Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid M.A.A.D City (Official Discussion)

[friscoliving]

jay rock killed money trees, first time i've seen somebody outshine kendrick on his own track. Money trees and Maad city is in heavy rotation in my stereo


Seen a light-skinned nigga with his brains blown out
 At the same burger stand where --- hang out
 Now this is not a tape recorder saying that he did it
 But ever since that day, I was lookin at him different

[doggfather]

379k, grat! 

[Chamillitary Click]

379k, grat! 

That's dope.

[dnjp4life]

Got my copy last week and have listened a few tiimes.
It's a very, very good album.  I was sceptical at the hype surrounding it but I think this time it may be justified.  You get the sense that you're listening to something very special and unique as the album goes on.  It's mixed to perfection too, only 12 tracks so no room for filler or weaker tracks.
At first I didn't 'get it' as I didn't really understand the skits and how they link to the subject matter of the songs and the sequencing of the album, but the more I've listened to it, the more it falls into place.  So listening to 'Swimming Pools' for example sounds better now in the context of the album than it perhaps did when it dropped a few months ago as a stand-alone track.
Is it a classic?  Possibly, but as others said, only time will tell...

[westside159]

A video for Maad City joint

[doggfather]

A video for Maad City joint

??

[Blood$]

dropped over a month ago and I can safely say I haven't played it out yet

[BiggBoogaBiff]

dropped over a month ago and I can safely say I haven't played it out yet

came in to say the same thing.  between this, trap god, and that new 3-6 that's all I've been listenin to

[Tanjential]

I'm gonna try to sidestep the interesting but black-hole-like-discussions about personal branding and who's really being nostalgic and stick to assessing the music...though it may be difficult...

I've been listening to the album since it came out and I think I agree with the consensus that the album is damned good though calling it a classic may be a little premature and otherwise questionable.

Now I'll list a bit of where I think my thoughts break with the consensus:

I don't think this is "that different" content-wise from a lot of west coast hip-hop and that's kind of a shame. He DOES talk about drinkin', and gangs, and guns, and bitches and cars and about a lot of the same shit as other cats have for decades. He's impressively lyrically dexterous which is why it's all the sadder that he only takes the scope of what he's talking about about 5 blocks down from the Compton neighborhood where all this shit started.

That said, his rapping is fucking good and I acknowledge the variation on the story he is attempting. Instead of posturing like the late-80s and early-90s rappers like he is the king of gangsters he is blatantly saying he's a 'good kid' in the 'mad city' trying to use music to make his way out. Is such a small tweak on the same shit we've been hearing about really enough for anyone to, with a straight face, make the claim that this is breaking new ground? Good rapping? Yes. Breaking new ground? Hardly.

I think the production is a very nice marriage of modern pop hip-hop and a West Coast sound. Let's take a moment to actually discuss what we think the 'west coast sound' is. I think of west coast production as having a lot of live instrumentation and as being funky, often laid back. Many of the beats on the album fit that criteria more or less.  How would you guys describe this?


The only thing to complain about it musically is that beautiful beats like Money Trees and Don't Kill My Vibe are littered with profligate and juvenile throwback lines of 'bish' and 'bitch' every other syllable. I'm not against profanity but I am for creativity. I think the OutKast standard is a decent one; they say "nigga" and "bitch" often enough but they manage not to sound like troglodytes as they do it. Like others have said, Kendrick's best records are ahead of him and I'm confident this is a standard he can meet someday but I'm not gonna lie like I'm not disappointed he didn't do so this go round.

I'm gonna go ahead and re-emphasize my disbelief that it took so little tweaking of the standard west coast gangsta rap album formula to blow the lids off so many people. Painters used to depict the fucking heavens on chapel ceilings. That's a great example of scope an artist can strive for. The political statement of the ghetto being the only thing disadvantaged kids could see past excused this kind of lack of imagination back when N.W.A did it but it's been twenty years. I don't think I'm an asshole or stuck in the past for expecting a little more imagination and legitimate grandiosity from intelligent artists. Though maybe I was naive to expect anything but the same old Compton to come out of Compton.

But I gotta respect, it's a tough balance to strike. I don't want dude to do songs about drug problems and gay marriage like another Sage Francis or Macklemore. It's admirable the line he walks between singing and rapping, pop tracks and street rap. He's a very viable voice for the millennial generation of hip-hop which is another reason I really want him to talk about more than blowjobs and how tough Compton still is.

I mean what's supposed to be the deep take away from the album? The end where his parents say stop being a vandal and be responsible for helping your family? The fact that this is impressive for 25 year old grown ass men to be having these realizations explains a lot of why we are where we are as a society today and how the glorification of crime in pop culture lowers our expectations of one another in a way it need not.

Again, I think of Big Boi on all those old OutKast albums, calling people out on being more concerned about buying new tennis shoes and beeper then taking care of their illegitimate children. I don't think I'm being overly nostalgic to appreciate that as far back as '98 Big Boi was calling out people for being losers in trying to jump on the gangsta fads of recent decades instead of being a man. He was Kendrick's age or younger. Kendrick clearly has something spiritual he wants to and can express artistically and I know he has the potential for it to be more than "stop leechin' off your parents before you turn 30".

