Good Kid, M.A.A.D City: Difference between revisions

good kid m.A.A.d city: a short film by Kendrick Lamar is the second studio album by American hip hop recording artist Kendrick Lamar, released on October 22, 2012, under Top Dawg, Aftermath and Interscope Records.^[1] The album is the follow-up to Section.80 (2011), which was released for digital download only, and features production from Hit-Boy, Just Blaze, T-Minus, Pharrell Williams, Scoop DeVille, along with Sounwave, THC and Terrace Martin, whom have previously worked with Kendrick on Section.80. The concept album follows the story of a young Lamar growing up in Compton, California, featuring many skits at the end of tracks.

good kid,, m.A.A.d city is Kendrick's first official studio album. He told HiphopDX he didn't feel the need to work with new producers. He said he wanted to prove himself and so he's working on the album with the producers he has previously worked with. Kendrick Lamar expresses that the highly anticipated studio debut album will discuss his life in the infamous city of Compton. "The kid that’s trying to escape that influence, trying his best to escape that influence, has always been pulled back in because of circumstances that be.” he said. On October 16, 2012, "snippets" of the album were leaked onto the internet via torrent websites such as The Pirate Bay. ^[2]

The title of the album mainly refers to Lamar's innocence while growing up in Compton. Lamar revealed the deeper meaning of the album title, stating that m.A.A.d is an acronym with two meanings: "my.Angry.Adolescence.divided" which represents his rough childhood within Compton and "my.Angel's.on.Angel.dust", saying: "That was me. I got laced. The reason why I don't smoke, and it's in the album. It's in the story. It was just me getting my hands on the wrong thing at the wrong time, being oblivious to it." ^[3]

The lead single of the album was released on April 3, 2012, called "The Recipe", which featured record producer and fellow rapper Dr. Dre. It peaked at #38 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and at #3 on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. Kendrick shot a video for it featuring Dr. Dre at a mansion in Los Angeles in May 2012. He also claimed the video will have a feel of 2Pac's California Love clip.^[4]

The second single was "Swimming Pools (Drank)", produced by T-Minus and mixed by Dr. Dre and TDE's Ali. The single released on July 31, 2012, as digital download, had the music video premiered on August 3, 2012 on 106 & Park. The album version of the single is present on track 9, while the single version is available as track 17 while purchasing the Deluxe Edition.

The twelfth track, "Compton", was released as a promotional single - featuring his mentor and American rapper Dr. Dre, who collaborated with him on the first single of the album. The track was produced by Just Blaze and was released on October 2, 2012, along with the pre-order of the album.^[5]

Lamar stated good kid, m.A.A.d city will sound “nothing” like Section.80. “I couldn’t tell you what type of sound or where I’ma be in the next five years as far as music,” he said. “It’s a big difference from the next project compared to the last. And that’s what happened with this album. Going back to the neighborhood and going to different spots, chilling with my homeboys, put me back in that same space where we used to be, bringing back them thoughts, reminiscing how I was feeling. I got myself right back in that mode and I got inspired by that. So this album won’t sound like Section.80. Completely nothing like it,” he told to XXL.^[6]

On August 15, 2012, Lady Gaga announced via Twitter that she had collaborated with Kendrick on a song titled "Partynauseous" for his upcoming album, and that it would be released on September 6, 2012. However, on August 23, 2012, Gaga announced that the song was no longer being released on that date and apologized to fans for the delay.^[7][8] Eventually, it was confirmed that Lady Gaga would not be featured on the album. "Partynauseous" was removed from the final tracklist and will be released on a different project.

For the project, Lamar enlisted TDE labelmate Jay Rock, as well as Drake, MC Eiht, Pharrell, Anna Wise and mentor Dr. Dre, as well as Mary J. Blige who features on the deluxe edition.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
DJ Booth	[9]
The Versed	[10]
Sputnikmusic	[11]
The Guardian	[12]
Allhiphop	[13]
HipHopDX	[14]
Idolator	[15]
Chicago Tribune	[16]

The album's initial reception has been extremely positive. DJ Booth, in a highly favorable review, called the album "worthy of being called a classic." All Hip-Hop noted that "it is rare accomplishment to have such an array of different producers on one project to sound this cohesive." "From mic to plug, "Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City" is stellar" as stated by HipHopDX.

Notes

• Track 2 "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" features uncredited distorted vocals by Anna Wise.
• Track 5 "Money Trees" features uncredited vocals by Anna Wise.
• Track 7 "good kid" features uncredited vocals by Chad Hugo.
• Track 8 "m.A.A.d city" features uncredited vocals by Schoolboy Q.
• Track list confirmed on October 2, 2012.^[8] Production credits were announced on October 14, 2012.^[17][18]

Samples

• "The Art of Peer Pressure" samples the instrumental from the song "Helt Alene" from Suspekt's album "Elektra".^[19][20]
• "Money Trees" samples the song "Silver Soul" as performed by Beach House.^[21]
• "Poetic Justice" contains a sample of "Any Time, Any Place" as performed by Janet Jackson.^[22]
• "The Recipe" samples vocals from the song "Meet the Frownies" as performed by Twin Sister.

Credits for good kid, m.A.A.d city adapted from Allmusic.^[23]

Template:Black Hippy