Reviews (page 4 of 14)
wasn't rly my style but i did enjoy some of the music
I'm not really a hiphop listener, but I can appreciate it. And this is just an objectively good album
Muy bien
Quintessential Kendrick here. Probably tied for my favorite Kendrick record, along side Mr. Morale. Some heavy hitters on this project, not only for Kendrick's catalogue but for the rap game as a whole. Whether you like him or not, Mr. Lamar is one of the "Mount Rushmore" artists of the Modern rap/hip hop/music day and age. Listened to this one many times over in the past, and always jammed to it. I even forgot he had a Dr. Dre feature, which is just sick. Personal Ranking: 9/10 Favorite Tracks: Money Trees, Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe, Backseat Freestyle
Still as good as when I first heard it at its release. Narrative, beat, production all excellent
i mean, i liked TPAB, i like the lyrical complexity and meaning, but i just cant like the beats. Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe and Backseat Freestyling had good beats, but it just doesn’t make up for the lack of in the other places
There's a bit of good instrumentation, but the bulk of this album is just annoying. I don't like his voice and rap style. I don't get why he's so popular.
listen, i was 15 when this came out. it is therefore just genuinely impossible to overstate this record's impact, prevalence, quality. i think it's perhaps my first real-time encounter with a masterpiece, a feeling i chased for years, staying up on a school night for a first listen i was anticipating, wanting to react along with the internet to the emergence of something new and exciting. i wasn't early to this record - i think it took til end-of-year lists for 2012 came out for me to really engage with it - but when i did, it was breathless, comprehensive, filling up my ears and eyes and mind. 13 years later.......fuck, man, it's just as good. it is genuinely That Good. the most obvious analogue for Kendrick Lamar on this album might be a short story writer, but i think he moves more like a film director here - everything hangs together, true concept-album style, but he's so exacting about his framing, the voices he harnesses, the amount of a scene he needs to give the listener before he's out towards somewhere else. the use of perspective here is just insanely ambitious - the way the journey to see Sherane from the first track is recontextualized, quickly, casually later on, or how Backseat Freestyle becomes an entirely more self-conscious song with its little spoken word intro. i think, at 15, i was conscious of my status as a pretty casual hip-hop fan, as a young person, as someone maybe somewhat easily impressed. i think i wasn't entirely confident that this record was as good as it seemed. more than a decade on, with this album calling to me more often than many of my other most cherished records from that part of my life, i think my rapt, hanging-on-every-word first listen was just a fair reaction to a record that's fuller, more purposeful, more confident than most anyone's musical output. the mass anointing of Kendrick as a star is perhaps the most confident i've ever felt re: contemporary mainstream culture, and GKMC stands as an example of something very sophisticated and well-crafted wearing mainstream clothes becoming ubiquitous through sheer undeniability. towering 21st century masterpiece that, despite how foreign its content might be to me, feels deeply entwined with my adolescence and young adulthood. love love love
Too much misogyny and too many words that make me uncomfortable. I don't find it enjoyable to listen to.
Wauw, det var jeg ret tosset med.
mucho rap pesado, algunas canciones estaban muy buenas y otras no muy pesado el ritmo,muy repetitivo
this is so damn great. It took me way too long to get into Kendrick but i'm having so much fun exploring the albums.
Damn
dopee
not my thing
I donde like. I coudn't listen totally
uhhhhhh its been a really long time since i last heard this but i think it was pretty good. i like the one where he says please dont kill my wife.
Really good, really can replay every song, amazing story telling
Storytelling reminds me of Eminem. Spans the gamut of rap styles, some I don't like, but musically it is excellent. I can't relate too much of the lyrical content but he is a great lyricist.
i guess, if i would enjoy listening rap, i would listen this or similar, but i just can't, really not my genre
Our modern west coast rap, will be looking upon in 20 years as continued greatness.
Слушать про то как очередной чёрный "got bitches" - абсолютно утомительно. Проскипал этот альбом, ничего интересного и примечательного. кал.
Aunque había escuchado algunas puesas, nunca me había dado el tiempo de escuchar el álbum completo. Me gusta cómo tiene reminiscencias de su pasado y cómo lo plantea de una forma cruda y nostálgica, haciéndonos ver cada aspecto de su vida como si nosotros lo estuviéramos viviendo
Favorite Kendrick's album
Forgot how good the song m.A.A. city is. I think this is my favorite Kendrick album. 4/5
like good but not really my vibe
I don't pretend to begin to understand how to appreciate Kendrick Lamar, nor is he a go-to artist for me, but a compelling listen from beginning to end and gotta support the biggest LA artist we got going these days.
Trying to listen to this while working is ridiculous. There are a lot of words here. It's just too much to have on in the background. I've listened to Kendrick several times, and for whatever reason it just doesn't stick with me. I never really want to come back for another listen, even though it sounds solid. I guess I prefer Dre's style because "Compton" was a standout for me.
Back to happier times for Kendrick and Drake. 💔 This is basically a movie. Kendrick refers to it as "a short film" on the cover, but there's enough here for a feature-length. It's dense and non-linear, the kind of album that benefits from headphones and repeat listens to digest it all. "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe," "The Art of Peer Pressure," "Money Trees," "m.A.A.d city," and "Swimming Pools" are particularly great, though there isn't a dud on here. And the phone call interstitials actually serve the story instead of dragging it out. I need to return to this more often.
One of the greatest hip hop albums of the last 2 decades for sure. Fascinating lyrically, flows nice and a lot of memorable moments. 4.5 on RYm, probably 5 stars here
Not my Taste in music
++: Sherane a.k.a. Master Splinter's Daughter, Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe, Backseat Freestyle, The Art of Peer Pressure, Poetic Justice, good kid, m.a.a.d city, Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst, Real, Compton +: Money Trees, Swimming Pools (Drank) 9,6/10
Loved this album, great vibe and reminds me of my youth.
Good one
Best Song: Money Trees Least Best Song: Compton
Love Kendrick. I've listened to this album quite a bit over the years.
Good
5/5. TPAB clears tho
muy bueno la verdad, si bie me gusta drake q creo q es similar estilo, este no pene q me fuese a gustar tanto y me sorprendio muy bueno
Yay glad to relisten, and it totally holds up even though I'm not listening to too much rap at the moment... There's a mix or club trap stuff, and loads of introverted stuff, which I think he is brilliant at both, and I think is his strongest strength, to make really thought-provoking and introspective stuff and make it catchy. The storyline is also really great, and I think its partially a biography, but also about what he feared he could have become if he didn't pick up rapping. Also the way that the story recontextualises some of the songs for example backseat freestyle in a vacuum is a bombastic and egotistic song which you might take at face value and think he's actually bragging about that stuff (which maybe he is to some degree), but the added context that its his younger self freestyling in his friend's car. The beats are great as well, and although some of them feel certainly of an era, they are quite unique, and fit the rapping very well, as quite a lot of them are partially 90s inspired, like the second half of maad city. features are great as well, even the Drake one is fine, but all the features on money trees, and dr dre on compton are all brilliant. I think maybe in terms of density, sing about me I'm dying of thirst is probably his best song, and I love the beats. I feel like this is his second best album after TBAP (not an unpopular take I know), but this has some of his best songs, which are also a bit more 'accessible' than some on TBAP (accessible at least compared to other rap at this time). Favourite songs: all. Overall around 9/10
I loved the production. Good storytelling and hooking. Sometimes it might have felt too long for some songs, but nothing too drastic.
Damn, with this right after Led Zeppelin II, I think I’m on a roll! Now, full disclosure, I’m a late millennial, and a high-schooler when this came out, so this record was basically inescapable in when it released; everyone I knew was bumping “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe”, “Backseat Freestyle”, “Swimming Pools”, “m.A.A.d. City”, “Poetic Justice” and “Money Trees”. From the popular kids, to the hipsters and hip-hop nerds, to the radio. Can’t blame them for all but one of them (coughcough “Poetic Justice” coughcough), those are great pop-rap songs that still make space for some very clever writing for Kendrick. But for me, the deeper cuts really stand out to me. The cinematic detail of “The Art of Peer Pressure”, the sheer emotion of “good kid”, the earnest beauty of “Real”… and don’t even get me started on “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of First”, words just don’t do that song justice! There’s times where I feel that this is better than TPAB. I’d say today’s one of them.
