Peer Pressure" and "m.A.A.d city" show his personal experience with the dark realities of the streets of Compton. The anti-party party anthem "Swimming Pools (Drank)" is also a huge standout because of how effectively encrypted it is. To the oblivious listener, It sounds like a empty, frat-boy anthem about getting shitfaced with the chorus that contains the lyric "First you get a swimming pool of liquor, then you dive in". What the song actually is Kendrick Lamar talking about how the party lifestyle doesn't appeal to him at all after growing up in an alcoholic family and how many evils alcohol can hold. He made an absolutely brilliant decision releasing that as single because it's catchy as hell, but also has an important message behind it.

good kid, m.A.A.d city is hell of a way for Kendrick Lamar to make a name for himself in the hip-hop world. This is a record that deserves all the praise heaped upon it (I'm not even close to the most enthusiastic of the bunch) and be one of those rare albums that bridges the gap between mainstream and underground hip-hop. This is an ambitious, emotionally powerful, cohesive, intelligent, and just flat-out great album. Besides the brilliant story this album tells, He displays an impeccable flow and almost endless amounts of smart, clever lyrical wordplay. He states at the beginning of closing track "Compton" that he is the king and I couldn't agree more, This kid has limitless potential and good kid, m.A.A.d city is the type of throwback hip-hop album that will be remembered for generations.

4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Sing About Me/I'm Dying of Thirst
2.m.A.A.d city
3.The Art of Peer Pressure