Kendrick lamar good kid maad city narrative

Kendrick lamar good kid maad city narrative series#

Of course, IвЂ™m talking about good kid, m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar.

For the first Musical Appreciation, weвЂ™ll be looking at a record that I consider to be one of the best rap records of this decade so far, a record I consider to be the best release of 2012.

Kendrick lamar good kid maad city narrative series#

I enjoy doing Target Practices and Random WTF Lyrics, but there comes a time where I have to do a series where IвЂ™m not bashing certain music and now is that time with the introduction of this new series. Tog Dawg/Aftermath/Interscope Records released вЂgood kid, m.A.A.Welcome to Musical Appreciation, a new series here on Nerd With An AfroВ where I talk more in-depth about music that I like.

Not because itвЂ™s perfect вЂ“ the imperfection is really a part of its appeal вЂ“ but because itвЂ™s a work of concentrated ambition that manages to strike the sweet spot between individuality and popular appeal. вЂgood kid, m.A.A.d cityвЂ™ is a testament to that, and with the addition of excellent production and thoughtful arrangement, Kendrick Lamar has arguably made the best rap album of the year. KendrickвЂ™s main virtue is empathy, and heвЂ™s at his best when heвЂ™s drawing out the bigger picture from intimate set-pieces living out and articulating the problems rather than trying to answer them directly. Kendrick Lamar actually released a song online yesterday urging fans to buy the album and вЂњnot let hip-hop dieвЂќ on October 22nd, but it comes across as desperate, and itвЂ™s a very tired idea when put up against the albumвЂ™s more considered approach. ItвЂ™s a tricky issue, tackled on Sing About Me/IвЂ™m Dying of Thirst with an old gang-affiliated friend who wants his story included on the album and a prostitute who turns angry and criticises him for his well-meaning but ultimately futile sympathy. The other major concern of the album is Kendrick LamarвЂ™s status as ComptonвЂ™s вЂ“ and broadly rapвЂ™s вЂ“ saviour, a revival of a social concern and community spirit that many feel has been lacking. Kendrick Lamar вЂ“ Backseat Freestyle (Prod. ItвЂ™s followed by the sober The Art of Peer Pressure. ItвЂ™s a little tongue-in-cheek, but undoubtedly joyous вЂ“ a momentary letting go of everything to revel in the spoils of super-stardom. Backstreet Freestyle is a banger complete with brash boasts and a goofy вЂњMartin had a dream! Kendrick have a dream!вЂќ chant that might be a loose interpolation of a memorable verse on Rick RossвЂ™ 2009 single Mafia Music. вЂgood kid, m.A.A.d cityвЂ™ also tries to navigate a path forward, though, and takes in KendrickвЂ™s new-found success. Swimming Pools features a verse by his conscience pitched like a good angel from a cartoon, and the latter part of the twin title tracks shifts between a frantic Kendrick on the verge of tears and veteran MC Eiht, encapsulating the corruptive influence of gang life, its grim fatalism and spiralling violence. The most self-conscious of вЂњconsciousвЂќ rappers, Kendrick embraces tensions on the album and is masterful at using vocal manipulation and strategic guest features to open up multiple viewpoints on a problem. Kendrick Lamar вЂ“ Swimming Pools (Drank) вЂ“ Dirty by TopDawgENT The production is so luscious and the chorus so inviting that it couldnвЂ™t have been written by someone who doesnвЂ™t understand temptation before rejecting it.

Master SplinterвЂ™s Daughter, told from the perspective of an unthinking seventeen-year-old Kendrick, is vivid and tense, and the first single from the album, Swimming Pools (Drank), is cautionary rather than preachy. His narrative is a recognisable one, but KendrickвЂ™s struggle to understand his past and reconcile it with his present is always dynamic.

A group of sketches stitched together by skits, вЂgood kid, m.A.A.d cityвЂ™ is both cohesive and expansive: moving from nostalgic monologues to lengthier, more complex songs in the mold of Cartoons and Cereal вЂ“ the brilliant, unofficial lead single that was leaked earlier in the year and omitted from the albumвЂ™s final tracklisting. Kendrick LamarвЂ™s вЂgood kid, m.A.A.d cityвЂ™ is essentially a coming-of-age story, telling the life of a young, highly touted rapper from Compton finding his feet and making it big.