Big Ghost Presents...The good kid, m.A.A.d. city Review

Ayo whattup you now in the presence of the magnificent Phantom Raviolis aka the high n exalted Shampoo Bracelets the panty melter... otherwise known as the mighty Hands of Zeus in the flesh...but yall might also kno me as the glorious Cocaine Biceps aka Galaxy Knuckles aka Volcano Hands or the illustrious Big Ghost hisself. Thats right yall...the gods back wit more typhoons for yall huts. Niggas still sleepin. But Imma stay pumpin steroids into these paragraphs til the god returns to the essence nahmean. But my essence aint like yall muthafuckas. Yalls was formed from dust n was either pushed outta ya moms vagina or pulled out the womb on some hoe shit nahmean. I wasnt born like no regular muthafucka b...I was emerged...on some really nigga shit. The god was chiseled from the walls of the highest volcanoes on earth n emerged from the lavas of that shit nahmean (pause). But that shit is irrelevant. I BEEN told niggas. But yo the topic of the sermon today is the state of hip hop namsayin. To a certain degree this shit gon fall on deaf ears tho. I expect that b. I can respect that not all muthafuckas is gon be able to grasp this level of physical science. Yall aint got enough scholarships to fuck wit this level of intellect yo. Lotta yall muthafuckas is either too wet behind yall ears or jus too stupid to kno the difference between somebody who creatin timeless art n some dude who jus spittin a couple cool bars over a beat. Even worse...summa yall aint even kno what some cold bars really sound like. Yall on some bullshit. Yall fuck wit that a la carte shit. Yall fuckin wit niggas who sprinkle little funny punchlines that dont mean nothin over some other niggas beats all day. But we gon get to the heart of that shit right now namsayin. Word is bond... 

If you aint never heard of this dude right here either you been livin under a rock thats under a rock thats under a rock that happens to be buried under a box of Lil Kim mixtapes or you jus been avoidin the shit outta the internet b. But for the three n a half muthafuckas readin this shit who AINT heard...Kendrick Lamar is the future of hip hop yo. Its like once a decade maybe that a MC of this caliber gon come round n completely change the way niggas rap....n at the same time they carry the torch for that supremacy on the mic. They deliver a game changer album too. Im not talmbout niggas that was jus nice on the mic or had a cool style that ey'body was dickridin for a couple months. I mean the dudes who was the pinnacle of they breed nahmean. Imma be straight up...one of my favorite rappers ever is probably Jay-Z. I think dude is nice as hell yo. He also the livin embodiment of what ALL niggas in the rap game strivin to be somehow or some way...a popular rapper who gotta whole catalog of classic joints n is successful as fuck. But I dont think son fits this category like that. Jay always played the game. He compromises n shit...he dont create timeless art for the sake of creatin timeless art...he puts the business first namsayin. He still the GOAT in a lotta ways but Im talmbout the few who came out the gate n aint compromise nothin n still maintained that same level of influence n had they successful careers regardless. Thats a special emcee right there... 

In the 80s it was Rakim. Him n Eric B was in the studio recordin the My Melody n Eric B For President joints in Queensbridge wit Marley Marl n MC Shan right... n em niggas was fallin outta they chairs laughin at how son was rhymin the whole time b. And this was MC SHAN yo.... But when the R came out that booth...history had been made. Them joints CHANGED the game forever b. The god MC was on some multisyllablistic shit showin niggas how to reeeeeallly rap n was droppin science for his peers at the same time. Son aint give a fuck bout the rules neither yo. Niggas thought son was some kinda alien b. This was in '86 when niggas was still lyrically on some pretty simple shit tho...n here this dude was carryin on phrases to the next line that continued to the next line n shit...some outta this world shit. Niggas aint never went back to that old shit again b. In the 90s it was back to that same hood...when that nigga Nas came outta nowhere n raised the bar AGAIN. They started callin son the second coming of Rakim after like 3 appearances on wax n shit.  But Nas had even more success than Ra... n elevated what Ra had already did n added his own touches n whatever. Shit was more gritty n controversial than what Ra had been doin. Son was sayin summa the illest shit imagineable yo. Again...niggas thought son was some kinda alien b. Plus it aint a lotta dope emcees that came out SINCE '94 that wasnt influenced by Illmatic namsayin. That right there already solidified his position yo. Nasir dropped a couple duds n took a few Ls along the way but his legacy is always gon be intact than a muthafucka cuz of ONE album b. 

