Dubbed the “King of the West Coast” by Dr. Dre, the talented Kendrick Lamar dropped his first official studio album, Good Kid m.A.A.d City. Lamar’s second studio album probes the rappers psyche during his life in California as a curious teen. Lamar’s album debuted with over 241,000 sales and “sat atop the Billboard Rap chart, the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart and at #2 on the Billboard 100,” according to Interscope Records. The album depicts the rapper as the good kid within a mad city. It explores what life is like within the streets of Compton through Lamar’s intense soliloquies, interactions, and rhymes. Stirring the conscious of the listener by speaking truth track after track, Lamar proves his valid position in Hip-Hop.
The highly anticipated sophomore album dropped Monday, October 22 following “Section. 80.” Section .80 was an earlier released digital indie album. Similar to the storytelling within “Section. 80,” Good Kid, m.A.A.d City, Lamar flows smoothly over tracks and describes his gritty and riveting experiences during his adolescence as it follows a plot story highlighting the tribulations of the cliché good kid within a troubled city.
Lamar paints a perfect picture that guides listeners through a story. Some listeners who are a part of the massive fanbase have been listening to him for over a year. Third year physical therapy student, Tyrell Gordon has listened to the rapper for roughly two years.
“Kendrick is a top-tier artist. Not too many rappers have a whole lot of content in their music and that alone separates him from most. Combine that with his unique flow, versatility, and top notch production and you have an artist that is not only significant currently, but will have an everlasting effect on hip-hop for future generations,” Gordon said.
“Good Kid, m.A.A.d City can make you reflect on experiences, think about people, and consider life as a whole,” Gordon said. “My favorite song in the context of the album would probably be ‘Sing About Me, I’m Dying Of Thirst.’ It really tells a pivotal part of the overall story Kendrick is trying to relay, and it expounds upon events in Kendrick’s life that he rapped about in other songs.”
With hardcore tracks like ‘Backstreet Freestyle’ and ‘M.A.A.D City’ it’s riveting that the artist presents tracks with a softer tone like ‘Poetic Justice’ featuring rapper Drake and ‘B—-, Don’t Kill My Vibe.’” Each of these softer-toned tracks offer self reflecting lyrics like in ‘B—-, Don’t Kill My Vibe.’ Lamar powerfully spits, “Look inside my soul and you can find gold and maybe get rich/Look inside of your soul and you can find doubt and never exist.” Lyrics like these suggest that listeners have high levels of intellect to understand the conscious rapper.
Dre’ Cashh has been a fan of the Compton rapper since his senior year of high school and the release of Lamar’s mixtape, Overly Dedicated. The second year pre-pharmacy student said in “Section. 80” he felt like it was more of a raw type of Kendrick Lamar that spit about general problems of everyday people. “Good Kid, m.A.A.d City was more of a poetic, smooth type of Kendrick that dealt more with his personal life experience,” Cashh said.
“Good Kid, mA.A.d City” is worth the listen, each track will rivet and affect your psyche. Lamar successfully presents Hip-Hop consciousness with a passionate approach.