I know he’s talented. But I’m old. If it’s rap and it isn’t at least 30 years old…
So, yeah I didn’t hate this but there continues to be something I just don’t get - or keep missing - with Kendrick Lamar. He is the subject of so much gushing, on the internet and from people in real life whose opinion I value, but his music just seems to bypass me. There is nothing that stands out for me, other than him being obviously good at what he does i am always underwhelmed.
Kendrick have a DREEEAAAMM
This one is a certified heater. You can taste the beginnings of the idea of TPaB here, and though it doesn't quite square up to TPaB, this album is damn good. Each track flows well into the other, and they are really damn good while talking some really tough topics like gun violence, religion, and not getting your Domino's when your boy told you he was gonna pull through. My favorite track is either Money Trees or Backseat Freestyle.
I’m on a hot streak - more 4s and 5s than 2s and 3s lately, and this one is part of that. This might be the first Kendrick I listened to. A little alarming, being the white guy that I am, but my opinion of Kendrick being a modern-day poet who speaks volumes for his people still stands.
It's hard to understand why people listen to this on purpose. For one hour and 17 of our Earth minutes. Fml. 2
1. "Backseat Freestyle" 2. "Swimming Pools (Drank)" 3. "Real" (featuring Anna Wise)
I'm not saying it's a really bad album. It's just not for me. I didn't save any of the songs because it's not what I like and what I listen to.
I don't like rap
Masterpiece!
There’s a lot to unpack here. Some of this is excellent, the production and instrumentation is very good and there are some excellent tracks, then there are tracks with horrific vocals, and I’m not even sure who is providing them. *Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst* is a really good track ruined by Old Gregg singing the chorus. I could probably do without the skits but it’s just par for the course for the genre I suppose. So it’s a mixed bag, I don’t know if this would grow on me - I get why people would speak highly of this but at the same time, I’m a little unsure if I want to give it another chance.
Depending on the day and my reasoning its anything from a 4-5. I think Money Trees playing while I write this convinced me to give it the final bump.
Bitch don’t kill my vibe is an iconic line (I think I like the OG version the best). Backseat freestyle is classss although the bell sound in background sounds like cow bells. Money trees and poetic justice are classics for a reason. m.AA.d city is a sick beat. I like when they’re lowkey aggressive. Swimming pool also sick flow. Album songs has funny intros/outros but I don’t actually like when songs do that. All those not mentioned are meh/ would not listen again.
Some bangers, some mid
Cannot BELIEVE I pulled both Kendrick albums back to back on this thing. What are the odds???? I think TPAB is better, but that's not to diminish the quality of this album. TPAB is a statement, but this one has all the hits (and does a great job of telling a story in its' own right). Sing About Me is the best song Kendrick has ever made and one of the best rap songs of all time. Gotta give this one a 5 too, right?
Since I saw the artist and today's album cover I knew what kind of music I had to listen to. Don't take it the wrong way, I've never liked this genre very much, I felt that they were meaningless lyrics and that they were at the wrong time, it just didn't sound good. But after listening and reading the lyrics carefully I understood that it was something deeper than just letters and words. I really loved this album, there were new songs and some that I had heard before that I didn't even know were from the artist and much less that they were from this album. I got out of my comfort zone and it was good because I discovered that although sometimes it sountimely, I also like this kind of music.
wildly complex lyrics clearly presented in a range of styles paired with fairly sparse arrangements result in an album that's always very technically impressive but not necessarily always enjoyable to listen to.
I’m honestly not reallyyyyy into hiphop, but this album wasn’t half bad
A1
5 Incredible. Been a long time since I listened the whole way through and forgot how it all connects so well with the story throughout
Otro tío que habla rápido.
Gear: ZMF Bokeh Closed Artwork: 👤/🚗 Production: 😌🩺𝄢 Music: 📖🧭🏚️ Rating: 🗼🗼🗼🗼(🗼)/5
It's Kendrick.
I get it. It’s good. Has a couple real good party tracks.
Dug this. I could listen to it on repeat a few times. Good beats and flows, all with variety of delivery and voices. Nothing was mumble wrap. Solid work
Disgusting, horrible, misogynistic, ignorant crap. 0/5, 0/10, 0/100.
Interesting. I quite enjoyed it
What a good album! I've always enjoyed Kendrick's music, it was amazing to see him at Osheaga in 2023, but I've mainly listened to his hits/singles. I really enjoyed listening through this one and I didn't know how many I knew from this album! Will be diving deeper into his discography!
Exceptional
A personal favorite and a true masterpiece. Not much to say beyond great storytelling and lyricism that all perfectly flows together.
Creo que he escuchado unas 2-3 de este álbum.
good
Once again, I HATE HIP HOP. I gotta admit this has a few elements that I like; it sounds more interesting than older hip hop. I know that some of these songs were massive hits and trends, and maybe that influences me a bit. This album is good, though. I think it's the first time I've said this about an album pertaining to this genre. It's not as monotonous. I can distinguish between songs. There isn't much more I can say. I don't love it; I don't hate it. It's fine for what it is.
Just not for me. Can appreciate the reasons this stands out in the genre and the artistry, but I will likely never listen to this record again.
A film in an album’s clothing
Listened to this a billion times so just gonna say FIVE
Some of the music in this is incredible. It’s a very good album, albeit one I’m unlikely to listen to often. 3.5
Liked the music! Listened to a few songs before but never the whole album
Incredible album. One of the best hip hop albums
One of the best rap albums ever made. If this doesn’t get 5 stars what will
coool
Fuckin classsiccc. An auditory movie.
Fue muy distinto a lo que suelo escuchar, no es mi estilo, pero me encantó la experiencia de escuchar algo totalmente distinto
-I’m using SoundCloud cause of the boycott -most are behind a paywall :( -could only listen to 3 songs: •swimming pools •poetic justice •bitch dont kill my vibe Anyways my notes on them SWIMMING POOLS -oooo nice :) POETIC JUSTICE -low-key a vibe :D -yes he can get it ✨ -oooo funky :)) BITCH, DON’T KILL MY VIBE -it’s ok :)
Last weekend, when we listened to Bringing It All Back Home, I thought about, but didn't write about, how the American monologue Bob Dylan's 115th Dream was an absurd play on Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream speech. If people thought Dylan was a generational voice, he would redirect them to a truly significant voice instead. It was stupid for people to give so much attention to a song and dance man like him. Kendrick Lamar pulls the same move more explicitly on Backseat Freestyle: "Martin had a dream, Kendrick have a dream." That dream, for the sixteen year old Lamar, is to have a dick the size of the Eiffel Tower. A reminder again not to take too seriously anything said by musician-poets. Like the worst excesses (can half-arsedness be excess?) of the Nobel-winning Dylan, the Pulitzer-winning Lamar can expurgate a torrent of consciousness over programmatic beats - no musical narrative, occasional lyrical narrative. Given his beats by others, he may as well be directing the session men to vamp a I-IV-V progression. It all gets a bit repetitive after a while. And doesn't feel much connected to the lyrical content at all. Because, of course, it's not about that, it's about the words. And, luckily, thanks to Genius.com, I can read the words that I couldn't make out. And I could read the fan annotations as well, in case I missed any deeper meaning. Or forced interpretation. Which, invariably, I did. There is no denying the density of Lamar's work here. And the character work can be easy to miss. I could have easily thought an adult man was wishing for an Eiffel-sized dick, were it not for the helpful Genius guidance that this was in the persona of his younger self. Where Dylan had the voice of a generation title thrust upon him, Lamar makes it clear that he sought it from youth. Perhaps not that