Now in the 00s...niggas had declared Lupe Fiasco that dude who was gon carry on the tradition n elevate shit to that next level n be that thinkin mans rapper while keepin the shit thoro enough for the streets n carryin that weight of real niggas on his back while runnin wit that torch. False alarm yo. 

Then a few years later a little nigga from North Carolina started to make some noise. Son went by his government kinda like how Nas did on some humble shit...yall kno him as J.Cole. Niggas had crowned him as the second coming of Nas hisself... I call him the poor man's Drake. Im sayin...false alarm again yo.

Ionno tho...maybe it jus skipped a decade. BUT eventually the time was finally at hand again namsayin. In 2010 a little dude from Compton who had been makin some noise in the underground as a serious problem dropped a little joint called Overly Dedicated...n that set off all that "second coming of..." talk again. Only thing was they wasnt really comparin him to nobody else. Son was actually unlike any other muthafucka alive. But son was ILL. Once again...niggas thought son was some kinda alien. O.D. had set those wheels in motion for the homie Kendrick. Niggas went back n checked all his old shit...they explored his catalogs n whatever. They peeped his youtube freestyles... Son had his sparks flyin. After he dropped Section 80 tho...his first little independent album...those sparks had become a inferno or some shit. Ey'body knew Section 80 was dope n all but it was still a lotta doubters chillin wit they arms crossed like naw... But this shit right here is sons chance to step up n really get that shit poppin. He got the Interscope machine in his corner... so promotion aint gon be no problem. He got Dr Dre playin the back n lettin son take control of his own project...so it aint gon be some Frankenstein nigga created in the laboratory wit access to ALL the hottest producers in the game comin together on a joint soundin like a compilation of ey'body elses shit (whattup Game). Question at hand tho is will son deliver? He gon bless us wit his Paid In Full....his Illmatic...his Doggystyle...his AmeriKKKas Most Wanted...his Ready to Die...his Cuban Linx....his College Dropout...orrrrrrrr is he gon give us a Sideline Story? This gon be Can-I-Bus 2012? In other words will this shit change the game like his predecessors did or is it gon be the punchline to some jokes niggas tell 10 years from now? Back round '05 when Kendrick's "mentor" Dre was bout to watch his fellow CPT citizen The Game drop his first album (The Documentary) he said he aint wanna leave the game until he put a truly great Compton artist on the map. Fast forward 7 years n he lookin like he close to achievin that goal finally. ALL that shit Kendrick put out before this moment dont matter no more...all that shit was jus son dippin his toes in the water namsayin....this is sons moment now. He gotta either sink or swim nahmean.

So here we got it. Now the thing bout this album is its a concept joint namsayin. Ok so summa yall is probably thinkin cool...like Jay's American Gangster joint right? Kinda...but naw. Like this shit is a story n there aint a lotta distractions from that story b. Like there aint a joint wit Lil Wayne on here doin his Lil Wayne thing jus cuz he one of the hottest niggas out right now. You look at the track list n you probably like why the fuck he aint got ScHoolboy Q n Ab-Soul on this shit...but DRAKE on this muthafucka? We gon come back to that namsayin... But if you want a actual ACTUAL breakdown on this shit as far as the story go THIS muthafucka already did all the work for you. So lets get into this shit now..

1. Sherane a.k.a. Master Splinter's Daughter - First words uttered on this whole album.."Lord God...I come to you a sinner. And I humbly repent for my sins". This aint gon be the only time God n Jesus gon come up on this album...we gon get into all that later too tho. The beat is some hypnotic shit. Its the perfect type a joint for gettin on some storytellin shit...n you dont need me to tell you that son be knowin how to get his storytellin on bruh. Kendrick the type who gon paint you all the details in the picture for some shit that probably was only a one minute convo or some shit that happened in a blink of the eye n shit. Shit is also the introduction to the Sherane character. He meets her at the party n...long story short.. he in his moms van tryna get to her crib to go hit that when he seen two niggas in hoodies approachin... then the shit cuts off. But you can jus listen to this shit without payin attention to the shit he narratin too. It jus wont make as much sense.

2. Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe - This shit is crazy laid back too. The hook on this shit goes "I am a sinner...who's probably gonna sin again...Lord forgive me" so he still on that religified shit. This is a break from the story tho. If the last joint was son reminiscin on some old shit..then its kinda like he transported back to the future for this one namsayin. So here he is thinkin bout where he at in life now.

