Author Topic: Kendrick Lamar's "good kid m.A.A.d city" is Good.. But Not Classic  (Read 2364 times)

Sccit

http://blog.weserious.com/?p=141

Don’t get me wrong. Kendrick Lamar is definitely a good rapper. His new album, “good kid m.A.A.d city”, slated for an October 22nd release, is undeniably well produced and sequenced better than anything released in recent memory (Dr. Dre, anyone). I’d go as far as saying that it’s GREAT as a conceptual album. But make no mistake, the album is NOT a classic and Kendrick Lamar is NOT the savior of the west coast. As a matter of fact, I’d say that’s the main problem with “good kid m.A.A.d city”… the album has no regional sound whatsoever. If I had to guess without knowing, I’d say it came from Atlanta, possibly even the midwest. But it doesn’t have a distinct regional sound, and when it comes down to it, all the classic albums of the past have had a regional sound to them. Think about it… If Kendrick put the same album out claiming any other city, no one would know the difference. A rapper cannot “bring back the west” when their sound does not identify with the region. It’s impossible. Not that Kendrick isn’t a good rapper, because like I said, he is. Is he the greatest rapper? Technically, he’s everything you could ask for in an emcee. He’s got the lyrics, the flow, the concepts. What holds him back from being amongst the elite, though, is his current lack of identity. The charisma is not there, as Kendrick raps his verses in a similar monotone manner, track after track. The flow is definitely there. Ask Andre 3000, he’ll tell ya (though Andre did it better). Lyrically, as well. I gotta’ tip my hat to Kendrick as far as the lyricism goes. But if I could explain the overall sound of this album in three words, I’d say “Outkast meets Drake”. Which brings me to my next problem with Kendrick. The voice he uses and the often whiney cadence he raps with is reminiscent of the signature Young Money style. The flow and lyrics are lightyears ahead of any Young Money artist, but the hipster image is still there. Lets not pretend like it isn’t, because it’s borderline hipster rap. The technical aspects of his rapping skills are all on point, and I thought the album was solid. Some stand-out tracks include “Good Kid”, “m.A.A.d City” (nice to see MC Eiht on the album), “Money Trees”, “The Art of Peer Pressure”, to name a few. But sorry to those hailing it as a masterpiece and claiming the album “the return of the west coast”…because you’re wrong, to put it politely. FINAL RATING: 7.5/10

ICHI THE KILLER

Kendrick Lamar's "good kid m.A.A.d city" is Good.. But Not Classic
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2012, 02:24:25 AM »
The whole album been on repeat for a good time now.
I love that its not that typical westcoast sound, but rather new and creative.
Easy the album of the year for me, so far!

AGREE  8) its a new era of music right now and i rather listen to this shit than that South Club shit all the damn same time 90% of these west coast cats trying to drop today... NO DISS to the South but the West needed its own sound again and not copied from the South like its been for a few years after the G-Funk era faded out slowly.

the sound is not that original either cuz u can hear early Outkast influence

PLANT

Kendrick Lamar's "good kid m.A.A.d city" is Good.. But Not Classic
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2012, 02:47:39 AM »
I call it a classic.  Best rap album Ive heard a long time.  The way its structured, and the overall sound paired with Kendricks stories and lyrics make this album an instant classic if you ask me.  We havnt heard something like this in quite some time.
 

Sccit

Kendrick Lamar's "good kid m.A.A.d city" is Good.. But Not Classic
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2012, 02:52:14 AM »
I call it a classic.  Best rap album Ive heard a long time.  The way its structured, and the overall sound paired with Kendricks stories and lyrics make this album an instant classic if you ask me.  We havnt heard something like this in quite some time.

do you at least agree about the lack of regional sound and the fact that kendrick is using a similar style to drake/young money, with a lot of outkast influences? i understand kendrick is your dude, but you do see the flaws, right?



lame that you did another thread for this. Put it in the old thread.

like i said, this is its own column...is it bothering you? lol

Lucifuge

Kendrick Lamar's "good kid m.A.A.d city" is Good.. But Not Classic
« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2012, 03:23:37 AM »
West coast fans are close minded as fuck. We got you. Drake type of shit. You dont even listing this album? Or you dumb.
ALESSANDRO DEL PIERO!!!