title, specifically, but it is clear that, within Compton, becoming a voice is the only way out (apart from high school sports). However, as we've seen many times before, those voices that come straight out of Compton, as regularly become pantomimes or minstrel shows of their culture - playing up the thuglife for sales (perhaps witnessing Kneecap's buffoonish misrepresentation of West Belfast makes me feel this more keenly now). Where Dylan dealt with the challenge of idiots hanging on his every freestyled word by spewing gnomic nonsense at them, Lamar, again, does it implicitly, simultaneously enamoured and suspicious of rap success, recognising the hyperbole of hip-hop's violent narratives and accurately representing the grimness of 21st century working class life. The two closely resemble each other, but there is a difference. Fair play to him for navigating this all with thought and artistry. I imagine that, if I gave it more time, I would get more from it. However, when all is said and done, Good Kid m.a.a.D City is a coming of age story and all coming of age stories are boring; the very name gives away the ending: you come of age. You grow up. You mature. You realise that wishing for a dick the size of the Eiffel tower is not only absurd, but sad. It's never really funny. But the coming of age story allows you - or it allowed Lamar here - to indulge the hyperbole of youth. It is a way of performing the pantomime of gangsta rap bravado, but allowing yourself the plausible deniability of not really being 'him' anymore. "I wouldn't rap like that as an adult," you rap as an adult. But, like Dylan, even if he doesn't want to be a voice of a generation, Lamar wants to be a voice. He wants to be something. He articulates the inevitability of his becoming a rapper, while decrying the position and fate of rappers. Listen to him, but don't listen to him too closely. 2.5 Our first album from Kendrick Lamar, and about our ninth or tenth from The Greatest Rapper of All Time. This GROAT though, as we ought to know from reading the Wikipedia page, is different. Even from those other groats that have a social conscience. Among the plaudits for Kendrick Lamar - Grammys by the dozen, the Pulitzer Prize, Barack Obama’s favourite track of 2015 - my eye found two particularly daft ones irresistible. One was Rolling Stone declaring ‘Good Kid…’ the Greatest Concept Album of All Time. This is transparently daft for two reasons. First; this ‘concept album’ isn’t 100% sure how or where it ends - from day 1 Good Kid.. was issued in ‘Deluxe Edition’ with extra tracks. Indeed the vinyl record can’t seem to be had without them, and who cares more about concept albums than middle-aged men with hifis? Second - the runner-up GOAT concept album was Green Day’s American Idiot. Alas, we’ll get to that one in detail at some point in this project. The other plaudit that gave me a chuckle was that some American academic has put Good Kid… on the reading list for a college course on the Bildungsroman. Explaining himself this, let’s safely predict white middle-aged professor declared Kendrick Lamar ‘the James Joyce of Hip-Hop’. I had planned to do a long bit here on why KL and James Joyce are not necessarily paisan and expended a good deal of thought on the comparison. Truthfully the only insight worth sharing was when I reflected that KL’s new status might mean that The Notorious B.I.G was the Victorian Novel. I was very pleased with this so I am putting it in. Now none of that or such other nonsense is Kendrick Lamar’s fault and I did, I promise, listen to Good Kid, M.A.A.D City as well. Twice, and the second time in a really good mood, because I had just finished deadheading the hydrangea plant out our back and I felt like Alan fucking Titchmarsh. The album is certainly not bad. Lamar has plenty to say, without resorting to the default gestures of his genre, and there is an unmistakeable relish for language as he goes. For me it still bumps up against the same ceiling that all hip-hop does; the poverty of the music. Rapping is music of course - perhaps here, in the Damascene glare of hip-hop’s Virginia Woolf, is the appropriate place to confess that I have probably neglected to actually acknowledge as much in evaluating previous rap albums. If you speak rhythmically - ok that’s music - and if it happens to have some drama to it, so much the better, but there is never in my experience of hip-hop any true integration with the track behind it - notwithstanding those moments where the rapper sings a bit. I don’t mean the neglect of constantly troubling over a note to go with (or not go with) a chord - I mean some musical connection beyond the superficially rhythmic connection. Why this particular gloomy mid-tempo 4 bar phrase on repeat and not another? There are a bunch of such loops here and nothing is demanded of them except that they hold us in stasis, gloomy stasis, while Kendrick articulates his woes. There are all sorts of ‘characters’ on this album but the music isn’t one of them. It’s just part of the staging - a cheap wooden set that we’re supposed to ignore after the actor comes on stage. Well I can’t, myself, be the actor never so brilliant. 2/5
I haven’t listened to an entire rap album that was made post 2000. I don’t think I would attempt it with another artist just to give grounding of my disdain for this “new” generation of rap. My only complaint with this album was that it wasn’t longer. Songs were great, lyrics incredible, track numbering impeccable. Easy 5.
Don’t pmo
ik a lotta songs on this but never put them together as being on one great album
I’ll never get over listening to this. One of the best albums of the 21st century.
There are 1001 albums in this list and as far as I know they're assigned to me randomly, but what are the odds of getting Kendrick Lamar two days in a row? Still not my jam. Like, at all.
Rap isn't my favourite genre. In fact, I hate most rap songs as they sound the same to me. However, Kendrick seems to keep my attention for the duration of this album. The instrumentation is amazing. I do tend to prefer rap artists who use guitars, pianos, and real drums instead of doing everything inside of their DAW. There's more life to the music that way. I also like the voicenotes/spoken word bits at the end of traks that tell the story of Kendrick's childhood. Helps differentiate him from the countless sea of other artists who sing about sex, killing, and drugs like it's nothing. Then again, I would not listen to most of these tracks again on their own. Artists like Childish Gambino or Tyler, The Creator who are pushing a more experimental take on the rap genre are more my style than what this album has. Not to say that this album is bad - I like it - but I wouldn't play this on my way to uni or work. Favourite tracks: Sherane a.k.a Master Splinter's Daughter, Money Trees, the 2nd half of Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst, Real, and Compton 3/5
9 / 10
The last good hip-hop album?
Not bad at all. Don’t really listen to this genre much, so this was a pretty cool experience.
love the story telling and the transition in between track 1-2
Excellent. I hope to hear more rap albums in the mix
My favorite Kendrick album, and I could make an argument for his best. A masterful blend of storytelling and worldbuilding with support from an all-star feature lineup. A wonderful variety of beats with juuuust the beginning of his to-come experimental vocal delivery. Listened to: at the Edison. Favorite tracks: Backseat Freestyle, The Art of Peer Pressure, Money Trees, m.A.A.d city, Swimming Pools, Sing About Me I'm Dying of Thirst
Edelleenkään puhelaulu ei oikein oo mun musaa, en vaan ymmärrä sitä vaikka kuinka sitä kuuntelen. Vaikka biitit on yleensä hyviä, kaipaan rumpuja ja kitaroita.
Very personal with Kendrick. Engaging beat and rich.
Rap&HipHop are not my thing. The second part of the album was more enjoyable for me. Will not listen again probably.
Really great album I haven't listened to in too long
Kendrick's stuff doesn't always work for me - I have to be in the right mood - but when he hits he hits
this is probably blasphemy but sometimes Kendrick's flow on here sounds like Gmcfosho half the time on Money Trees I just hear imdabes
YESSSSSSS
16 - Kendrick Lamar - Good kid, m.A.A.d city - Rating = 1 This is just not something I would ever listen to - not for me.
𝒮𝓉𝓊𝓅𝒾𝒹 𝒸𝓇𝒶𝓅
Huh, I really didn't like this! I don't like Kendrick's voice anyway, and I found the beats repetitive. Was too disinterested to absorb the lyrics. I think I gave To Pimp A Butterfly two (2.5?) stars, but I wayyy preferred that one, so I guess this is a one?
