Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city, Should Win the Album of the Year Grammy
Kendrick Lamar’s album good kid, m.A.A.d city, is Grammy nominated for album of the year and he should win. good kid, m.A.A.d city is an album that will live far beyond this year, and I can’t say that about the other nominees. That’s right, I’m about to go in on Macklemore and Lorde. So if you’re one of those rabid fans that think they’re actually apart of the band. You might want to turn away, while I chop off the only good leg you have to stand on. As far as Taylor Swift and Daft Punk, I don’t have anything negative to say about them. The Daft Punk album was good and I wouldn’t complain if they won. As far as Taylor Swift. I don’t say anything negative about her publicly, because her coupled with her angry mob would end my career (50 cent on Ja Rule style). So I treat her like Fight Club, and “The first rule of Fight Club, is you don’t talk about Fight Club.”1
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis or Macklemore with Ryan Lewis. I’m not sure how Ryan is being credited now a days (I hope that sounded dismissive, because that’s what I was going for). This is a clown show. They shouldn’t even be in this category. They have a couple trendy songs and they deserve recognition for them. As a matter of fact I think they should win the Grammy for Best Rap Performance. However, they shouldn’t even be considered for album of the year. As far as Lorde. “Why are you here?” Enough with the soft voice, kind of quirky, “You know we are only qualified to be the 4th place singer on The Voice.” Enough! Get off the stage! We had our lives ruin just a year with the Gotye thing. Gives our collective ears some time to defrag and not want to kill someone every time that melody comes on.
Before I talk about good kid, m.A.A.d city, let me issue a disclaimer. When I first heard Kendrick Lamar’s album I didn’t like it. I thought some of the musical content was good, but it was surrounded by interludes that bogged the album down. I thought the interludes not only made it a hard listen to, but damn near unlistenable. So I threw the album on my digital shelf (deleted it from my iPod), and planned to never listen to it again (Magna Carta style). Then Kendrick Lamar dropped that scorched earth verse on Control2, and things changed.
When I heard Control I thought, “This can’t be the Kendrick Lamar that made good kid, m.A.A.d city. This dude is nasty. m.A.A.d city 
sounded like a long infomercial advertising West Coast rap of the 90s. While this sounds like someone that may be the next great artist.” So I decided to put Kendrick Lamar’s album back into my digital library and give it another listen. Then, I played it again. Then I played again…and again. Next thing you know I was playing Kendrick’s album every day. To the point where I couldn’t believe that I miss evaluated the album so poorly the first time I heard it.
good kid, m.A.A.d city has everything you want in an album. It has lyrics, storytelling, and depth. The interludes – that seemed to bog down the album when I originally listened to it – transform the listening experience, and act as a narrator in this musical movie. Tracks like, m.A.A.d. City are so complex and well done. The front end of song he lays out a story of street justice, and how people may see what happens but won’t talk (Da Mayor style). The back end of the song talks about why people in streets crave the street, while hoping to break the cycle of violence for their future generation.
Then there’s songs like, Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst. This track deals with the reality of someone that lives a life a crime. They know the way they’re living will end with them dead. So they dream of changing their ways, and experiencing life as other people do. However, they know the likelihood of that happening is extremely low. So if they don’t make it, they want to go to heaven, and be remembered by the people they loved most.
Though the album is heavy with content. There are still songs like, Swimming Pools (Drank) which is something everyone can relate to. I would break this song down, but the title says it all.
Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid Mad City Album is not only great, but it is a classic. We will look back on at this album the same way we look at Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt, Nas’ Illmatic and The Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready to Die. As the manifesto that launched one of the greatest trappers of all time. Now before you savage me for putting him into that discussion, listen to Control. Then listen to the album again…and again.
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You may ask why I didn't mention Sara Bareilles. That's because the Grammy sight didn't take the time to put up a link to her website. So if they don't take her chances of winning seriously, why should I?
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I put up the link for only the Kendrick Lamar verse of Control. You can thank me later.
Editor-in-Chief of Comedic Prose
Follow Kortney Williams on Twitter @kortneyshane