Detox 2000Never

tyranasaurus rex like fuck a bitch
i once saw a pterdactyl fuck a bitch
eat a bowl these bitch gobbling dick
hoes forgot to eat a dick a shut the fuck up
roll through crenshaw on my pterdactyl like what up!
By kevin t as Kurupt :D
 

UCC

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Kendrick Lamar's "good kid m.A.A.d city" is Good.. But Not Classic
« Reply #5 on: October 19, 2012, 03:37:44 AM »
I’d go as far as saying that it’s GREAT as a conceptual album.

I agree with pretty much everything you brought up... I think the problem is that he's so concerned with
the content and making it a concept album, that not a lot of thought has been put into making it SOUND really good.

I think it'll definitely appeal more to people who are really into content though...
I'm more into dope flows and interesting voice/style and personality (and then if there is great content too, that's a bonus),
so I don't really ever get into Kendrick's content because the sound of it puts me off...

the album has no regional sound whatsoever. If I had to guess without knowing, I’d say it came from Atlanta, possibly even the midwest. But it doesn’t have a distinct regional sound, and when it comes down to it, all the classic albums of the past have had a regional sound to them. Think about it… If Kendrick put the same album out claiming any other city, no one would know the difference. A rapper cannot “bring back the west” when their sound does not identify with the region. It’s impossible. Not that Kendrick isn’t a good rapper, because like I said, he is. Is he the greatest rapper?

I think that's true if you want him to bring back the westcoast, but I don't think it's too big a problem that
it doesn't sound specifically westcoast...
I think a bigger problem, which is kinda the same thing, is that he doesn't have a distinct sound at all,
whether it's regional, or like conscious or jazzy or funky or electronic or anything...

To me it just sounds like anyone, from anywhere, rapping pretty well and who can rap fast,
but has no obvious personality or interesting sound,
and he's over generic beats that aren't really in any particular style at all...

Technically, he’s everything you could ask for in an emcee. He’s got the lyrics, the flow, the concepts. What holds him back from being amongst the elite, though, is his current lack of identity. The charisma is not there, as Kendrick raps his verses in a similar monotone manner, track after track.

Yeah, I think that's the big problem, there needs to be distinct personality,
like how Snoop is like a laidback pimp, Eminem is funny white trash,
2Pac is intelligent thug, Kool G Rap is gangster lyricist, Wu-Tang are hardcore kung-fu hiphop...

But Kendrick is...? To me it's just "guy rapping pretty well" and that's kinda boring...

 

Si-Chiggedy

Kendrick Lamar's "good kid m.A.A.d city" is Good.. But Not Classic
« Reply #6 on: October 19, 2012, 03:58:25 AM »
Or you dumb.

That's it. I stopped bothering about this on here though. This forum is dead since 3rd grade. now, just good for a quick laugh anymore.
Check out my blog "Love For The West" http://sichill-music.blogspot.com/

And hit me on twitter: http://twitter.com/Si_Chill
 

R-Tistic

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Kendrick Lamar's "good kid m.A.A.d city" is Good.. But Not Classic
« Reply #7 on: October 19, 2012, 04:14:57 AM »
No way possible it sounds like Atlanta. Closest would be "Swimming pools" but even that doesn't sound hype enough...that's just modern Mike Will/40 style at most.

Meho

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Kendrick Lamar's "good kid m.A.A.d city" is Good.. But Not Classic
« Reply #8 on: October 19, 2012, 05:03:51 AM »
Sounds familiar ?

!
 

Mietek23

Kendrick Lamar's "good kid m.A.A.d city" is Good.. But Not Classic
« Reply #9 on: October 19, 2012, 05:08:07 AM »
Just finished listen it for the first time and I must say I'm a lil' bit dissapointed - I was expecting something better. Maybe I'll change my mind after couple more spins but right now:

Section.80 > GKMC
 

Will_B

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Kendrick Lamar's "good kid m.A.A.d city" is Good.. But Not Classic
« Reply #10 on: October 19, 2012, 06:00:55 AM »
http://blog.weserious.com/?p=141