my review of Illmatic touched on how, when I was first getting into hip hop as a sheltered, suburban white young'in, that was one of, if not the album which was most frequently cited as a "potential entry point for newcomers into the trappings of the style as a whole" in online music discussions, where I was getting most of my information about music at the time. what I didn't mention in that review was the fact that, in the same year I was first dipping my toes into the rap music pool, a young upstart from Compton, California (one of the most important cities in hip hop, as I would come to discover) would release his major-label debut album. that record, good kid, m.A.A.d city, became an Illmatic of sorts for millions of listeners of a new generation, myself included; and the rapper behind it, Kendrick Lamar, had all the makings of a superstar. as it would turn out, he might be the last of the superstar rappers. even as a novice to the art of Rhythm and Poetry, Lamar's handle of the craft was obvious to me. more than any hip hop album I had listened to beforehand, good kid is a showcase of rapping as a form of storytelling. it's a concept album, a format I was fairly familiar with given all the Pink Floyd records I gobbled up in middle school, which certainly helped. however, in rock music, concept albums tend not to have terribly straightforward narratives, even at the best of times. by contrast, every song here tells its own story with such clarity you can't help but pick up on the greater tale being told. plenty of people have gone and dissected Lamar's use of all manner of rhyme schemes across these songs; and that's all impressive, obviously, but what really pulled me into this album was his skill as a narrator. on good kid, m.A.A.d city, he mines an adolescence full of adversity for a stunningly honest (albeit somewhat fictionalized) portrayal of what actually led him—an urban Black kid who grew up in Section 8 housing living off government cheese—to turn, however briefly, to a life of crime and antisocial behavior. "Sherane a.k.a Master Splinter's Daughter" tells the story of a budding young romance, but it also reveals a lot about the quasi-autobiographical narrator Lamar portrays and the environment that surrounds him. the real-life Lamar is the son of a gangster, and grew up in an environment—a m.A.A.d city, if you will—colored by gang activity into which his good kid character frequently gets swept up, whether he wants to or not. his exploits with Sherane are a recurring theme; their relationship results in him getting tangled up in even more dangerous situations, and his friends tease him for having sex on the brain so often. of course, there are bright spots; "Backseat Freestyle" is just a good-ass time with Lamar flexing about nothing in particular, just to show off to his fellow guys in the back of their car; but it's immediately followed by "The Art of Peer Pressure", where we find out they're en route to stage a robbery which eventually goes sideways, with the group just barely evading capture by the police. the good kid's mother acts as a recurring moral compass attempting to steer him away from the negative influences taking over his life; we hear her (and his Domino's-craving father) through voicemails throughout these tracks. unfortunately, he doesn't fully see reason until his exploits wind up resulting in a rival gang killing one of his friends, resulting in the deeply moving two-parter "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst". after contemplating a violent retaliation, he instead turns his focus to family, friends and God. the whole album is a cinematic, stirring tribute to Lamar's early life in Compton, a city which has become known in hip hop for its perseverance in the face of adversity. it's no coincidence Compton's own Dr. Dre jointly released this on his Aftermath label, along with being featured as executive producer and delivering a verse on the closer, also named for the city he and Lamar call their hometown. I wonder if the people who reflexively rated this 1/5 because they heard a Black man talking about your typical gang-banging subject matter with no other context were able to pick up on any of this, or if they even *wanted* to pick up on it to begin with. I thought the point of exploring this 1001 Albums thing was to expand your musical horizons and understanding, not to balk at anything unfamiliar the moment you don't immediately get it. more than any other album I can think of, good kid, m.A.A.d city adapts the aesthetic front of a typical "gangsta rap" record and flips it on its head to deliver a powerful message *against* crime, drugs, objectification of women, etc. I really don't know how it's possible to miss that! you're reading along with the lyrics for all these albums, too, right? to list all the producers and guests who contributed to each song here would take too much time; suffice it to say, the production is wonderfully varied, covering a range of moods from smoky introspection ("Sherane", "The Art of Peer Pressure", "Real") to pop catchiness ("Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe", "Money Trees", "Poetic Justice") to classic hardcore hip hop aggression ("m.A.A.d city", "Backseat Freestyle"). the guest vocalists all slot in nicely, even Drake, whose appearance on "Poetic Justice" gets even stranger with time. (unfortunately, it's a great match for the type of artist he was in 2012.) my favorite comes from fellow Compton native MC Eiht, who lights up the second half of "m.A.A.d city" and creates one of the album's most blood-curdling moments. forget Illmatic, I say. well, don't forget it. but, if you're looking for a way into hip hop, this album's the whole package. strong 9/10.
Classic love it
Damn. I'm not a big fan of Rap but this album is an absolute exception. The production is meticulous and creative, the songwriting is varied and inspired, and the mixing is delicious. The first few songs have a minimalist arrangement that leave a lot of room for a few well placed production ideas to shine, which I really love, but the album doesn't lean into the minimalist approach, the songs grow in complexity as the album progresses. Love this approach. Further, the album is a concept album with storytelling. I gotta be honest that I didn't really follow the lyrics too closely but the album title&art and what I've read from other commenters filled the blanks: It's not just an albu in the sense that it's a bunch of songs, it's storytelling. In short, let's see if I can get over my newfound mancrush on Kendrick so that further albums I review don't suffer by comparison.
Pure storytelling, emotion, and love despite everything for his city and community. He's an artist through and through.
Modern day masterpiece
kendrick kendrick kendrick.... this is maybe your best
I am not a huge fan of new rap, even though I appreciate that there FINALLY is something that sounds modern on this list, but out of all the newer rap I feel that Kendrick is absolutely the best. I vibed with this record pretty much.
Zieht sich, sind aber schon auch banger dabei
Really really good some bangers on here, love the Dre features he’s so smooth
Yeah I see why people say Kendrick is that good.
Pretty great album, even if it's really not for me as a white British guy. I like rap but a lot of the more popular recent stuff kinda hits as pretentious. Some tracks I really liked but a few I just wasn't into.
Good rap álbum, not much my type of music
Some fuckin bangers. And this goes for every rap song: Wouldn't have listened to it by itself if it weren't for this project. Slay.
His best. All-time hip hop classic for suuuure. 9/10
My first time listening to a full rap record; feels unfair to dive into such a major genre via the sophomore album by the most acclaimed rap artist in history, but the truth is that, as a fairly privileged white woman from Dublin, I will just not have a deep understanding of American hip hop – it's a complex culture that I have zero experience with and never will. All I can do is let the music speak. With that said, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City feels canonical. As an aspiring writer, I genuinely did sympathise with young Kendrick's ambition, his introspection, and his spiritual transformation. Truly immersed me into his Compton childhood, and actually fired quite a few gut-wrenching bullets into my back, but ends on a note that has turned out to be positive, seeing Kendrick's massive success. An honorary short film. Favourite tracks: "Poetic Justice", "Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst", "Real"
Don't like rap
Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city is the rare “major‑label debut” that feels less like an introduction and more like a fully formed memoir set to subwoofer‑rattling beats. It’s a coming‑of‑age story disguised as a blockbuster rap album—equal parts cinematic, confessional, and casually brilliant. Kendrick threads teenage misadventures, moral dilemmas, and Compton’s gravitational pull into a narrative so tight it makes most concept albums look like loose scribbles. The production swings from woozy to thunderous, but his pen never wavers; every verse feels like it’s been pressure‑washed for clarity. It’s ambitious without being self‑serious, vulnerable without slipping into melodrama, and catchy without sacrificing depth. A rare album that rewards both deep listening and loud‑car‑speakers listening. If this is the “good kid,” you can only imagine what the grown man has in store.
It's genius but I don't like listening to it
Hate it.
One of my fave albums - love Poetic Justice, Money Trees
Fave song good kid. 7.4
De los mejores álbumes de rap que escuche
Is Kendrick the best rapper to come out of Compton since N.W.A Crew? I think so and its not even close. I remember my Dad talking about Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E and how he couldn't wait to hear their newest album because it changed the game for rap music. Kendrick is the successor to them and this album is a testament to that.
Classsic
It had it's moments of beautifully written lyrics and very thicc beat tracks. I'm not a rap connoisseur but I know Kendrick is one of the best of his era. I'd rate the full album as a 6/10
Um “3 grande” porque nunca tinha ouvido mas sabia que era considerado dos melhores do Kendrick, e como já tinha ouvido o TPAB tinha expectativas mais altas para este. Acabei por não gostar tanto, senti falta das inspirações de jazz to TPAB
É certamente uma vibe. Cumpre o objetivo de contar uma história e fazer uma introdução ao estilo para quem não conhece. Muito tasteful
Continua a ser um estilo que não aprecio, mas é um álbum ok
Rating 5/10 Best Song - Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst.
Hey, I knew it was possible to have good hip-hop on this list.
great album
I'm so glad I asked my friend about this album, and they told me this was a concept album. the second time I listened to it, I got so much more out of it. This album was produced by Tha Bizness. They did a beautiful job. this album was fun to listen to. Kendrick had a weird almost Muppet voice, but his flow is so confident, it really works. I enjoyed this album a lot.
didn't really care for it.
Clean, downtempo beats and rapping with very few hooks. I like the storyline continuing through the track list and the fact that it tackles some complex issues in a fresh and honest way. Also the voicemail messages are definitely better than the "comedy" skits some other albums have. Backseat Freestyle was fun, and m.A.A.d city is a great track, but most of the rest were interesting but not very enjoyable to listen to.
