Kendrick Lamar - good kid m.A.A.d city - Review
Kendrick Lamar follows in the footsteps of great rappers like Ice Cube, Mc Ren, Eazy- E, Snoop Lion(Dogg), Eminem and 50 Cent of having the opportunity to have Dr. Dre co-produce and executive produce their albums. Keep in mind the good Doctor has the midas touch.
Good Kid m.A.A.D City (GKMC) is a very dark and sinister rap/Hip Hop album, taking you deep into the streets of urban America, Compton to be exact.
No gang affiliation here. But the stories Kendrick Lamar aka K.dot relays via his rhymes comes across straight forward. A very mature rapper and his topics are not ignorant as most of todays new artists out there.
GKMC continues where NWA left us with Niggaz4life.
Topics are grim and dark. No party jams. You can see that Dre put this album together. All the tracks flows seamlessly together with skits just like a mini audio movie.
Although Dr. Dre did not produce a single track on the album one can clearly hear Dre's influence on the album. Each track is crisp and clear. The snares hit spot like a good whisky shot. Despite so many producers contributing to the album its cohesive.
Tha Bizness whips up the first track SHERANE a.k.a MASTER SPLINTER’S Daughter, which starts of with Kendrick's amazing ability to tell a story, which is missing today in much of today's braggadocious Hip Hop.
BITCH, DON'T KILL MY VIBE is a definite favourite with the hook, "I'm a sinner, whose probably gonna sin again, lord forgive me, lord forgive me, things I don't understand, sometimes I need to be alone, bitch, don't kill my vibe ... ". Sounwave cooks up a somber track that fits K.Dots flow like a glove.
BACKSEAT FREESTYLE is an absolute stunner. It producer Hit-Boy smacks you with a right hand jab across your face with a beat that's made for the clubs. Dr. Dre features on COMPTON and THE RECIPE. The veteran producer doesn't feel out of place as he holds his own with Kendrick.
MONEY TREES featuring fellow Black Hippy member Jay-Rock is so smooth like butter with a thumping snare conjured up by DJ Dahi. Head nodding and sing-along shit right here. "...Money trees is the perfect place for shade..."
The sample of Roy Ayers "We live in Brooklyn, baby" is instantly recognisable when GOOD KID begins, with Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams on the hook.
A stroke of sheer genius ala The Thrones "Murder To Excellence" must be the feisty M.A.A.D CITY which is basically two tracks in one. As the hook goes "... where you from nigga, fuck who you know, where you from my nigga, where your grandma stay, huh my nigga?, this is maad city ..." Fellow veteran and CMW frontman MC Eiht lends a verse on the second part of the track. This track takes you back to the days when the west ruled rap.
Canadian rapper Drake pops up on the Janet Jackson vocal sampled POETIC JUSTICE. Just Blaze's trademark over the top production bodies COMPTON. The magnum opus on this album. The before mentioned THE RECIPE appears on the deluxe version of GKMC, produced by Scoop De Ville it had heads nodding a few months back and still sounds good.
Kendrick is the D.O.C of the digital age. Continue Reading