good kid, m.A.A.d city is released

Why it matters

good kid, m.A.A.d city came out October 22, 2012, on Top Dawg Entertainment/Aftermath/Interscope. It is Kendrick Lamar's second album and his major-label debut. Kendrick at this point was 25, a Compton-raised MC who had spent the previous five years working through TDE's underground pipeline and had been Dr. Dre's signing at Aftermath since 2011. The album is structured as a concept LP about a day in 2004 Compton, narrated by 17-year-old Kendrick across twelve tracks. Voicemails from his parents bookend several songs. The arc takes Kendrick through a series of choices about gang involvement, his Christian faith, and his relationship to the city. "Money Trees," "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe," "Backseat Freestyle," "Swimming Pools (Drank)," "m.A.A.d city," "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst." The album sold 242,000 copies in its first week, went four-times platinum within five years, and is generally regarded as one of the most important rap debuts of the 2010s. It is the album that announced Kendrick as the most ambitious commercial rap writer of his generation. To Pimp a Butterfly two and a half years later would confirm the announcement. You should hear good kid in order. The album is built for sequential listening.