Good Kid M.A.A.D. City

A prayer.  A simple prayer is what starts Kendrick Lamar’s epic album that shook the world of rap: Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City (GK, MC).  The first words listeners hear is the powerful statement “Lord God, I come to you a sinner, and I humbly repent for my sins.”  This cry to the Lord sets a tragic tone which carries throughout the entire album, as we learn of the sins which are in need of forgiving.  It’s simple, yet powerful, and serves as a perfect intro into the mind of Lamar as he tells a story that is nothing short of a classic.

The uniqueness of GK, MC hardly stops here.  The album is fast paced, real, and a true testament to the sheer talent which Lamar possesses.  GK, MC articulates the metamorphosis from innocence to violence that many kids make in poor communities, and it speaks volumes on how little a human life can come to mean for some.  Lamar’s album is a lyrical piece of art, yet still musically unforgettable.  We are taken to Compton, as seen through the eyes of a young Kendrick Lamar.  Lamar voices stories of meeting a girl, committing a robbery, and even watching his friends die in cold blood.  The entire album is a harsh reminder of the problems that face young people in ghetto communities across the country.

Lamar’s ability to tell these stories through music is what makes GK, MC a legendary concept album.  Albums like The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Pink Floyd's The Wall made the idea of a concept album an interesting challenge that many artists took.  The concept album has transcended generic divisions, becoming an art form in and of itself.  A lot of rap today is about telling a story, but rarely is it done throughout an entire album, and executed so flawlessly.  But Lamar didn’t invent the rap concept album; that came years before.  Rap as a genre began in the 1970’s, when DJ’s across the nation began to put their own words to music, and the people loved it.  Shortly after came the famous “Rappers Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang (a rap song that my dad actually respects).  Rap back then was about having fun, and entertaining an audience, not to mention was notably less vulgar.  Over time, rap evolved into a sociopolitical outlet as rappers began to spit about the problems facing their communities.  This theme has yet to disappear from rap music.  Many artists, like Lamar, went on to make entire albums dedicated not only to entertaining, but to raising awareness of these misfortunes.  Not all rap concept albums have such serious topics though.  Prince Among Thieves by Prince Paul is considered by many to be the first great rap concept album, and this paved the way for GK, MC.  

Prince Among Thieves is a very cinematic, clear cut concept album about an aspiring rapper named Tariq, and his quest to make some extra cash before meeting with a member of the Wu-Tang Clan.  It is more laid back than GK, MC, yet still very effective and functional as a concept album.  The album utilizes gaps in between songs to play out a narrative, a technique that is still rare today.  The album has a plot, much like a movie.  In fact, fans have been wanting a movie adaptation every since its release in 1999.  Prince Among Thieves may seem even too movie-like for some, seeing that the lyrics in the songs never stray from the plot.  Lamar spins this idea by using same method of narratives between songs in GK, MC to give the audience more of the concept for which he is shooting, yet he keeps the album personal by exploring multiple subjects.  GK, MC fits well generically into the category of rap concept albums, but what makes it different is the perfect balance of cinema and reality.  It leaves room for interpretation and assimilation into the listener’s own experiences while still having a clear message.  Prince Among Thieves defied generic expectations in a way that may not be appealing to the masses, while GK, MC did it in a way that keeps listeners on their toes.

Using these in-between monologues and dialogues, Lamar sets himself apart from others in the broad genre of rap.  These extra pieces are disliked by many because of their length, as well as their ambiguity, but Lamar knows what he's doing.  For example, the opening track “Sherane, A.K.A. Master Splinter’s Daughter” closes with a phone ringing, no answer, and then Lamar’s mother leaving a voicemail.  It may seem random or unrelated, but hearing her voice personalizes the album, especially when Lamar later references his mother. https://youtu.be/BxY2AVYMw1w?t=3m10s (Here's the end of the song).  We also get to hear the story of Lamar and his friends robbing a house in “The Art of Peer Pressure.”  Once again, the dialogue during and after the song serve to put the listeners inside the situation even more.  The beat is simple yet deep as we hear Lamar rap about how “the sun is going down as we take whatever we want.”  We somehow find ourselves rooting for young Kendrick as he narrowly escapes the cops to wrap up “one lucky night with the homies.”  

The musicality of the work is still very mainstream and within the realm of current rap music, or as Lamar calls it “the music of being young and dumb.”  The beats are heavy and catchy, with a few features that serve as icing on the Kendrick cake.  Drake (one of my favorites) makes an appearance on “Poetic Justice” that juxtaposes Lamar’s style and provides a refreshing verse of classic Drake lines like "I write poems in these songs, dedicated to the fun sex, your natural hair and your soft skin and your big ass in that sun dress."  While

Lamar explicitly is referring to his previously mentioned woman, Drake makes you feel like he's right there complimenting you personally (well, for me at least).  When Lamar speaks, we hear every syllable, unlike many rappers right now (What’s that Future is saying? “Fuck up some commas?”)  This transparency not only makes the listening experience more enjoyable, but also makes Lamar seem much more intelligent.  His annunciation abilities showcase his control as well.  This is sadly something that seems to have slowly faded from some rap music today (Sorry Future).

This Grammy nominated smash hit album is the perfect combination of cinema and real life.  It breaks the mold of the generic expectation of rap music by following the road less traveled, that is, the road of musically superb concept albums.  That road has been traveled before by early rap artists, but Lamar’s execution is what sets him apart.  What Lamar does in Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City is give us the rap album we’ve been waiting for:  One that is mainstream enough for popularity, yet different enough to keep us listening.