OK.
Maybe my favorite Kendrick album. A cinematic modern rap classic. 5/5.
Zero skips. 10/5.
Absolute banger!
Trop long, trop tout.
The first track mentions Master Splinter who is a good rat. It's solid.
The production, rhythm and lyricism are all fantastic. A breakthrough album from an amazing artist.
Highly conceptual and rooted in what seems to be authenticity, this is a great showcase of how hip hop can be a vehicle for social commentary, linguistic prowess and connection with others. While I don’t think this is quite as strong as ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’, primarily due to lessened variety in musical influences shown here, it’s still a great listen.
one of THE contemporary hip hop albums. the diversity of sound, the depth, the involvement, all of it on such an unbelievably great level. TPAB is a bit better for me, but this one was one of my fav hip hop albums for quite some time and it’s impossible to underestimate its impact on me and on the whole hip hop discourse of the early 2010s
Listening to "good kid, m.A.A.d city" by Kendrick Lamar for the first time as a white person Sherane: Not much my taste in terms of lyrics and the topic, but I get it. The voice mail at the end had me sit back in my seat and set my drawing pen down and listen to it. I don't know why it hit me so much but it definitely made me pause until the next song started playing. Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe: "I am a sinner, whose probably gonna sin again." stuck with me despite the chorus. It sticks out since the beat and vibe give a frat-like atmosphere. And then it just mentions the "sins" of something like a frat party with how everyone commonly drink, smoke, have sex, etc. Backseat Freestyle: Well given the title it's assumed that it's supposed to imitate freestyling in the backseat of a car. Another one of those songs where the lyrics aren't really for me but again I can see where they might come from given we already learnt women and sex were the main things on Kendrick's mind when he was a teen. The Art of Peer Pressure: I like the groove at the beginning, I will admit that. The switch up definitely is a contrasting change that breaks it down. The lyrics that talk about Kendrick hitting a blunt despite him usually being drug-free, get the message of the title of the song across. It was all peer pressure, because he was with his homies. Money Trees: I'll probably have to listen this a few times, probably look up the lyrics as well. But it sounds really good and a vibe. The voice mail coming back around with Kendrick's mom sounding more impatient and just telling Kendrick to come back really paints the picture that the family only have the one car that belongs to the mom. Poetic Justice: Aight the first minute is good, I like it. It's got a certain vibe of it that feels like I would have a nice drink to. Drake in it tho :/ look I know this was in 2012, but listening to this in the big 2026. Even back then he sounds lowkey mid. Actually, the whole song is nice like that. But it really is that one Drake segment that takes a mark off. good kid: Immediately I fuck with the beat and opening. I think the lyrics are really good as well. I like the rhythm and rhyme. It's an overall vibe that I can see myself digging into. M.A.A.D. City: Okay when I heard the opening I did not realize that's where that old sound came from. Well, that's something new I learnt. But the contrast between "good kid" & "M.A.A.D. City" is really well done, especially with how they got back to back. The lyrics are another one that goes hard and fire despite how dark they are. I'm starting to see why people praise Kendrick so highly and how he kept on winning awards. The song switching half way is another thing I dig, not even mentioning the breakdown it goes into. Again, the lyrics are dark as all hell and kind of sobering. I never had to deal with gang violence because, like stated in the very beginning of this, I'm white. Not even in the US, I'm across the Atlantic Blue off in Europe. Yeah you hear quite a bit about drugs, and even on the very rare occasion gun violence. But it's definitely a lot more tamer than the US. I never once had to deal with gang or gun violence, but even my heart felt a bit heavy hearing Kendrick talk about that one part about shooting someone when he was 16. Swimming Pools: I can see how this might tie back to "The Art of Peer Pressure" with how it's the peer pressure to drink about "swimming pool full of liquor, and they dive in it". Constantly mentioning drinking, like you'd expect from a party like that. The final extended part of the song also really sobers about failure, the bottom of the bottle, and the gunshots that follow in the dialogue that someone's brother got shot and died. Sing About Me / I'm Dying of Thirst: Despite the beat and Hip Pop/ Rap, the lyrics really are sobering all over again. It's obvious it's about losing someone early. And the part about women and how they end up ruined due to the system they get put in, even if a bit crude and vulgar, it is a really ugly reality that sobers. That sometimes you gotta take off the rose tinted glasses and look yourself in the mirror. I think that's just how I would describe the entire album as: Sobering. I think the longer I sit here listening to this album, the more clearer my vision feels as I feel more sobered up despite me never even putting my mouth to the edge of an alcohol bottle in my life. And then Dying of Thirst kicks in and now it feels even more depressing and grounding almost. Makes me realize how much safer I actually am, that I never had to deal with losing someone in such a tragic way. How much I've taken a lot of things for granted. How lucky I actually am despite how unfortunate I might think of myself to be at times. Real: How do we go from sobering to god damn ecstasy. From Loss and Death, to Love and how it can hurt despite trying to be your real, true self. To open up and put your heart out there only for it just get cut and bruised. With the pace and how the lyrics go, it feels like thoughts that run through your mind in that moment of consciousness and clearness you have before it's gone just as quick and sudden as it appeared. Compton: Honestly after the entire album and the emotional ride it took me for, I was just slowly nodding and bobbing my head to the beat. And I think after going from the last few tracks, I like this ending. It's like embracing home and coming back to it, even if I've never in my life been to Compton, nor the US in general. The final lyrics of the track being: "Mom, I finna use the van real quick! Be back, 15 minutes!, looping back around to the beginning track of the album, it's a neat touch I really appreciate. Final Thought: I can see why this album is so well loved, I think I finally get why so many people adore Kendrick for his music, and it just might be a crime it took me so long to listen to this album. Or maybe it's not, maybe I just needed to wait for this album to come to me instead, to find me at the time when I might've been ready enough to listen to it, and actually understand it, even to what might've been my understanding of it (aka, something that probably wasn't quite right, but it got the spirit).
good shit
Thirty years after The Chronic, Kendrick’s chronicle of life in Compton is another solid album front to back, and one I would listen to in front of my kids without fear. Poetic Justice is a great song with a weak-ass Drake spot, but it’s nice that Kendrick got his revenge later.
J'ai pas écouté beaucoup de rap dans ma vie, but i'd wrap his music around my dick and fuck all night (ya feel me?) Nah sans joke bon album, agréablement surpris. Un peu trop de vulgarité par bouts, mais i guess que ça vient avec le genre, bitch. Il va falloir que je m'assois un bon jour et que j'écoute ses paroles avec plus d'attention, il semble avoir de bons textes. Chanson préférée : Sing About Me, I'm Dyin (lowkey des vibes jazzy de Nujabes, me likey) Mentions honorables : The Art of Peer Pressure et Money Trees (ya bich) Shoutout Drake 🗣️
next time i want to feel something je vais aller lire les reviews du monde qui donnent UNE étoile à l’album saying it’s "stupid" or "offensive". unable to enjoy a song without a two minute guitar solo and a long haired white dude reminding us of how much he loves to fuck teenagers, gramps? chansons préférées : m.A.A.d city ; Sing About Me, I’m Dying Of Thirst ; Money Trees mentions honorables : Ariane qui rejoint notre groupe vraiment awesome (je m’excuse j’ai l’air méchante dans mon review but i’m actually so niceys) ; la mère à Kendrick qui a l’air au bout de sa vie dès la première toune ; les 4 dernières minutes de SAMIDOT ; the m.A.A.d city beat switch
It's ok
One if the best modern rap albums
An absolute fave of mine from the beginning. I like the way Kendrick raps, the song structures, the way it was produced, the story…I like everything about it.
Kendrick really knows how to tell stories. Love the contrast between the chill beats, the realities of growing up in Compton, and the religious motifs. Super immersive too! (4.5-5)
Kdot es la cabra bro
Estaba good af
Pretty good
Episkt album. Tillagt i min lista.
Poetic and beautiful storytelling. Production is also amazing and I loved every element that when into creating this work of art. From well-written verses to compelling structure there really aren't much flaws in this album. 10/10, Favorite Song: Real
Arguably the greatest rap album ever I'd say.
decent storytelling album
Great album. One of, if not, my favorite album from his discography. First song and last couple fall a bit flat, however, the meat of the album is so peak you overlook those pieces. Will continue to revisit this album for years I imagine.