Don’t get me wrong. Kendrick Lamar is definitely a good rapper. His new album, “good kid m.A.A.d city”, slated for an October 22nd release, is undeniably well produced and sequenced better than anything released in recent memory (Dr. Dre, anyone). I’d go as far as saying that it’s GREAT as a conceptual album. But make no mistake, the album is NOT a classic and Kendrick Lamar is NOT the savior of the west coast. As a matter of fact, I’d say that’s the main problem with “good kid m.A.A.d city”… the album has no regional sound whatsoever. If I had to guess without knowing, I’d say it came from Atlanta, possibly even the midwest. But it doesn’t have a distinct regional sound, and when it comes down to it, all the classic albums of the past have had a regional sound to them. Think about it… If Kendrick put the same album out claiming any other city, no one would know the difference. A rapper cannot “bring back the west” when their sound does not identify with the region. It’s impossible. Not that Kendrick isn’t a good rapper, because like I said, he is. Is he the greatest rapper? Technically, he’s everything you could ask for in an emcee. He’s got the lyrics, the flow, the concepts. What holds him back from being amongst the elite, though, is his current lack of identity. The charisma is not there, as Kendrick raps his verses in a similar monotone manner, track after track. The flow is definitely there. Ask Andre 3000, he’ll tell ya (though Andre did it better). Lyrically, as well. I gotta’ tip my hat to Kendrick as far as the lyricism goes. But if I could explain the overall sound of this album in three words, I’d say “Outkast meets Drake”. Which brings me to my next problem with Kendrick. The voice he uses and the often whiney cadence he raps with is reminiscent of the signature Young Money style. The flow and lyrics are lightyears ahead of any Young Money artist, but the hipster image is still there. Lets not pretend like it isn’t, because it’s borderline hipster rap. The technical aspects of his rapping skills are all on point, and I thought the album was solid. Some stand-out tracks include “Good Kid”, “m.A.A.d City” (nice to see MC Eiht on the album), “Money Trees”, “The Art of Peer Pressure”, to name a few. But sorry to those hailing it as a masterpiece and claiming the album “the return of the west coast”…because you’re wrong, to put it politely. FINAL RATING: 7.5/10

Some stuff I agree with, some I don't

Rating is right tho. And a 7.5/10 album is enough to get plenty buzz, but not enough to get universal recognition (broadly meaning listeners outside the typical demographic).
 

HighEyeCue

Kendrick Lamar's "good kid m.A.A.d city" is Good.. But Not Classic
« Reply #11 on: October 19, 2012, 06:17:20 AM »
agreed with almost everything that was said. Not really a "west coast" sound and Kendrick while being a very dope technical MC there is definitely something missing IMO
 

Quadruple OG

Kendrick Lamar's "good kid m.A.A.d city" is Good.. But Not Classic
« Reply #12 on: October 19, 2012, 06:24:10 AM »
No way possible it sounds like Atlanta. Closest would be "Swimming pools" but even that doesn't sound hype enough...that's just modern Mike Will/40 style at most.

There's a lot of Outkast 96 influence on this album so I can see where the author of that post NIK sited got the Atlanta vibe from.

However I'm past the whole "well it isn't a west coast sounding album so I have to take it down a notch or two" phase. Kendrick put together and pulled off a great conceptual HIP-HOP album.

Too soon to call it a classic, however this album will probably join that conversation in a few years.
 

Quadruple OG

Kendrick Lamar's "good kid m.A.A.d city" is Good.. But Not Classic
« Reply #13 on: October 19, 2012, 06:32:29 AM »
Right, I decided to give this a listen. It sounds better than it did when I listened to the snippets. Its' a very cohesive album, and i mean very cohesive. Alot of of the beats are very similar and get boring. Standout tracks are Bitch, Dant Kill My Vibe, Backstreet Freestyle (hate the hook though) Money Trees and M.A.D.D. City. Infact, M.A.D.D. City is extremely dope. Compton would of been dope without the irritating hook. Classic this is not going to be. I give it a 3/5.

The snippits don't do it justice. I skimmed through the tracks at work and was initially let down by 5-10 second clips, however when I had the time to listen to the album in it's entirety I was blown away. The songs make more sense in the context of the album.

This shit is a cure for insomnia ...Boring as fuck....What the hell did I just listen to ?  This is barely even rap .. Not even close to west coast bangin' shit that shouldbe released under Dr Dre's label..This is the type of shit that we don't neeed.  :( :( :(

It's also a breath air from the same old shit that's been coming out the west for years. I love the old west coast sound as many on this board do, however people hating on this album purely based on it not being "West Coast Enough" need to get it through their head that this is a HIP-HOP album, not a West Coast Gangsta Rap album. Want that Gangsta Shit, buy the new Daz album where he talks about the streets for the 56,985th time.
 

Quadruple OG

Kendrick Lamar's "good kid m.A.A.d city" is Good.. But Not Classic
« Reply #14 on: October 19, 2012, 06:48:03 AM »
By the way, those looking for alternate album covers for this album should go here. This guy does a great job with creating them; I've used a couple for Curren$ey albums.

http://jonesfactory.tumblr.com/