By Max Hill
good kid, m.A.A.d. city is punctuated by the voicemail messages its 17-year-old protagonist receives. His mother prays for him and tempers her disappointment with the hope that he’ll grow out of his adolescent flirtations with gang violence and drug use. His struggles with his faith and his faithful mother are the heartbeat of the album, and the hour-plus span might well be considered a confessional. Kendrick Lamar bears all throughout GKMC, which chronicles his experiences on the violent streets of Compton at 17, and his originality and flair in telling his deeply personal and, at times, heart-wrenching story make the album the most impressive work in the genre in years. Lamar is a talented MC, and his flow is intoxicating: on tracks like “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” and “Money Trees”, it’s easy to ignore the stories and appreciate the creative beats and engaging hooks.
[pullquote]His religion and the wise words of his parents are weaved through the album’s twelve tracks, on the fringe of Lamar’s consciousness as he struggles with rival gangs, the police, and the muted voice of his conscience.[/pullquote]
Even though many of the album’s songs stand well enough on their own, this is a work best consumed as a whole: tracks like “Backseat Freestyle”, featuring the boasts of a 17-year-old fueled by testosterone and peer pressure, lose some of their quality out of context. The album’s narrative begins with an innocent young man attracted to the gang violence of Compton, drunk with peer pressure and the promise of promiscuous sex, and ends with bloodshed and Lamar’s ultimate rejection of his reckless lifestyle. His religion and the wise words of his parents are weaved through the album’s twelve tracks, on the fringe of Lamar’s consciousness as he struggles with rival gangs, the police, and the muted voice of his conscience.
good kid, m.A.A.d. city might have been a messy, unfocused sprawl in the hands of another MC, but Lamar’s talent for concise storytelling keep the album tied together. Musically, it’s endlessly listenable and varied, as the tracks range in style to express the mood of their narrators. Where “Backseat Freestyle” might feel most at home on hip-hop radio, with its typical misogynistic hyperboles and heavy bass, tracks like “Good Kid” and “Swimming Pools (Drank)” are accessible even to the uninitiated hip-hop listener. Conversely, the 12-minute epic “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” is one of the most inventive hip-hop tracks to be released this year, and “Money Trees’” samples Beach House’s “Silver Soul” to great effect. Lamar’s wit and talent for affecting his voice to portray different characters (his pubescent squeak in “m.A.A.d. city” contrasts perfectly with its hyper-violent lyrics) have improved since last year’s Section.80, and only help solidify GKMC as one decof the most intelligent, well-realized and masterful hip-hop albums to come along this decade.
