By Miguel Mike Medina
12 years ago, on Oct 22, Kendrick Lamar’s ‘good kid, m.A.A.d. City’ was released.
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It is one of the best Hip Hop albums of 2012. Good kid, m.A.A.d. City is Lamar’s second studio album.
It’s a conscious album, which is rare in modern hip-hop. Good Kid, m.A.A.d. city gained a lot of attention from fans, and the music industry and Lamar became more known.
Lamar brings strong messages to this album without sounding too preachy.
‘Swimming Pools (Drank)’ is one of his best songs from the album. The production is smooth and watery, with excellent drums and keyboards. It’s a song where someone deals with situations by doing unhealthy things by drinking alcohol.
‘Poetic Justice’ is another top single from the album. The chorus and hooks are incredible. Lamar talks about his understanding of what a woman wants and desires. There’s also an undertone of frustration.
The song delivers a message about the challenges of a relationship that two people can go through. Drake fits well for this song.
Although Lamar and Drake have two different rapping styles, Drake’s appearance in his song is great because it’s a love song. His verse is phenomenal.
The ending track, “Compton,” is another extraordinary song from the album. However, it could’ve been strategically better if it had been inserted in the early tracks.
The song could have appeared probably in the first or second track in the list of the album.
Lamar has other songs on the album that are fan favorites, like “B**** Don’t Kill My Vibe,“Backseat Freestyle,” and “The Recipe.”
Other artists appeared on the album besides Drake, such as Dr. Dre, who signed Lamar to his Aftermath Entertainment label, Jay Rock, Anna Wise, and even MC Eiht, a West Coast hip-hop legend.
The album was a success. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and sold 242,000 copies in its first week.
Lamar earned four Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year at the 2014 Grammy Awards.
Album Review: 9.2 out of 10
Miguel Mike Medina is a publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com
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