Perhaps his best album. Definitely an all-time fave of mine. KL is the GOAT.
Lamar gets so much praise for something that essentially sounds like a best of of many styles of 50 years of hip hop, maybe with a bit of a focus on gangsta rap and another obsession telling us about bitches. If this is the man who's the great thing of hip hop of the last 15 years or so, then, by God, the genre can die. It's just all a bit too boring, even formulaic for this kind of stuff.
I mean how could you not
classic
One star off because it isn’t as good as TPAB, but it’s still absolutely fantastic. Ending is especially good.
Nope.
Finally, an album that I've always loved. This is the best rap concept album ever. Kendrick is an once in a generation talent. 10/10, I will definitely copy this review when To Pimp A Butterfly eventually pops up.
Lots of bangers and great mix overall.
Uno de los grandes albumes de la década pasada.
Daft Punk, if it was daft.
buenos beats
Na primeira metade eu não tava tão na vibe do álbum, tava curtindo, mas não tanto, e quando tocou swimming pools (que eu acredito ser a música mais famosa do álbum) me pareceu q o álbum deu uma virada, talvez tenha sido só impressão mas fiquei muito imersa. Gostei muito
Este album tiene "sing about me I'm dying of thirst" ergo es una obra maestra. Nada mas que agregar.
Never quite got Rap/hip hop. Middle class white boy, so probably not surprising. Listening to this album objectively, this is a pretty impressive piece of work. It's a concept album, a biography, a piece of social commentary. It would be easy to dismiss it as a homage to gang lifestyle, but this is not that simple. Listen to the lyrics. Amazing! Exactly why I'm doing this excercise. To be open to styles of music I don't know, but have likely been missing out on.
One of the best rap albums of the century
Did not enjoy.
I hadn’t listened to this album by Kendrick before and as expected it was very good with some standouts for sure, but not my favourite of his.
Not sure I get the ‘brilliance’ of Kendrick’s lyrics. Kinda just sounded like another thug rap album I grew up listening to in early 2000’s. ‘m.A.A.d city’ stood out as a good track.
A narrative runs through Good Kid, m.A.A.d city in the form of connective skits, and while the overarching story isn't particularly complex (you can imagine it as an afterschool special, although Maya Angelou saving all the gang bangers with prayer might seem a little far-fetched even for that) each moment has a song that contains it's own complex back story, that is both literal and suggestive of the external pressures surrounding our protagonist, illustrating how he got here. (Also, learning that Kendrick's parents on the album were voice by his actual parents tickled me, those recording sessions must have been a lot of fun.) Kendrick's character runs the gamut of emotions, encapsulated perfectly in lyrics, delivery and background music. The production on this album is stunning, not just from the standpoint of casual listening, but in the variety of soundscapes that all come together. In many ways, it feels like a musical, with a narrative cohesion that makes it particularly compelling as a single listen. There are many concept albums, or albums that push a single story across multiple tracks, but nothing that I can think of that works quite as well as this does.
Fine album.
Really can't get into this, on any level.
Some big hits and a cohesive sound. I hadn’t previously realized there was a story/concept for the album having not listened to the whole thing in one sitting. It’s a solid album but I prefer some of his others.
AK, AR, aye y’all, *quack*
Peak
RYM 2.0
One of the goat rap albums
I was honestly kind of stalling when it came to listening to this. I ended up liking it a lot. The production on it is fantastic and the songs are super catchy. It's kind of funny that one of the songs has Drake on it.
Cool album
Did not listen to all of this but I can see why ppl like it! Bitch don't kill my vibe is truly great driving music. Okay I tried to listen more over the weekend: Good kid is a good song. I don't really like to hear Drake that much so I skipped that one. Also I don't know like anything about their beef but I had forgotten that they did song together. Why is swimming pools the only song I know?
As always, a 12 min medley is a bad idea (Sing about me), but am willing to overlook. A few great songs, just that 1 unplayable and threads needle between cohesive vibe without being super repetitive sonically
For the first couple of songs of this album, I didn't know what to make of it - Kendrick's voice seemed annoying and it didn't seem that ground-breaking - but as the album goes on, it just sucks you in to the world and the story. Some great beats, production, and lyrics.
A bit long but tells a story that enthralled me and the production is WAY better than I expected.
BOOMMMM SHAKALAKA
honestly don't think i'd ever heard the name of this album but I know like 90% of the songs...great stuff would probably give this 5 stars but i hate Backstreet Freestyle too much
Do not get the hype.
Mis lieblings kendrick album, eifach nur peak🤩.
Selbsterchlärend
Don’t get the Kendrick hype at all. 2 is generous.
That 12 minute song has good vibes
554/1001 🌕🌑🌑🌑🌑 A los 3" lo he quitao...
GOATED 5
Did not enjoy. Found it to be pretty mediocre. This is flacid hip hop - I like it garish and in my face or buttery smooth. There's no inbetween. This was inbetween.
5/5
I don't think I've ever listened to much rap, maybe some Eminem, the music was pretty interesting, and honestly so were the lyrics (and special effects)
Omg
Nice West Coast Tunes
No, I don't need your random post song conversations. And bish is just such a terrible word to hear over and over.
I must admit I didnt listen but I know bits of Kendrick's music and its just not for me - crass and vulgar. No way I was going to put myself through over an hour of this! Don't like hip hop beyond conscious artists like Kae Tempest who actually have something to say that I want to hear!
Rv
This is shit
A classic—real, authentic, great story-telling that’s absolutely heartfelt.
This album came out when I was a junior in High school - I think at about the right time I might have been having an identity crisis of the same manner. While I think TPAB was Kendrick's magnum opus, this was his first real masterpiece. It's a perfect balance of club banger and 'thoughtful' rap that mixes anger, fear, humor and introspection in a way that TPAB didn't. I think this one of the modern pillars of west-coast rap, one of the greatest hip hop albums of the last 20 years, and one of the top 3 albums of all time for me. Everyone should give this album a listen.
a masterpiece
Great musicality! Particularly in 'm.A.A.d city'.
Classic rap album
Not fan of hip hop or rap music, but I must say this has one of the best storytellings in album I ever heard. Really impressed. Must check more of his work.
This album was important in my childhood, it’s the first memory I have of getting excited with an album, I listened to it with my little cousin before they locked him in jail (ironic) Kendrick a great storyteller, Anna Wise a real baddie with the n word pass. The album has very high moments and the low moments it has still contribute to the story. Plus we have a Kendrick+Drake moment somehow it works.
Love his weird little voice
Kendrick comes out the gate - seeming out the womb - swinging. This mesmerized me with deft and creative flow, great wordplay, poignant storytelling of being a young black man in Compton, and some fantastic guests. Kendrick had a big vision here on this second album (first major label I think) and knocked it out of the park. It went wider and deeper than I expected.
Still jjust as incredible front to back as it ever was. Still sounds as dope as it did when i was 20 when it came out. Still an amazing story.
Fantastic
TAOPP - 3/5 BF - 1/5 BDKMV(IR/EV) - 4/5 SAMIDOT - 5/5
klasyczek
The first few songs had me worried. I don't love the way the songs talk about women. But the rest of the album improved from that point, so I think I'll give it a slight pass. The song where Kendrick speaks from a woman's POV was interesting. 4/5. P.S. I saw a review saying (to paraphrase) that when black hip-hop artists talk shit about women it's fine but when a white artist does it it's seen as misogynistic. Sweetie. I've heard white artists say MUCH worse things about women than Kendrick does here, especially on this list, and I see almost NO ONE else calling it out. But the second it's a black artist suddenly everyone is anti-misogyny. We as humans should be calling out ALL misogyny when we see it. But if you only pretend to care about women so that you have an "excuse" to be racist, then you can fuck right off.
First listened on 9th July 2024. Favourite songs are Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe, Poetic Justice, m.A.A.d city and Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst.
One of the most important albums of the 21st Century. Kendrick’s true breakout after showing extreme promise on Section 80. Contains some of the best rap songs of all time. Vital storytelling. Pure MC excellence all across the board. And it’s STILL not as good as To Pimp A Butterfly.