Good album.
Good rapping. A final note on the music/production: my understanding is that the cohesion of the album is what we can give Dre credit for. The older he gets, the less keys he's actually hitting and the more big picture framing he's doing. It's his mixing and choices as an executive producer that craft the album's over-all sound and while none of the beats are produced by him, it seems to me that his fingerprints are all over this and for the better.


Feel free to come at any of my wilder claims but notice that I often qualify my statements and go back and forth with myself a bit about some of the debatable parts within my write-up.

For me, time will tell me where between 3/5 and 3.7/5 this album actually lands.

-T
 

 

[Sccit]

I'm gonna try to sidestep the interesting but black-hole-like-discussions about personal branding and who's really being nostalgic and stick to assessing the music...though it may be difficult...

I've been listening to the album since it came out and I think I agree with the consensus that the album is damned good though calling it a classic may be a little premature and otherwise questionable.

Now I'll list a bit of where I think my thoughts break with the consensus:

I don't think this is "that different" content-wise from a lot of west coast hip-hop and that's kind of a shame. He DOES talk about drinkin', and gangs, and guns, and bitches and cars and about a lot of the same shit as other cats have for decades. He's impressively lyrically dexterous which is why it's all the sadder that he only takes the scope of what he's talking about about 5 blocks down from the Compton neighborhood where all this shit started.

That said, his rapping is fucking good and I acknowledge the variation on the story he is attempting. Instead of posturing like the late-80s and early-90s rappers like he is the king of gangsters he is blatantly saying he's a 'good kid' in the 'mad city' trying to use music to make his way out. Is such a small tweak on the same shit we've been hearing about really enough for anyone to, with a straight face, make the claim that this is breaking new ground? Good rapping? Yes. Breaking new ground? Hardly.

I think the production is a very nice marriage of modern pop hip-hop and a West Coast sound. Let's take a moment to actually discuss what we think the 'west coast sound' is. I think of west coast production as having a lot of live instrumentation and as being funky, often laid back. Many of the beats on the album fit that criteria more or less.  How would you guys describe this?


The only thing to complain about it musically is that beautiful beats like Money Trees and Don't Kill My Vibe are littered with profligate and juvenile throwback lines of 'bish' and 'bitch' every other syllable. I'm not against profanity but I am for creativity. I think the OutKast standard is a decent one; they say "nigga" and "bitch" often enough but they manage not to sound like troglodytes as they do it. Like others have said, Kendrick's best records are ahead of him and I'm confident this is a standard he can meet someday but I'm not gonna lie like I'm not disappointed he didn't do so this go round.

I'm gonna go ahead and re-emphasize my disbelief that it took so little tweaking of the standard west coast gangsta rap album formula to blow the lids off so many people. Painters used to depict the fucking heavens on chapel ceilings. That's a great example of scope an artist can strive for. The political statement of the ghetto being the only thing disadvantaged kids could see past excused this kind of lack of imagination back when N.W.A did it but it's been twenty years. I don't think I'm an asshole or stuck in the past for expecting a little more imagination and legitimate grandiosity from intelligent artists. Though maybe I was naive to expect anything but the same old Compton to come out of Compton.

But I gotta respect, it's a tough balance to strike. I don't want dude to do songs about drug problems and gay marriage like another Sage Francis or Macklemore. It's admirable the line he walks between singing and rapping, pop tracks and street rap. He's a very viable voice for the millennial generation of hip-hop which is another reason I really want him to talk about more than blowjobs and how tough Compton still is.

I mean what's supposed to be the deep take away from the album? The end where his parents say stop being a vandal and be responsible for helping your family? The fact that this is impressive for 25 year old grown ass men to be having these realizations explains a lot of why we are where we are as a society today and how the glorification of crime in pop culture lowers our expectations of one another in a way it need not.

Again, I think of Big Boi on all those old OutKast albums, calling people out on being more concerned about buying new tennis shoes and beeper then taking care of their illegitimate children. I don't think I'm being overly nostalgic to appreciate that as far back as '98 Big Boi was calling out people for being losers in trying to jump on the gangsta fads of recent decades instead of being a man. He was Kendrick's age or younger. Kendrick clearly has something spiritual he wants to and can express artistically and I know he has the potential for it to be more than "stop leechin' off your parents before you turn 30".

Good album.
Good rapping. A final note on the music/production: my understanding is that the cohesion of the album is what we can give Dre credit for. The older he gets, the less keys he's actually hitting and the more big picture framing he's doing. It's his mixing and choices as an executive producer that craft the album's over-all sound and while none of the beats are produced by him, it seems to me that his fingerprints are all over this and for the better.


Feel free to come at any of my wilder claims but notice that I often qualify my statements and go back and forth with myself a bit about some of the debatable parts within my write-up.

For me, time will tell me where between 3/5 and 3.7/5 this album actually lands.

-T
 

 

good review....people who were mind-blown by this album must not expect much. only thing i disagree with is that it has a west coast sound. while it does have the laid back factor, it's more like outkast's variation of laid back, as opposed to the traditional west coast laid back...to me, the only west coast cut on the album was the 2nd half of "maad city" and maybe "compton". read my review: http://blog.weserious.com/?p=141

[D Breezy]

people still critizing the album?? this shits sick.. the concept, the layout, the production, the lyrics, well put together album which a lotta playback value. besides nas this the only album ive listened to this much in a minute

[Tanjential]

I like the album. I think it's legit to discuss the strength and weaknesses of it still though. It's been a few months; there's some perspective.

Thanks NIK.

-T