His verse lends a panoramic view of the different lives lived by the youth in Kendrick’s environment. If they do tell the truth, this the last time you might see my ass” Got that drum and got them bands, just like a parade, bitchĭrop that work up in the bushes, hope them boys don’t see my stash Gotta provide for my daughter n’em, get the fuck up out my way, bitch What else is a thug to do when you eatin’ cheese from the government? “Pots with cocaine residue, everyday I’m hustling That is, at the end of “ Money Trees,” which flips a Beach House sample into a hard-hitting West Coast beat, Jay Rock delivers a verse that illustrates the same situations that Kendrick describes, but from the view of someone who actively lives the life: He provides more of the crucial contrast that defines this album Jay Rock plays the Doughboy to Kendrick’s Trey. The first feature we come across is label-mate Jay Rock. In a rap industry so over-saturated with features that serve no purpose other than extending the potential for crossover appeal, Kendrick Lamar’s discography thus far has shown how the list of features on an album can actually be more of a cast of characters that the listener will meet throughout the album’s duration. While this track is not the centerpiece of the album, it is the first and most direct in explicitly addressing the effect that such an environment has on the malleable youth that call it home.Īnother important aspect to note when analyzing this album is to understand the role that the few included features play. That’s ironic, ‘cause I’ve never been violent, until I’m with the homies.” “Rush a n**** quick and then we laugh about it. Nowhere is this struggle more prevalent than in “The Art of Peer Pressure,” in which Kendrick details the story of how his friends and he broke into a house and were consequently chased by law enforcement: stands for M y Angry Adolescence Divided and the album concerns itself with exactly that – torn between the street life of his peers and the life his parents envision for him, Kendrick struggles to survive his adolescent years with his sanity and his moral compass intact. One of the two definitions of the titular acronym refers to this dichotomy m.A.A.d. The concept of the album revolves around this particular night, which serves as a microcosm of Kendrick’s experience growing up in Compton surrounded by the various ills and perils that come attached to such an environment. Īmong the first sounds we hear on this album is Kendrick and his friends reciting the sinner’s prayer, followed by a recount of Kendrick, on his way to meet Sherane, wildly fantasizing about what they will do together. This juxtaposition of virtue and vice is nothing new when it comes to Kendrick (the cover of his previous album, Section.80, included a desk cluttered with ammunition and prescription pills, with a Bible just barely making it into the frame), but the difference here is how much more central of a role this contrast plays in Good Kid, m.A.A.d. His baby bottle, a symbol of childhood purity and nurture, sits next to a 40oz, the very representation of the vices that tempt one in the process of coming of age. The themes dealt with in Kendrick Lamar’s debut commercial album are immediate: on the album cover, we see a photograph of Kendrick as a baby sitting on the lap of someone who is presumably an older relative.
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