A really well done album, mix of bangers and thoughtful songs, beats all suit the songs and Kendrick is as always a great lyricist. A modern classic in the genre
9.1 One of my favorite rap albums and here Kendrick is at some of his best Fav song: Backstreet Freestyle
I knew very little about Kendrick Lamar's music going into this album. I had only heard his radio hits and seen his Super Bowl halftime performance last year. I honestly didn't expect to like this album, but I was absolutely blown away by it. The story telling, the soundscape, the whole album... all of it cinematic in its scope. I can't say anything about it that hasn't already been said, but this record is a work of art and more than earning of 5 stars.
Mui lindo
I love this album so much. It's such a perfect album and one of the best concept albums I've ever heard.
Not my thing
I'm less surprised at enjoying this one! Lyrics were... bold in places, but great music
This is great
I never fully got Kendrick in the way I got Kanye. Kanye grabbed me immediately, the samples, the hooks, the big musical moments. Kendrick always felt less about music pulling you in and more about words demanding your attention. "good kid, m.A.A.d city" isn't a musical album. It's a story. It's a proper coming-of-age narrative set in Compton: peer pressure, faith, violence, ego, survival. The skits tie it together so it feels almost cinematic. In fact, Lamar even billed it as a "short film". You can tell how carefully it's built. There's serious substance here. Spending proper time with it now, I do get a glimpse of why it's held up as such a big deal. The storytelling is sharp, the perspective shifts are clever, and when it hits, it really hits. "Money Trees" is the song that sticks out for me, the song that feels most instinctive and replayable. But if I'm honest, it still lives slightly outside my natural listening comfort zone. I respect it more than I love it. It's dense, and it asks more of you than most hip-hop I naturally gravitate toward. I'd probably give it three stars based on my own connection to it. But there's a part of me that knows it probably deserves more.
There's a real cultural rawness that is rarely captured to this degree in music. In particular the production stands out as phenomenal between the songs and interjections to give the album a lifelike feel. Some of the best hardcore rap I've ever heard, and strikes a fantastic balance between the dark & heavy, and laid back & light in musical composition. Top tracks: Money Trees, m.a.a.d. city, Swimming Pools
I like the music. I like the beats. I like the way his voice sounds and how he sings or says things. I just don't really care for what he's singing about. Some catchy songs.
I have no idea what people like avoit this so much. I was so bored. The cardinal sin of rap.
has some great tracks def a defining album of the 2010's wasnt really feeling the energy this listen though its been long time since ive listened but still good
this album is genuinely one of the greatest creations of all time. These songs show how great of an artist he really is and the stories behind these songs talk to me through these lyrics in every single song
I think overall I like listening to this one more than TPAB but I don’t have any saved or know the words or anything. anyway here you go here’s the 5
I'll be a pedantic dork. I like this album a lot, but one of the reasons I like it is Now or Never. I remember driving into Chicago with my sister and the chorus felt so right with the night skyline. Now or Never is on the deluxe edition, however, and we are reviewing the standard. Without Now or Never: 4.5 With: easy 5 Other favorites: Poetic Justic Swimming Pools Compton
i love an introspective album, especially when the lyricism is as good as this one. while i don't like it as much as kendrick's later work (i think i prefer every subsequent album to this one), i can appreciate the gravitas of this album and i respect both the musicality and the storytelling, even if there are some songs ("Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe", I am so so so sorry) that I don't really like. i think "The Art of Peer Pressure" is fucking poetry, and "Poetic Justice" is such an earworm for me. it's a low four, but i guess it's still a four. i'm inclined to give it a 3, but when i like about other albums i've given a 3, i don't think i like them as much as this one. whatever. numbers are beginning to feel somewhat arbitrary.
It may be a hot take, but I think this Kendrick guy is pretty good. In all seriousness and probably an actual hot take, of the "trilogy" this is my least favorite.
I mean.... its just perfect. I love TPAB, but this album has always been the perfect fusion of depth, quality, and replay-ability. It is the album I would somehow bring to a deserted island and one I've listened to more than any other. We should beam it out into the universe to attract aliens. 10/5
I will never forget the first time I heard “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” — it was in the backseat of a friend’s car as we drove through downtown and it happened to play on the radio. The windows were down, it was a cool summer night and the moon was hung above the 5/3 building. No one said a word. I was close to graduating high school and I was feeling very small, but I found warmth in that song somehow. A perfect memory punctuated by a perfect song. This is a beautiful album with gorgeous storytelling. There’s not much that I can say better than what Miles Marshall Lewis has said in his book, so I’ll plug that instead.
Doing all my reviews on my phone this week instead of my computer so forgive the brevity but I’m very firm in the opinion that this is Kendrick’s magnum opus.
I can feel this rating from two planets away Drink ✅ Music ✅ This album is a five
Very nice, 8/10 kendrick
Аранжировки местами прямо интимные.
5/10 25.02.2026
This is not my genre usually, but this was good. There was certainly stuff I didn’t particularly like, but the stuff I liked impressed me so much it jumped my rating up. It was cinematic, it was introspective, it was a concept album that was easily understandable and worked. Kendrick is a great lyricist. 4/5
Masterclass in storytelling. Easily my favorite album on this list so far.
Perfect album cover to cover. Kendrick is a lyrical genius
This is where K.Dot gets very good at painting a picture with words.
Genius
Rap isn’t really my genre but even I can recognize Kendrick is an absolute genius.
Um
Terrible, worst album I've ever heard
I don't love Rap. I dislike the current genre of mumble rap, trap and relevant nonsense. Kendrick is somehow different. Musically a bit more interesting in a flow sense, lyrically questionable. Enjoyed - maybe a weak 5 but a strong 4. Enjoyed BDKMV, money trees
I listened to this quite a few times, as it wasn't one of his I'd heard before. Lamar is very clever, and I can see what people love about him, but somehow it didn't quite work for me.
Best in hip-hop and rap (in my opinion)
Absurdo. Kendrick Lamar é muito bom, já tinha ouvido algumas desse álbum, mas não completo. "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe", "Money Trees" e "m.A.A.d city" são espetaculares, mas as outras faixas também são muito boas.
5⭐️/5 02.07.2026
Maad city a banger
This is the actual best Kendrick Lamar album. Better than TPAB, more replay ability with m.A.A.d city being one of my favourite songs of all time but you also get the masterpiece of Sing About Me. Production here is very good but the highlight is Kendrick's rapping performances with some of the greatest lyrics in the game. Insanely consistent album, with the worst song here being Sherane which is still quite an outstanding track. A great mix of conscious stuff here with the all-time bangers of m.A.A.d city and Money Trees. Nothing but amazing stuff on here. One of my favourites of all time.
Amazing hip hop album. Kendrick right now is the best at lyricism and the beats are fire.
Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe m.A.A.d city Swimming Pools
See previous review. After listening to this, it’s the same response, but much more so. Repetitive and lyrically revolting too.
Doesn't matter how much of this type of music I listened to, they don't stir me. I don't like the style or much of the life experiences they reflect.
Pretty much a movie in album form. Kendrick's narration is dense and detailed, while listening to this album I feel like I live through the things he's rapping about. And the story is heavy - adolescence, drugs, peer pressure, crime, faith. Kendrick seems stuck between the idea of fitting in and escaping and he covers it in a deeply profound way. The album bounces between all these topics delivering anthemic bangers and heart wrenching introspection one after another. You get amazing hype bangers on the 2 title tracks that fit into the narrative of the album incredibly well, and they're balanced out by beautiful reflective songs like Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe. Poetic Justice has one of my fav beats here with that Janet sample and it's really fun to hear Kendrick and Drake on a song together. Money Trees is an amazing reflection on materialism, one of the biggest anthems here. The album climaxes with SAMIDOT, a gorgeous song that ties all of it together. I think the album should have ended here, but instead we get Real which is easily the weakest song of the bunch. Oh well. The album is still amazing and I'm glad it made it to the list.
