I guess you could say Kendrick Lamar has been on a bit of a roll. Formerly known as K-dot, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth has grown quite a fan base over the past couple of years by releasing downloadable mixtapes and internet-only music. With the internet buzz surrounding Lamar, it was only a matter of time before he completely blew up. Since the conception of the project, critics have been raving and claimed that it was the most highly anticipated album of 2012.
Kendrick Lamar tries to make his debut as much of an actual album as possible, as indicated by the "A Short Film By Kendrick Lamar" subtitle. The basic idea is to put you in the mindset of a 17 year old kid growing up Compton, and the everyday hardships that accompany it. The whole concept has it ups and downs, but for a 25 year old kid releasing his debut, you couldnt ask for much more. Smartly, Kenrick limits his guest features--for the most part. Fellow Compton rapper MC Eiht(not a typo) makes an appearence, along with black hippy member jay rock, Dr. Dre, and Drake, in an obvious attempt for radio play. Aside from these, Kendrick makes it clear that he's running the show, and was able to throw his fellow black hippies onto the bonus tracks. Production wise, Kendrick took advantage of his status in the rap game and collaborated with some of the biggest names, while being executively produced by Dre. Strangely enough there's no Dre produced tracks on the album, which now a days could be beneficial. And with that, we'll answer the question you're all here for: Does good kid, m.A.A.d city live up to the hype? 1. Sherane a.k.a. Master Splinter's Daughter Well, Kendrick Lamar obviously had a plan when making this album: pack all of the notable, soon-to-be popular songs in the first half of the album. This plan eluded his mind, however, when making this song--for it is not in the slightest bit appealing to the listener. It serves only the purpose of introducing Sherane (the love intrest of Kendrick throughout the album), which could have been done in a spoken word intro. The skit at the end could have been shorter. But it helps develop the concept, so I won't complain. From a pure entertainment standpoint, the album would have been better off starting at track two, but Kendrick's trying to tell a story here, so I'll roll with it. 2. Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe Upon first listen, this song struck me as a musical masterpiece--so generally when listening to the album I'll start here. But, the more plays this gets, the more dull it becomes. There is a lack of substance to the track, at least lyrically. This is a very good track, don't get me wrong, but very little of it contains Kendrick saying anything meaningful. I really enjoy the production of this track, although without it the song wouldn't be much. That often turns me off, because most of the time rappers have little to do with production. 3. Backseat Freestyle This song sounds much better when listened in the context of the album, as it comes from the perspective of a 17 year old kid with his friends. Sometimes you have to stop over-analyzing and just enjoy the music. That's why I won't say many negative things about this track. The goal is obviously not for Kendrick to blow us away lyrically, but it is a fun track. I also advise that when you are done with the review, that you go watch the video. Sherane makes a cameo, and she looks fantastic. 4. The Art of Peer Pressure This is far and away my favorite song on the album. I've found that no one really agrees with me here. People of K Dot age generally don't like to focus on the negatives of peer pressure, because we often fall victim to it. Kendrick does a fantastic job describing the horrors of peer pressure. This a lyrically fantastic song, it paints a story that even a blind man could see. The hook is also a very good fit for the song, my personal favorite part being the adolescent male yelling obscenities at the top of his lungs. You have to at least respect the message in this song. 5. Money Trees (Feat. Jay Rock) This track has the same basis as "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe". It's as if Kendrick liked it so much the first time, that he just decided to do it again. It worked, in part, because Jay Rock puts down an amazing verse near the end of the song. All that this song really consists of is Lamar saying words in a relaxing tone followed either by "Ya Bish" or "That's just how i feel." The track is showing you that thoughts of a group of people preparing(and rationalizing) the robbery of houses. The beat is so soothing that I'd like it to be played to me as a lullaby every night before bed. And the hook, man, the hook is fan-fucking-tastic and should serve as a blueprint for anyone trying to craft a memorable chorus. This is the only time a Black Hippie member, other than Kendrick of course, is featured on a song. it is well placed, because before Jay Rock's verse, you may have forgotten that this was a hip-hop album. 6. Poetic Justice (Feat. Drake) To continue making music, you need money. To make this, you need radio play and popularity. That is all I want to say about this track. Yes, it fits into the storyline, and Drake sounds alright, but to be honest, I'm not trying to hear Kendrick Lamar rap over Janet Jackson vocal samples. I respect the need for a single, but that doesn't mean I ever have to listen to this again. 