3. Backseat Freestyle - This shit is connected to a skit where Kendrick's homies scoop him up n now he in the back of the car n they ridin round kickin they little freestyles n shit....basically what it says in the song title. Now obviously this aint like no shit he freestylin forreal off the top of his head n shit but he also aint rhymin bout nothin specific. This kinda like some A Milli type shit. I fucks wit it. Nothin bout God or Jesus on this one. Son back in character rhymin like he a teenager bout stupid shit only little niggas be sayin. Only thing I was thinkin is he coulda had ScHoolboy Q or Ab-Soul come bless this shit too. At one point it even sound kinda like Kendrick doin a Q impersonation or some shit anyways yo. This shit bangs tho. I mean...it might sound kinda like some simple shit but so was Sucker MCs son. Muthafuckin Hit-Boy went in on this shit yo...plus the track be givin Kendrick a chance to flex on it. 

4. The Art of  Peer Pressure - This shit got basically two parts. The first minute is jus son on some singin shit wettin the paint on his brush before he paints that next story. The beat is like some fly grown man shit. Almost toooooo grown man...like the shit that Puffy might got playin in his crib in the Hamptons while he kickin it wit old ass white dudes sippin Ciroc outta some shit wit umbrellas n mad fruit in it....like some sophisticated yet slightly played out soundin shit. Dont get me wrong tho. I mean I fucks wit it...but it also sounds like some shit Lupe would cop from a 14 yr old beat makin nigga from Chechnya n keep on his workout playlist along wit some rare Sade demos n Yo-Yo Ma's old old old shit....like his first shit that only Lupe kno bout n shit. Then the beat transforms n we get to the actual ACTUAL song. The shit gets kinda dark n he continues his story n whatever. I aint gon spoil the whole shit for yall but basically the moral of the tale is that son really dont be gettin high or gettin in any altercations or doin no criminal shit n robbin niggas unless he wit his homies. Thats some real shit right there. 

5. Money Trees ft Jay Rock - I dont kno who DJ Dahi is but he muthafuckin fool for this beat son. Kendrick talmbout all the shit that done happen so far on this shit for his verse. Then the hook come in n its some fly shit...even tho what he sayin gotta lotta substance to it. Like when you hear the track son seems like jus on some regular ol disrespectful shit. Like he jus stuntin on you for no reason nahmean. Fact is son actually droppin jewelz on this shit while he disrespectin whoever. Then Jay Rock pops up on this shit... Or more like Jay Rock possessed by the ghost of a nigga that can really really rap pops up on this shit. Its like son wasnt comfortable wit slidin down to the bottom of the Black Hippy totem pole ever since Soul done evolved into some deep thinkin ass muthafucka n Q became THAT dude.... Almost like he thinkin SO IMMA JUS BE THE TONY YAYO OF THIS CREW ALL A SUDDEN? NAWWWW... So he been workin on his flow a little. Rock wasnt ever no wack nigga tho...he jus wasnt on par wit the other niggas in the crew. But he definitely sound like he caught wind of that little message n decided he was gon step his shit up. Whatever works b.

6. Poetic Justice ft Drake - Man...ey'thing bout the words in the title of this track jus seems fucked up right here. I aint gon front. Like I get it...its a joint for the females. This is actually the joint that represents the last verse of the first track where son is bout to go see his girl Sherane n them dudes come out wit they hoodies on. You might even say this shit is kinda genius the way he tied it back into that story. But why Drake gotta be on this joint? Why Aubrey Graham gotta sprout his wings n flutter all over this shit? Why Drake in the van wit you on the way to Sherane house in the first place Kendrick? I mean...son really hadda come along par? Aint even like that bathwater drinkin, waffle syrup bleedin, baby powder sneezin, spritzer pourin muthafucka came wit some different shit. He jus did his usual Drake thing...which is normally jus some instructions for random broads on how they can feel comfortable round him since he kno he aint perfect n she should kno she aint perfect but they perfect together so they can still have a good time bein flawed individuals either way cuz that shit is destiny even tho he tryin to better hisself but at least he successful now so he aint really mad at how shit done turned out for him cuz niggas gon always be unnecessarily hatin on him for all the suspect ass shit he be doin seein as they jus jealous of where he at in life n feel like they gotta cut him down to size n not that he wanna brag or nothin but it is what it is n she need to come closer so he can describe ey'thing she wearin for whoever listenin n explain to her how her flaws is the reason why she is who she is n why she need to be embracin that shit stead a hidin behind hairdos n fly clothes since bein mad plain lookin n even possibly slightly unattractive or overweight is what makes her as unique as the snowflakes he use to catch on his tongue while he was makin snow angels on the driveway of his momma house in Toronto before he would run into the kitchen wit his homies Kyle n Blake n have hot chocolates n make smores or some shit n even tho he wouldnt fuck wit her FORREAL forreal jus only on a song cuz in real life he tryin to bag Rihanna again n has dreams bout Aaliyah bein resurrected n wantin to thank him for single-handedly keepin her memory alive n makin posthumous joints wit her by walkin into the Young Money offices in front of ey'body n givin him a big kiss n scoopin him up n carryin him out while ey'body clappin n cheerin n Weezy goin WAY TO GO DRAKE...WAY TO GO...but he figures chicks wit low self esteem dig all that corny ass overly honest n conflicted bout ya own emotions n opinions shit cuz its mad relateable so he gon say it anyways....but he kinda toned it down for this joint so its whatever. 

