Project 1001: Good Kid, M.A.A.D City by Kendrick Lamar

Jun 26, 2025

I really wanted to like this album. I’ve never listened to Kendrick Lamar before other than his Super Bowl 59 halftime show performance, which I thought was very good. And all I really know about him is some stuff I’ve heard just in passing. Like he’s feuding with Drake, about what I don’t have a clue (and don’t really care). But I know he’s super popular.

So, I was looking forward to enjoying something special. And I was very disappointed and ready to hate this album after the first three tracks. I’m no prude, but the over reliance on cursing in general and the n-word in particular (and Lamar is certainly not the only nor the worst in this area) is something that I just can’t embrace. I often employ cursing in my private life. But if I can’t play something for my parents, two open-minded liberal people, because of the cursing, I generally won’t be able to enjoy it as much.

Now that I’ve got the complaining out of the way, I have to give Lamar his props. He’s a great rapper. His flow is extraordinary. He has a point of view, and he expresses it boldly. If you can get over the cursing, you’re going to find an incredible concept album where he tells a compelling tale that the listener simply can’t ignore. Each song is part of the larger story, and they are all critical to understanding this chronicle of what growing up was like for Kendrick Lamar as a son of Compton. It’s a great album.

The track “M.A.A.D City” presents the epic story of young Lamar (the Good Kid) dealing with a particular vexing day in Compton (the M.A.A.D City) among the gangs and violence that was a stark reality for our hero of the story. He’s telling us how he was in regular jeopardy because his brand of storytelling wasn’t cool with the gangs that dominated his neighborhood. It’s a desperate tale but ultimately Lamar is showing a way to survive. The track features MC Eiht providing a top-notch guest appearance. It’s a great song.

Kendrick Lamar isn’t my regular cup of tea, but I have to give it up for Good Kid in M.A.A.D. City. It is a towering classic. My rating:

A review in SoulCulture gave a deep analysis of the album:

With so many moments of realization throughout the 12-track mini movie, and where having an epiphany reigns supreme, it’s hard to identify every point of importance first time round. Then aside from the story you need to also take in to consideration Kendrick’s lyrical delivery, which switches up on more than one occasion; the on-point production, which plays more like a score on this go round; and of course the album’s overall rewind value.
The key to your listening pleasure is understanding that it’s more than just an album. It’s an event. The skits are placed in different points for particular reasons, and each time you listen to it you’ll learn something new.
A movie trapped within an audio presentation, everything from the album artwork – which actually reads “A Short Film By Kendrick Lamar” – to the repeating vintage movie reel crackles show the kind of attention to detail and effort put in to creating this unforgettable offering. And with the opportunity to interpret the album’s underlining story your own way, there’s definitely a few twists and turns designed to throw you off your thinking game when you get close to figuring out the album’s actual concept.
It’s hard to admit you’re staring perfection in the face sometimes because flawlessness isn’t an every day, every month, or even every year occurrence as far as the music industry goes. GKMC is the trend kicker. It’s an escape to victory. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but with every track a piece of a puzzle, every skit a chapter, and every beat an accompaniment to a reality check, there’s absolutely no room for average here. Flawless.1

Rolling Stone named Good Kid in M.A.A.D. City the top concept album of all time.

The cover promises “a short film by Kendrick Lamar,” and the rapper delivers with a coming-of-age opus, the cinematic scope of which has been rightfully compared to Scorsese and Tarantino.2

Spin magazine rated Good Kid an 8 out of 10:

Lamar has crafted an appropriately jittery epic about the endless stress of growing up in Compton. His internal dialogues splatter across multiple musical movements as peer pressure suffocates and gangs wage war and lovers quarrel and alcohol intoxicates and friends die and mothers nag (though he should really return her damn car already). This good kid could probably use a Xanax, but thankfully, his rap style is perfectly primed for this sort of internal tension: His flutters, tics, and growls are welded to a sinewy double-time flow that falls somewhere between E-40’s and Andre 3000’s, though it often lacks the glee of the former and the calm of the latter.3

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die:

Lamar’s talent for relating the moral complexity of reality, while being just as ‘real’ about his own naivety and arrogance, earned praise from his heroes. Pharrell Williams labelled him a new Dylan, Snoop Dogg hailed him as “the new king of the West Coast.”4

Enjoy and listen without prejudice.
“And just remember, different people have peculiar tastes”
~ Lou Reed

Cheers!

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Charts

• Peak on Billboard 200 album chart: #2 5
• Singles on Billboard Hot 100 chart: “Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe”, #32; “Swimming Pools (Drank)”, #17; “Poetic Justice”, #26 6
• RIAA certification: 3x Platinum | June 8, 2018 7

Released on October 22, 2012. Here’s what else was happening:

Pop Culture

• Number one song: “One More Night” by Maroon 58
• Number one album: Babel by Mumford & Sons9
• Number one movie: Paranormal Activity 4 by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman10
• Most watched TV programs: Sunday Night Football, The Big Bang Theory, The Voice, Modern Family, American Idol, The Following11
• NYT bestseller, fiction: The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling12
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction: Killing Kennedy by Bill O’Reilly13

Some other albums released that day

• Hello My Name Is… by Bridgit Mendler
• House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 by Stone Sour
• Red by Taylor Swift
• Sound Surgery by Killbot14

Sport

• Oct 18 MLB American League Championship: Detroit Tigers beat New York Yankees, 4 games to 0.
• Oct 22 MLB National League Championship: San Francisco Giants beat St. Louis Cardinals, 4 games to 3.
• Oct 28 American Serena Williams wins her 3rd season ending tennis title; beats Maria Sharapova of Russia 6–4, 6–3 in the WTA Championship decider in Istanbul, Turkey.
• Oct 28 Baseball World Series: San Francisco beats Detroit, 4-3 in 10 innings in Game 4 at Comerica Park; sweep Tigers, 4-0 for Giants' 2nd title in 3 years; MVP: SF 3rd baseman Pablo Sandoval.15

Notable Births

TBD

Historical Events

• 18 Oct Vigil for Malala Yousafzai: Women in the United Kingdom gathered for a vigil supporting Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban, symbolizing global solidarity for women's education and against extremism.
• 20 Oct Mass Protests Against UK Austerity Measures: Tens of thousands of protesters march through London, Glasgow, and Belfast to demonstrate against the United Kingdom's austerity policies, reflecting widespread public discontent with economic governance.
• 21 Oct Syrian Civil War: Car Bomb Attacks in Damascus and Aleppo: At least 13 people were killed in car bomb explosions targeting predominantly Christian areas of Damascus and Aleppo. These attacks occurred while U.N. peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi continued diplomatic negotiations with President Assad.16

Notable Deaths

• Oct 22 Russell Means, Native American activist, dies from esophageal cancer at 72.
• Oct 24 Jeff Blatnick, American wrestler (Olympic gold 1984), dies at 55.
• Oct 24 Margaret Osborne DuPont, American tennis player (6-time Grand Slam singles winner), dies at 94.17