Good Kid Maad City Meaning
When Pirus and Crips all get along, it’s because of albums like Kendrick Lamar Duckworth’s major label debut,, which was released five years ago today. GKMC was, and remains, many things: a densely and carefully woven life in a day bildungsroman of the narrator’s times, dreams and fears in Compton, California; a treatise on the long claw of gang life and the questionable but understandable moral codes cast by the shadow of pathology and institutional impoverishment and neglect. A confetti blast of words crushed, chopped, spit, inhaled and shredded into gushers, whirlpools, rivulets, torrents, waves.
Good Kid Maad City Album Meaning
On this last point, it needs to be said again: Kendrick Lamar was rapping his ass off. Rapping as if his life depended on it and, in some spaces, due to the narrative, it did seem that his life was on the line, whether directly or existentially. On “Backseat Freestyle,” he correlates his desires to those of the most famous and misunderstood Civil Rights leader in American history: “Martin had a dream/ Kendrick have a dream” MLK’s dream was “that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” Kendrick’s dream? “All my life I want money and power/ Respect my mind or die from lead shower/ I pray my dick get big as the Eiffel Tower/ So I could fuck the world for 72 hours.” It’s a weird juxtaposition of themes that underscores the tense pluralities of this album. The album isn’t a classic because of anything written above.
It isn’t a classic simply because of the narrative conceits—the non-linear story, the time-jumping, the anchoring skits—that forced a generation that had already accepted the playlist as the highest form of music currency to come to terms with the net worth of an album. Nor is it a classic because it was declared one before it was even released. It’s not a classic because just about everyone acknowledges it as such. Good Kid, m.A.A.d city is a classic because of all of the above and more.
Good Kid Maad City Kendrick Lamar
Oct 19, 2012 - Kendrick Lamar is making the media rounds in anticipation of his major label debut good kid, m.A.A.d city, releasing on October 22nd. Oct 19, 2012 - Kendrick Lamar has at last revealed the meaning of the acronym in the title of his just-leaked new album, good kid, m.A.A.d. In an interview. Kendrick Lamar Explains Cover Art For 'good kid, m.A.A.d city'. But of course, there was meaning behind his choice. Read below to find out why he went with that art. Good kid, m.A.A.d city.
Because of how it cut across demographics and subsets of rap fans—from purists to new- and future-school enthusiasts to Pirus and Crips. In many senses, GKMC can be viewed as equally seminal to the listening experience as HBO shows like The Sopranos and The Wire were to television viewing and storytelling—at least for a generation that was unaware as to what a concept rap album could sound like. It’s important to note that, for many listeners, good Kid, m.A.A.d city was their first classic rap album experience. And for those listeners, today’s anniversary represents a coming of age for them as much as the hustling through canals and alleyways in search of money trees represented for Kendrick. Good Kid, m.A.A.d city is a classic because, if you put it on right now, today, it speaks to you as much as it did when you first heard it.