7. good kid - This shit dont sound like no other Pharrell beat I heard before yo. Not that thats a bad thing or nothin. Even tho that sounds like Pharrell on the hook its actually Chad Hugo. You kno...the OTHER dude in the Neptunes aka the John Oates (google it) of hip hop. The beat aint really nothin special but it suits the album namsayin. Meanwhile Kendrick sayin some real shit bout the gangs situation in his city n how even tho he dont partake in none of that shit personally the cops gon still pull his car over anyways n treat him like he be bangin or whatever. So at the end of the day he dont really got options like that anyways nahmean. Same shit different town basically.

8. m.A.A.d. city ft MC Eiht - This shit is lowkey the masterpiece of the whole album. If you aint never heard the name MC Eiht...he basically a Compton legend. Look him up...download some Compton's Most Wanted albums....watch him in Mencae II Society or some shit. Get familiar... This another joint where the beat changes n its like two songs in one again. First half is dope but the second half? Son... Its like he took all the most conscious west coast gangster shit that dropped in '91 n put it all in a blender. Shit is more than some kinda homage...its like a time machine yo. But he still stickin to the script so it aint like the shit aint got no purpose in bein on the album or whatever. This shit is basically the Yang to the Yin of the last joint...or which ever one is the little bit of light inside the dark n shit. 

9. Swimming Pools (Drank) [Extended Version] - Man when I first heard this shit I was jus happy to see T-Minus doin a beat for somebody who wasnt wack yo. Cuz son be slidin a lot of cold ass beats to mediocre niggas forreal. If you gon do some PSA shit for the youngsters this how you do it b... The single version was mad cool...but the little switch up at the end of this shit jus too ill yo. I mean its short as Kreayshawn's lifespan as a major label artist was but thats what makes the shit so crazy. Shit made me want to jus loop that 25 seconds of perfection over n over. Im glad they did somethin special wit this song for the album too yo.

10. Sing About Me/I'm Dying of Thirst - This beat on Sing About Me is another one thats mad grown...like this shit got the room lookin like ey'thing gotta sepia filter on it...makin me feel like I gotta light some candles or some shit. Word...son put some sepia on this muthafucka foreal. I might gotta put a suit on for this. The verses is gon be kinda confusin for you if you listenin to this shit while skippin all the skits. You might gon be wonderin why Kendrick rhymin bout havin titties n gettin tossed by 3 niggas in a room or whatever... But either way the shit so buttery smooth you should fuck wit it still. The second half is like the start of his transformation into a more conscious individual n shit. Then we get another prayer...

11. Real ft Anna Wise - This one might jus be a little too far into smooth territory for myself personally. Like I aint necessarily need to hop up to hit the skip on this shit but at the same time I aint gon be like YO PUT THAT SHIT ON TRACK 11 when the cd gets thrown in at the crib or in the ride. But the shit is aight. By this point the little voicemail messages from Kendricks folks is gettin a little unnecessary n semi corny tho. Like can these muthafuckas go to sleep? At the same time this last skit puts a nice little bow on the story.

12. Compton ft Dr Dre - Just Blaze you a muthafuckin beast for this beat homie. We back in the future again n my nigga tradin bars (that he penned) wit the king of the west coast. This shit is like the opposite of all the songs that ever been written bout his hometown. Makes you wanna visit that muthafucka almost. The little Roger Troutman shit at the end was a nice touch even.

