Why Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City is a masterpiece

In 2012, rapper Kendrick Lamar released Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, a concept album that shows one-day living life on the streets of Compton, California. Today I will explain to you why Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City is a Hip-Hop masterpiece. 

The album is a raw look at growing up in Compton, however, it is far from being a fetishization poverty and crime. Lamar uses his life in Compton to illuminate the social issues that plague America. Kendrick illuminates the structures of racism, poverty and drug addiction that have troubled him and his community.

The commentary alone did not make Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City. a hit record. Kendrick is more than a social commentator, he is an incredible and record-breaking musician. His ear for catchy hooks, dazzling lyrical chops, and tasteful guest features make the album endlessly re-listenable. Record sales prove it. As of this week Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City has spent 300 consecutive weeks on the billboard hot 200 chart. 

"Sherane Aka Master Splinter's Daughter" is our introduction to Kendrick. He is true to form for a 17-year-old boy. Kendrick is in pursuit of a girl he met at a party.

"Backstreet Freestyle" puts us with Kendrick's friends, driving around and wasting time. They have a pack of Black and Milds and a beat CD they can freestyle rap over. Kendrick is spitting the most braggadocious raps he can come up with.

"The Art of Peer Pressure" is my favorite song on the album. Kendrick, the self-proclaimed "Good Kid" is tempted by evil when he is around his friends. 

Smoking on the finest dope
Aye aye aye aye
Drank until I can't no mo
'Aye aye aye aye
Really I'm a sober soul
But I'm with the homies right now

Midway through the track, the friends decide to rob a house they had been scoping out for a couple months. It goes awry and they almost got caught, but they get away. Kendrick laments he might have just become a felon because of the peer pressure he felt.

The high flying tracks are brought back to earth with realistic skits. These include youth prayer sessions that are trying to cope with the violence and reality of Compton, Kendrick's mother trying to get the car back from her son so she can get groceries, and Kendrick's father trying to find his dominoes. These skits remind us that all of Kendrick's amazing verbal virtuosity still reflects real life.

There is no better song than"Swimming Pools (Drank)" to show Kendrick's dual mastery of hip-hop. Many rappers are able to make bangers, songs with hooks and beats that lend themselves to repeat plays in cars and clubs. These songs generally form the backbone for hip-hop sales because they are so commercially viable. Other rappers focus on having socially conscious themes in their songs. Typically songs like these are more focused on the rappers technically skilled lyricism and wider social issues the artist wants to bring to the light.

On "Swimming Pools (Drank)" Kendrick is able to masterfully fill both of these roles with ease. Back in 2012, It was a party anthem of the summer. Kendrick had fulls clubs of people chanting the hook to "Swimming Pools."

Pour up, drank, head shot, drank
Sit down, drank, stand up, drank
Pass out, drank, wake up, drank
Faded, drank, faded, drank

But if a person listens to the lyrics of the verse, they reveal something much more profound then a party anthem. These are the first few lines of the song.

Now I done grew up round
some people living their life in bottles
Granddaddy had the golden flask back stroke every day in Chicago
Some people like the way it feels
Some people wanna kill their sorrows
Some people wanna fit in with the popular that was my problem

In one track Kendrick was able to produce a song that not only became hugely popular. The song which seeming celebrated drinking, was actually an examination and indictment of drinking culture. Kendrick talks about the horrific destructive effects of alcohol. For example the abuse and health effects of over-consumption. He also talks about the social forces, like familial pressure and peer pressure that causes people to over-consume alcohol so regularly. The ability to both catchy and deep is what makes this album so important. 

The questions this album leaves us with are more important than any answers a single man can give. How can a man do right in a world encouraging him to do wrong? What's the right way to stay true to ourselves while rising above difficult circumstances? Can there really be a good kid in a mad city? Using a combination of lyrical skill, critical social commentary, and catchy music Kendrick Lamar created a Hip-Hop masterpiece in Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City.

Kid Cudi and High Places

November 2010: High School

 I just started high school. Like many others, I am having a good time. I feel alienated and alone because people keep messing with me. High school is intimidating and I don't know anybody.

In homeroom, I strike up a conversation with the kid next to me. He introduces himself to me. His name is Mike. We talk about music. I say I don't listen to rap. Rap is crap. He tells me to listen to Kid Cudi. That night on my roof, I listen to "Soundtrack 2 My Life".

The moon will illuminate my room and soon I'm consumed by my doom 

I've got some issues that nobody can see
And all of these emotions are pouring out of me

I'm floored. It's like I'm talking to someone who understands what I am going through.

June 2013: Summer

Mike and I are are standing at the top of the fire tower on Apple Pie Hill. It's hazy. Pine trees stretch out as far as the eyes can see. 

I turn on my Bluetooth speaker and select Cudi from a playlist. The music breaks the silence of nature. 

I'll be up up and away, up up and away
Cause they gon' judge me anyway so whatever
I'll be up up and away, up up and away
Cause in the end they'll judge me any so whatever

Life has been good recently. Kids don't mess with me that often anymore. I don't need a clever comeback, I just have to laugh in their face. It takes all their power away. For the first time, I feel like a pretty cool person.

May 2018: Graduation Approaches 

It's six in the morning. My friends and I are sitting on top of the Fordham bleachers watching the sunrise. A friend passes me a warm Natty light out of a cardboard 12 pack. Everyone is laughing and talking about the good times. We're going to miss being able to do stuff like this, just hanging out with friends whenever we want, with no strict schedules to tie us down. But careers are fast approaching and soon we are going to meet for drinks at times we schedule in our day planners. Someone is playing "Soundtrack 2 My Life" on a Bluetooth speaker.  Cudi's vocals waft through the morning air. 

