Review Summary: Promise that you will sing about me...
I oftentimes find it incredibly difficult to review an album because I rate releases based on how much I enjoy it and nothing else. How much can you really expound upon your enjoyment of an album without resorting to colorful thesaurusy adjectives that attempt to mask how little you have to say about it other than it was a pleasant listen? That being said, sometimes there come certain works where its overarching narrative and concept is so closely tied into the enjoyment that one is given incredible license to justify your rating besides the standard "oh this sounds good" fare. Good Kid m.A.A.d City is such a work.
Good Kid m.A.A.d City is immature, reflective, candid, personal, and cinematic. The brazen narrative about a man molded and twisted by his near-dystopian city makes it so much more enjoyable beyond the verbose, self-aware, and at times stream-of-consciousness lyricism and masterfully-created production. Interspersed throughout are several phone calls from Kendrick Lamar's parents that ease the transition between tracks and really give life to the accounts of his inception that he is narrating to the listener. It's a stroke of genius, giving his parent's worried perspective on the dangers and vice he embraced when he was younger. The unapologetic snapshots we get of Kendrick boastfully freestyling to his friends, seeking the affection of an ostensibly promiscuous woman, and naively yearning for wealth and power as a youth makes for such a terrific listen. We get a man who, with no regrets, accepts what made him who he is today and transcribes those experiences that created him exactly as they happened without commentary that attempts to justify the actions of a young Duckworth.
Aside from direct, unedited rips of his childhood and upbringing, we get deeply introspective tracks such as Sing About Me. Such songs reflect on the city of Compton, self-proclaimed birthplace of gangsta rap and a place with a culture that glorifies gang violence and dying for a simple street or stretch of dirt. Told from the perspectives of several people including himself, we hear a deeply lost man, Dave, convinced his end is coming soon, a prostitute trapped in in a world of selling one's body to survive, and Kendrick who endearingly shares Dave's sentiments on death and apologizes to the prostitute for mentioning her sister on one of his earlier songs in a rather negative light. All three narratives come to a head when Dave is ultimately killed and Kendrick receives a phone call from his brother who is out for blood and wants immediate retribution. The way these three stories all intertwine seamlessly is profoundly brilliant, and something to be admired.
The effortless delivery and lyricism of Kendrick aren't the only aspects of this album contributing to the narrative. The production provides a backdrop, almost equivalent to the cinematography of a film, to gift the stories and tales a subtle atmosphere while strengthening the visuals Kendrick attempts to create. A sure highlight is the opening track, Sherane aka Master Splinter's Daughter, with an eerie wail buried underneath an oddly-pitched vocal sample. The production evokes the imagery of a woman trapped in a well, her cries for help echoing and dissipating as they travel further upwards to the well's opening. This is the perfect metaphor for Sherane, the subject of the song and Kendrick's affection, who is described as the archetypal 'hoodrat' and immersed hopelessly in the rough, gang-centered culture of Compton with no conceivable escape.
Alas, the enjoyment of Good Kid, m.A.A.d City doesn't stem only from Kendrick's terrific rapping or the exceptional production. It also stems heavily from the perfectly executed concept, a young kid growing up in a broken world embracing its ills and shortcomings, learning from them and going on to become a tremendous success story while his peers pass away one by one. Cohesive and brilliantly done, Good Kid m.A.A.d City is a superb modern hip hop classic.