7. Good Kid When I first picked up this album, this song just fell into the the album and went unnoticed. After giving it a few more listens, this is one of the highlights of the album from a lyrical standpoint. Kendrick's flow and lyricism over this fantastic beat is hard to see as anything less than great. This also makes for of of the more creative musical ventures of the album, thanks to the Pharrell provided instrumental. The chorus also has somewhat of an eerie feel to it, making for an overall good listen. 8. m.A.A.d City (Feat. MC Eiht) From Kendrick spazzing out and forcing his voice to crack in the middle to a mid song beat change, this song puts a lot on the table. The first beat sounds pretty damn good, and compliments Kendrick's intense story telling well. Mid song though, we completely abandon the rules of hip hop and are thrown a completely different instrumental. Speaking of abandoning the rules of hip hop, MC Eiht makes his appearance (don't ask me where he's been for the past decade), which is surprisingly very good. Nice way to continue the momentum of the album. 9. Swimming Pools Released as the second single of the album, you've likely already heard the song and formed your opinion. In contrast to Poetic Justice, Kendrick shows that he can make a radio friendly song without being completely horrible. In fact, I actually really liked this track. That being said, there's not much substance, as it basically states the greatness and benefits of drinking. Not to mention, around half the words are "drank". If you're trying to show your buddies Kendrick's lyrical abilities, it'd be in your best interest to go with another track. 10. Sing About Me / I'm Dying of Thirst Good lord, a twelve minute mid-album track. As the title may indicate, this is really a two track song packed into one, separated by another long interlude. I guess these songs kinda, maybe, possibly have a similar themes, but there is no reason to combine them and it really ends up slowing down the albums momentum. Ok, I'm done ranting, now for the actual song. This song is pretty good when you're taking your first couple of listens, but ends up as a huge filler and the most unquotable track. I will say that the second half is much better than its predecessor, and actually contains one of my favorite instrumentals from the album. 11. Real "Real" starts with yet another interlude(I've had about enough of these) before the actual song starts. At this point, the album has lost all of its previous momentum. I understand the purpose of the song and Kendrick still sounds fine, but the chorus we get here is just light-years beyond unnecessary. Needless to say, I won't be listening to this again, in large part because it's horrible. 12. Compton (Feat. Dr. Dre) Many critics have complaints about the ending song, but I enjoy it. In a nutshell, this glorifies Compton and serves as a good way to close the story of the album, considering the whole thing is about Compton. Dre appears for the first time and ends up sounding strangely similar to Kendrick--because Kenrick wrote the verse. But it's not like we expected anything else from Dre. The ending could have been a lot worse(Reference track 11). To my knowledge, there are tons of different versions of the album that contain different tracks. So, I'll just review the one that I purchased, which includes 3 tracks and an alternate album cover. 13. The Recipe (Feat. Dr. Dre) Dre raps more in the past two songs than he has in the past 10 years. But, he sounds good, thanks to Mr. Lamar. This deserves to be on the album, but would've sounded out of place, so I applaud Kendrick for not stuffing the album with his singles. Definitely worth the price of the deluxe. 14. Black Boy Fly Kendrick may have realized that he gave us some garbage on the last two tracks of the album, and come up with these extra tracks. He saved some momentum by putting together this ode to Arron Aflalo. The fact that what I just said wasn't a joke makes me extremely giddy. The song itself is good, but it is hard to focus on anything after hearing Aflalo mentioned. It is really a treat for you NBA fans out there. 15. Now or Never (Feat. Mary J. Blige) Mary J. Blige takes the final guest appearance, and delivers an average at best chorus. The beat and Kendrick's rapping are on par with the chorus: average at best. Take or leave the track, but I wasn't expecting much. Remember people, these are bonus tracks. Rating: 4/5 Does good kid, m.A.A.d. city live up to the hype? Yeah, pretty much. It's a brilliant album from one of hip hop's most promising acts and the fact that he's able to portray the lifestyles of an adolescent male growing up in Compton, while keeping the thing entertaining is a monumental achievement. There's bad songs on here ("Poetic Justice" and "Real") and "Sing for Me, I'm Dying of Thirst" is not nearly as clever as most people would like to believe, but even those serve their roles in context of the album. All complaints aside, this album is an extremely impressive debut for Kendrick, proving he can stay true to his roots, and cross over to a more popular style of music at the same time…to an extent. If you are wondering whether or not to buy this album, go ahead and fork over your money. For obvious reasons. |