So now I'm in the cut, alcohol in the wound
My heart's an open sore that I hope heals soon
I live in a cocoon opposite of Cancun
Where it is never sunny, the dark side of the moon

I snicker a bit. The rhymes sound corny and Cudi is a little too emotional for the situation. I realize even though this music might not have impressive lyrics, I'll never look at it with anything but fondness. These songs have been with me for too long to give up. In fifteen years, my kids will laugh at me and my corny music, but I don't think I'll care. 

Listen to: Moanin'

When I first started this blog, I recommended everyone to listen to Led Zeppelin III. This album is sonically distinct among Led Zeppelin's catalog. I think it's a fresh take on a genre that can seem bloated and middle-aged.

Today I recommend Moanin' by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. While this is out of my standard Rock and Rap repertoire, I think Moanin' is essential listening for any music fan. Simply put, Moanin' is a fun album that can serve as an introduction to a massive and rewarding genre of music, Jazz.

Is it just me, or does Art look like Michael K. Williams?

Before I listened to Moanin', I thought jazz seemed pretentious, impenetrable and boring. But Moanin' is what jazz musicians call a Hard Bop album. Basically, Hard Bop musicians wanted to be the best, but they still wanted their music to reach the ears of the common man. hard bop jazz works so well because it is versatile and can be listened to in any situation. It's a stimulating listen in the car, great mood music for a party. Moanin' is a great way to trick people into thinking you are sophisticated.

The thing I find remarkable about this album is its ability to explore different facets of jazz while remaining a cohesive and entertaining whole. The title track "Moanin'" is a slinky number that shows the virtuosity of the Jazz Messengers while maintaining an easy, danceable beat. "Are You Real" is a fast-paced romp with dazzling solos and "Blues March" represents a return to the simpler roots of jazz.

"The Thunder Drum Suite" is a truly epic track. The drums start off slowly but soon are at a fast-paced, primal roll. Blakey, with all his skill, manages to make an 8-minute drum solo not only listenable but exciting. 

Give Moanin' a shot. Click the video above and listen for five minutes. Worst case scenario, you waste five minutes. Best case, you will find a new genre of music to love.  

Listen to: Led Zeppelin Three

Listen to Led Zeppelin 3.  If you hate Led Zeppelin you will find sounds that are totally different from what you are expecting from the Zep. If you love them, you will only find more to love.

I’m a huge Led Zeppelin Fan. They are the zenith of Rock and Roll. They strike the balance between accessibility and musicality. They sound hard, need to put on a satanic show to prove it. They’re technically complex, but they never reached the self-indulgence of progressive rock. Some would consider Zepplin grandfathers of both genres.

The band is often criticized as overly bombastic and meat-headed. This may be true.  Don’t get me wrong, Led Zeppelin is dad rock. But goddamn do they rock.

Many people have only heard their big singles, played over and over by their local classic rock radio station. If this describes you I would recommend a dive into their discography. The four of five songs you have heard on repeat for the past twenty years fail to do their music justice.

Most people recommending a Led Zeppelin album would point you to their fourth album. It contains the bands most iconic songs like "Stairway to Heaven", "Rock and Roll" and "Black Dog".   

These songs are incredible, but if you’re anything like me, they are tired to your ears. Years of repetitive play have stripped them of their magic.  "Stairway" is 8 minutes long and seems to lack any actual lyrical content.

Enter Led Zeppelin 3. Out of the bands six classic albums, it is the most underappreciated. I would say it is criminally underrated.  The only cut off the album to receive any radio play is "Immigrant Song."

The album's sound from a typical 70’s rock album to an acoustic odyssey.  Robert Plant’s voice and John Bonham’s driving drum beat create an unmistakably Led Zeppelin sound. The lush instrumentation of the album takes Led Zeppelin in a new of sonic direction while never fully diverging from the bands classic sound.

However, I think the real treats of the album are the folk songs like "Tangerine", "Gallows Pole", and "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp". These songs are masterpieces in their own right. I think these songs specifically showcase the band's musical range.

"Tangerine" is my favorite song on the album. This song is the furthest thing from the typical lewd sex, drugs, and noise of Led Zeppelin. It is clearly the tenderest song in their catalog. Despite only having 12 lines of lyrics, the lush acoustic guitar and instrumentation of the track encapsulate the feeling of being in love on a hazy spring day. The gorgeous pedal guitar solo adds to the track's psychedelic feeling.

"Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" is a blast. Like many other of the songs, It draws inspiration from English and American folk music. Instead of focusing on the mournful or poetic elements of folk, it draws from the celebratory side of folk music. It conjures images of a small, late 19th-century town coming together to celebrate in the town center. "Stomp" has one of the strongest downbeats I have ever experienced in rock music.  This song makes me want to stomp my feet into the dirt. The beat is best explained as a “hoedown” style groove.

"Gallows Pole" has the most interesting history behind any Zeppelin Song. "Gallows Pole" is a traditional English folk song that existed in some form prior to the seventeenth century. The song describes a man’s desperate attempts to save himself from being executed.  As the song increases in tempo and lyrical desperation, a mandolin 12- string and banjo accompany the guitar. In the cruel and final verse, we hear from the hangman himself. Despite taking the bribes, he decides to kill the condemned.

Oh yes, you got a fine sister, she warmed my blood from cold,She warmed my blood to boiling hot to keep you from the gallows pole,Your brother brought me silver, and your sister warmed my soul,But now I laugh and pull so hard to see you swinging on the gallows pole.

The final song on the album, "Hats off to Roy Harper" is trash. Don’t listen to it.

Led Zeppelin 3 is worth listening to because it shows the maturing of a band from a purely hard rock outfit into a unit that could effectively perform songs that span the range of insturmentation and human emotion. Even if you dislike Led Zeppelin, I implore you to take an hour of your life and listen to this album.