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Apr 19, 2024 · m.A.A.d city (feat. MC Eight) Album: good kid, m.A.A.d city. Year: 2012. Why We Love It: Featuring veteran rapper MC Eiht, “m.A.A.d city” stands as one of the most impactful tracks on good kid m.A.A.d city due to its raw depiction of life in Compton where Lamar grew up.
Nov 1, 2021 · So we’ve compiled a list of his 50 greatest songs, from monster hits like “Humble” to anthems like “Alright,” to must-hear deep cuts. Ranking the list wasn’t easy — with an artist ...
- 5 min
- Paul Thompson,Mosi Reeves,Will Dukes,Jeff Ihaza,Jayson Buford,Michael Penn II
- "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst"
- "M.A.A.D City"
- "Money Trees"
- "u"
- Wesley’s Theory
- Poetic Justice
- DNA
- Cartoon and Cereal
- Rigamortis
- Element
- Duckworth
- Swimming Pools
- ADHD
- Maad City
A crash course in To Pimp a Butterfly’s expansive sound – Thundercat’s bass ricochets around, George Clinton is on hand to bolster the P-funk-like chorus – and its lyrical viewpoint. It starts out like the standard bling-dripping, screw-you rapper’s victory lap, but suddenly flips into a troubled disquisition on materialism as a form of control.
Lamar has had a fractious relationship with Drake over the years – there are umpteen articles online picking apart their apparent lyrical references to each other– but all was harmonious on the standout collaboration from the LP Good Kid, MAAD City, replete with its fantastic Janet-Jackson-sampling beat.
DNA is Lamar in virtuosic form: a firework display of his technical ability as a rapper, shifting restlessly between viewpoints as he examines black identity. He apparently told the producer, Mike Will Made It, to make the backing sound “like chaos”; he responded with a patchwork of electronic noise and samples from Fox News – and of Rick James dem...
Dropped from Good Kid, MAAD City and subsequently released as a single, the dark, Wu-Tang-goes-trap beat of Cartoon and Cereal improbably paired Lamar with the Rick-Ross-affiliated, swastika-tattooed rapper Gunplay. The directness of the latter’s verse is a perfect complement to the unpick-this density of Lamar’s lyrics.
From Lamar’s debut album, a swaggering early example of his skills. Rapping in a double-time flow over a twitchy, sped-up jazz sample, he offers a stream of boasts about his ability that are so relentless and inventive, even Nas – one of the artists over whom Rigamortis appears to claim Lamar’s supremacy – called him “the future”.
It is obligatory for rappers to announce that they are the best, but the difference with Lamar is that he does it in a way that suggests he might well have a point. Hence Element, a post-fame restatement of the claims made on Rigamortis. Call me out on your track if you disagree, he suggests, but be warned: I will destroy you lyrically and, worse, ...
Lamar in storytelling mode, albeit a story based on real events: his father’s 80s encounter with Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, then a gangster, but ultimately the boss of Lamar’s record label. It is a complex, insightful and utterly gripping story, revolving around “one decision that changed both of their lives”.
A perfect example of Lamar’s ability to turn a hackneyed style on its head. The chorus sounds like a nihilistic party anthem – “why you babysitting only two or three shots?” – his urgent rap involves peer pressure, puking and getting beaten up, a cameo from his conscience and an examination of the roots of alcoholism.
A relation of Swimming Pools (Drank), this time homing in on drugs. Empathic rather than preachy, the verse where he recounts a conversation with a girl who has taken too much of everything is brilliantly, richly painted, with the spongy-sounding beat – a sample of Odd Future offshoot The Jet Age of Tomorrow – the perfect complement.
Without wishing to gush, Lamar is so good at what he does that anything in this Top 10 could reasonably be at No 1. Case in point: MAAD City’s intricate, perfectly handled six-minute story of his youth in Compton, which turns into a completely different track midway through and powers towards a nightmarish climax.
- 7 min
- Alexis Petridis
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Also in the news
- Kendrick Lamar – “HUMBLE.” The Top Dawg emcee hailing from Compton appears in a pope suit, prepared to preach the standout lyrics of “HUMBLE.,” his first-ever Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 record.
- Kendrick Lamar – “DNA.” The chaotic rhythm of Cortez Kenny’s earworm, “DNA.” was fashioned around the ink of his in-your-face bars. “I got power, poison, pain and joy inside my DNA/ I got hustle though, ambition flow inside my DNA” is a personal declaration of benefits and burdens.
- Kendrick Lamar – “LOVE.” Kung Fu Kenny kicked some challenging questions toward his lady on “LOVE.” “If I didn’t ride blade on curb, would you still love me?/
- Kendrick Lamar – “Alright” The Pharrell Williams-co-produced aria “Alright” is a hopeful moment of clarity for Lamar. Through divine wordplay, the MC is able to learn from his misadventures.
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Nov 1, 2022 · The Best Kendrick Lamar Songs, Ranked. Aaron Williams and Travis “Yoh” Phillips November 1, 2022. Rising from Compton, California to become one of hip-hop’s most unique and revered talents ...
Nov 13, 2020 · Lamar had long since perfected the visual language to accompany his music, but the “HUMBLE.” video was like one epic flex — golfing on top of the car, a Last Supper, Kendrick with his head ...