Now this the end of the actual album nahmean. Now we jus get into the bonus cuts n whatever. But as far as the album go...it aint no way to escape a few things...1) its a whole lotta skits on this shit. Like the first two De La Soul albums a lot. Like the first two Kanye albums a lot even. If you got zero tolerance for niggas sittin there witta tape recorder actin out scenarios then you gon be hittin that skip a ton nahmean. 2) This joint got a lot of  talk bout God n Jesus. If you aint a Christian that might gon get on ya nerves or whatever. For son...this is probably a very real thing, so I aint gon front on none of that at all. Some folks gotta relationship wit the Most High n some dont. This a very personal album tho. This aint some attempt at throwin a little of whatevers hot on the plate n givin you 12 singles. This aint a sample platter. This a well prepared meal namsayin. Far as the sound goes you can hear echoes of some Outkast ATLiens in here. Not to mention that this shit all clicks together marvelously jus like any one of em first 3 classic 'Kast joints. Like son really really really made a album here yo. These joints work together...they dont fight for individual shine like that. Son coulda jus did the easy thing n bus some lyrical windmills all over this shit over nothin but bangers n showed off. He coulda used the shit as a showcase for his crew n squeezed some mass promotion in there even. So dependin on what version(s) you copped (or downloaded for free n been enjoyin but aint actually left the crib to grab a physical copy of or logged into ya itunes to help support son in which case you a degenerate muthafucka n need to get the fuck outta my shit n stop readin this) its gon be a different situation for you regardin what comes next. Mainly you gon want The Recipe...which almost ey'body that fucks wit Kendrick already got...but still is the most important shit that aint on the ALBUM album. Only problem I had wit that track was that Dre use to have the sense to get niggas to write shit for him that sounded like he coulda maybe wrote it hisself. Seems like ever since Em penned a couple bars for him he started believin in his own imaginary ability to write rhymes a little too much tho. Now he jus gettin greedy. Like cmon son... You sound like Kendrick witta tranquilizer dart stuck in his neck. Other than that I love this joint. Far as the other bonus tracks go...I can live without the Mary J joint. Like naw yo... I fucks wit the rest tho. The Recipe n Swimming Pools remixes wit his Black Hippy brethren was a good move on sons part too. Like he got to maintain the vision for his album the way that he wanted while throwin a couple thanksgivin turkeys out the back of the truck for his fans namsayin. 

Far as Im concerned yo...son put together a very rare thing here. It dont sound like nothin else ever neither. Only time gon tell if its gon be remembered as a classic forreal forreal. Or if its gon be downgraded a couple notches eventually. My money is on this shit tho. I seen a lot of eager ass muthafuckas was callin it a classic before the shit even dropped. I aint talkin to yall stans right now. But I talked to mad folks who was hatin the shit outta this muthafucka the day it leaked n then was sayin YOOOOOO...THIS SHIT ACTUALLY AIGHT WHEN YOU HEAR IT A SECOND TIME the very next day n shit. I also seen mad critics playin it safe n givin it the nod while holdin back a little bit. Im sayin even Straight Outta Compton had Something 2 Dance 2 on it. Even worse...Paid In Full had two joints where it was jus Eric B doin summa the worst scratchin n cuttin known to man. The Blueprint had Jigga That Nigga on it... Like Im sayin even the most classic shit gon have some missteps or whatever. Even when a dude leaves off all the filler n gives you nothin but the top grade shit niggas complain that its too short (Illmatic)... so its whatever. Is this shit better than Ready To Die? Nah. Is it gon be more influential than The Chronic? Not at all. Is it gon fly off the shelf like Get Rich Or Die Tryin? Probably not. But it definitely brought somethin new to the table. I dont mean somethin new to the table like how Soulja Boy brought somethin new to the table...I mean like how Clipse brought somethin new to the table when they dropped Lord Willin. Is this shit perfect n without flaws? Naw yo. Kinda like the character in the story its gon suffer from some bad decisions or whatever. But the end product is what defines any work of art namsayin. You can be drawin a picture n have some lines you aint really want on there so you might try n erase em but they still be showin up or whatever so you draw on top of em n try n mask the flaws n shit...but that can also add to the final picture namsayin. In the end we all gon have our opinions...but mines is all tha matters to me. So fuck what ya sayin.

Aight peace.

5 Zeus Slaps Outta 5

And yo...make sure yall also support the realest dude in rap when his album drop next week.