I wanted to like this. After reading how highly, and universally, this has been praised, I thought "oh good, maybe this will be the album that gets me to appreciate contemporary hip hop even more." It just didn't happen. It's not a pleasurable listening experience to me. I did think it was funny how in the first song he was bragging about how he's gonna get with the hot girl and then his mom and dad call him nagging him about something and killing the whole buzz. I chuckled a bit about that, and appreciated his sense of humor. It's clear this resonates deeply with lots of people - I'm just not one of them. I do like some old school rap such as Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5, NWA, Public Enemy - but it seems this genre has moved in a completely different direction from those, that it's just not relatable to me at all. I'd probably need to go back and listen to the progression of hip hop for the last 40 years to make it click for me. I just don't have any desire to listen to any of this again. Liked songs on Spotify: 0/12 Rating: 1/5 (should be zero)
M.a.a.d City great tune love the old.school beats which come in in the 2nd half of the tune. Have it in my running list. Generally there is some chilled hip hop tunes as well. Quite a bit of swearing for the younger listeners.
A modern classic of hip-hop! It’s a great concept album and showcases Kendrick vivid writing style with smooth but dense production. 4.2/5.0
already listened to this album. i like it a lot kdot for life…mass hallucination baby
Overall I don't find that album very fun to listen to. For a non hip-hop person I think that's essential for enjoying rap albums;)
Loved the track m.A.A. d city, but the rest of it wasn't for me.
High drama, chill beats, sad stories. Kendrick is so good.
Great storylines and some real bops, too. I like this iteration of Kendrick a lot.
I truly think this is the pinnacle of Kendrick’s career from storytelling to writing to production to flow to lyricism. It is perfect. I would also argue. This is the best album so far on the generator and one of the best rap albums of all time.
600 albums in and no album has compared to the level of immersion, storytelling, and depth of good kid, m.A.A.d. city. I don't have much to say that others haven't already, but I think this is a prime example of how rap is can be a vehicle for a message in a way that no other genre can. Not only does rap have a higher lyrical density due to the faster pace of delivery, but Kendrick takes full advantage of it with double entendres, references, and wordplay that turns any single sentence into an array of ideas and intention. And that doesn't even include Kendrick's use of vocal tone and inflection to further enhance the message and imagery. GKMC really is a masterpiece and deserves the praise. I hope it has and will continue to reach people who are quick to dehumanize those who participate and are victimized by gang violence and show them that behind many crimes are real, hurt, and conflicted people that are simply reacting to the only environment they know. Those people deserve compassion and a chance for redemption, not prison cells and police brutality.
Pretty coowel
Peak 4.5/5
All of the stories on this album are absolutely insane. It legitimately felt like I was watching a movie with the level of storytelling and flow between each of the songs: the whole "a short film" thing is soooo fitting. Also, this album was actually a joy to listen to, and got pretty addicting at times (totally didn't listen three times back to back to back). Anyway, throughout this whole album we see Kendrick face infatuation, temptation, and loss, all recounted through a day of his young life growing up in Compton. The thing is: although all these experiences are unique to Kendrick's life, all these themes can be found in a lot of teenagers and young adults today, making good kid, m.A.A.d city a perfect coming-of-age album. Anyway, I'm probably gonna get this extremely wrong but here's my interpretation: The album starts with "Sherane" where we see Kendrick absolutely infatuated with this girl named Sherane. However, upon driving to her house, he encounters these two people. Eventually, Kendrick goes back to his friends, and starts acting very careless by the time the bangers "B***h, Don't Kill My Vibe" and "Backseat Freestyle" hit. However, carelessness often comes with consequences. "The Art of Peer Pressure" is one of my favourite songs on the album. It talks about how the people that we surround ourselves with have the potential to influence us in negative ways, despite us generally considering ourselves "good," all in order to gain status or "fit in." Especially if we consider social media in modern times, we all should stay vigilant about the content we consume, because, much like peer pressure, it has the potential to influence us significantly. However, for Kendrick, growing up in a place like Compton, peer pressure is infinitely worse. Refusal to follow your "friends" or fellow gang members could have you end up with grave consequences. So, this leads Kendrick to do things he would never do as a "good kid," like smoking a laced blunt, breaking and entering, stealing, lying, and then having to evade cops to avoid getting caught. "Good Kid" and "m.A.A.d city" both tell a similar story, but dealing with his environment, as opposed to his peers. Growing up in a place with gang culture as prominent as Compton, as much as he keeps on trying to be the "good kid," he eventually succumbs to this culture. "Swimming Pools" is the culmination of all of these influences. Infatuation. Temptation. Alcohol. Violence. Red and Blue. Everything. It eventually all culminates in the final skit, where Kendrick sees firsthand his friend's brother being shot point blank. They were once swimming in pools of alcohol (carelessness, gang violence), but now they're dying of thirst....... (subtle foreshadowing). Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst. Holy Shit. This song is absolutely insane. I could legitimately write an entire review twice as long as this one on this song alone. Here, Kendrick shares his story of loss and death, and everything he's experienced up until this moment has resulted in it happening. He now wants escape from the culture that caused all this. He seeks a spiritual escape, something that could quench the spiritual thirst that gang culture and violence could never. He eventually goes to recite the same prayer that opened the album, hoping it can provide him spiritual rebirth from this life that has caused so much pain, death, loss, and suffering. This is the point where Kendrick decides to forgo his life of gang affiliation and violence, and tell the stories of his friends in Compton, so that they may be preserved, forever. And sing about them he did. All the lyrics of this song fit the message so well, and the fact that he tells the story from multiple different perspectives, and includes references to other artists both make it even more REAL. Ultimately, this album was really interesting, and the storytelling aspects of a lot of these songs were absolutely incredible, and the album itself just so happens to be really enjoyable as well. Favs: SAMIDOT, TAOPP, Swimming Pools, m.A.A.d city, Backseat Freestyle Least Fav (but still good): Poetic Justice
Good lyrics, but the music doesn't interest me much.
GOING IN: No strong feelings LISTENED WHILE: post work, chillin' FAMILIARITY: New to me SKIP RATE: Played it straight through REPLAY VALUE: Might come back to it DISCOVERY CURVE: Slow burner this one ALBUM ARC: Pretty even, consistent VERDICT: Fair enough BODY'S VERDICT: Sitting nicely - Motionless appreciation FAVOURITE TRACK: My Rating: 3 I think this'll need a few listens. It deserves more attention.
Nou nou, tämmönen ei toimi mulle. Tuttuja biisejä pari-kolme, mutta ei mitään bängereitä. Perus gängstä-räppiä, joka sellasenaan on vähän tylsää.
Kovinkin tuttu levy, tasaisessa kierrossa omassa kirjastossa. Uppoaa kaikilta osin, biitit, tarina, hittibiisit. Ei vielä se "täydellinen" levy Kendrick Lamarin tuotannosta, mutta oma ääni ja kaista jo löytynyt musiikillisesti. Kai tätäkin voi jo klassikoksi sanoa, vaikka onkin "vaan" vajaa 15v vanha levy tässä kohtaa.
How did I know the first thing I heard wasn't going to be music when I pressed play on this one? The interludes are maddening. Who wants to listen to that stuff EVERY time they listen to an album? I don't get it. But I digress . . . This falls into the same category as a quality jazz album for me. I appreciate it. I recognize the talent. I enjoy it to a degree. But, it doesn't grab me emotionally at all and I don't feel qualified to rate it anything other than a 3.
I guess this was okay. Under Peter's excellent rubric, it earns a 3 because I made it through 5 songs with some level of engagement. But, fuck if Poetic Justice didn't torpedo the heavily listing U.S.S. Everett Tries to Give a Shit. So, yeah, a 3, but heavily caveated.... ....unlike Surfer Rosa, which, as per my general dipshittedness, I managed to after-the-fact rate a 5 without providing a review. This album is straight bangers from front to back. How about that guitar sound on Gigantic? How about Kim's surreal tongue music on River Euphrates? How about the barely submerged sexual tension and longing in Black Francis's lyrics in Cactus? This album and Doolittle are the greatest 1-2 combo from any band in the 1980s and maybe from any band ever.
This was my introduction to Kendrick Lamar. In my mind that was 5 years ago, but now I realize this is a classic at this point. He's released a lot of good music in between now and then, so I hadn't revisited it that much. Besides feeling really old since this is "new music" to me, I loved going back to this. The whole concept album (or short film per Kendrick) really works, including the polaroid artwork. I feel like the last track sticks out like a sore thumb, and doesn't fit on the album, but that's minor quibble. The album sounds great, his flow is awesome, and he has things worth saying. I had completely forgotten that Drake shows up on this album. I guess familiarity breeds contempt.