good kid m.A.A.d city (review)

It’s been almost a month now since Compton native Kendrick Lamar dropped his debut album “good kid m.A.A.d city.” After seeing various posts on the popular social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook along with XXL labeling it a classic I knew I had to go out and buy the album, and put my ears to the test to see if the word was used appropriately.

G.K.M.C puts listeners in the mindset of a 15-16 year old whose only focus is of females, friendship, and finding a way of survival in a m.A.A.d city by the name of Compton. Lamar shows his ability of being a great storyteller where to ultimately understand the message he tries to convey may take more than one listen. With the album having a 90’s feel throughout its entirety subliminally shows K.L. paying homage to that classic California sound many of us who grew up on appreciate.

A big risk was taken conducting this album because it is not exactly commercial friendly other than its two singles “The Recipe “ feat Dr.Dre and “Swimming Pools.” To many, its refreshing to have an artist come out with an album that tells a story differing from artists who put out albums with catchy titles that end up just being a collection of songs placed onto a CD, and although G.K.M.C is in fact a collection of songs, its assortment of skits tie everything together and present imagery through an audio biography. While the albums first six songs pull you in, the following two songs one “good kid” the other “m.A.A.d city” named after the albums title don’t give you that same feel. I love though that G.K.M.C puts a listener in the roll of the supporting cast in Lamar’s life and even shows vulnerability, an emotion many would believe to be non-existent when it comes to a rapper on the track “Black Boy Fly” where he states “I used to be jealous of Jayceon/Taylor when I was young”(The Game.”) After the albums completion it would seem Kendrick Lamar has more up his sleeve, and his story is far from complete being that the album has no concrete ending.

Overall, good kid m.A.A.d city is a great album but not an album I would call a classic and could see me listening over and over to, but one I believe a listener could appreciate after multiple listens. What makes it great is that this album truly is an album one has to listen to in its entirety with every track being a puzzle piece to the next, in order to fully interpret Kendrick Lamar’s mentality during his life as a teen and so I give it 4 an a half stars out of 5.

Alano