#115 Kendrick Lamar, 'good kid, m.A.A.d city' (2012)

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Lamar’s second album and major label debut, ‘good kid, m.A.A.d city,’ was my first exposure to the artist. At the time he didn’t quite grab me like he would on his defining follow up record. But that’s the great thing about recorded music, it’s always there for you to go back and rediscover. The album is a concept record chronicling Lamar’s teenage experiences on the streets of Compton; gang infested and drug riddled.

The album has a different sound to the Hip Hop of its contemporaries, but then that’s Kendrick Lamar, always happy to do his own thing. Its downbeat sounds are reminiscent of early Outkast and The Roots. ‘Bitch, Don’t Kill My Wife’ was the first song I heard from Lamar. Originally intended to be a duet with Lady Gaga, that version was scrapped due to timing issues and creative differences. Lamar’s flow is incomparable. In retrospect, such a great song. ‘Backseat Freestyle,’ the next track was also a single and a song that I know well. It’s got a harder sound foreshadowing future hit ‘HUMBLE.’ My favourite song on the record is the title track, or at least half of it, ‘good kid,’ which was co-written and produced by Pharrell Williams. The next track, ‘m.A.A.d city,’ has a completely different sound, a harder sound, and I think those two tracks together sum up the complete sound of the record, its duel identities. Another song that introduced me to Lamar was the single, ‘Swimming Pools (Drank).’ At the time I thought this was a novelty song, not quite predicting how influential Lamar would become. The album was nominated for four Grammys, including Album Of The Year. He didn’t win any, but it was only a matter of time before Lamar would start dominating. This album was a fine introduction of Lamar to the world.

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