good kid, m.A.A.d city

**Kendrick Lamar’s major label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, is a tour de force in hip hop storytelling. It follows a 17 year old Kendrick after stealing his mother’s caravan to venture out onto the poverty stricken streets of Compton, California. Lamar reflects upon coming of age in a city that traps many young, poor individuals in its destructive culture. He battles with his inner demons while the forces of poverty; gangs, drug abuse and violence begin to engulf him. It is a journey of self-reflection through the ghettos and the conflicted, vulnerable minds of those that occupy it. **

Dr. Dre and a host of other big name producers have created some fantastic, diverse beats. From the classic West Coast sound of ‘Money Trees’ to the aggressive and intense ‘m.A.A.d city’, it’s a layered sound that benefits immensely from repeat listenings.

Technically, the record is superb. Lamar’s vivid, evocative lyrics and his impressive flow really stand out. ‘The Art of Peer Pressure’ is perhaps the best example of the album’s strongest components merging seamlessly together. Lamar deconstructs the influences of ‘the homies’, in whose presence he can’t help but succumb to peer pressure and partake in crime, violence and drug use, despite recognizing that they represent characteristics and values he does not identify with. The lyrics and atmosphere perfectly encapsulates his conflicted state.

The album sounds phenomenal played through due to its varied yet coherent structure and it fittingly ends on a classic gangsta-rap number, ‘Compton’, with the man who popularized the genre, Dr. Dre.

It’s a fantastic LP that manages to offer something new to the genre: this isn’t west coast gansta rap as we used to know it. It’s gritty and honest and it really will make you think about wider social issues, yet it retains some of the classic imagery and production value that characterised the great hip-hop of years gone by.

**MP3:** ‘The Art of Peer Pressure’
**Similar To:** Ab-Soul, ASAP Rocky