Just a few days after "good kid, m.A.A.d city" was released, it sailed through the board with a lot of critical praise. It looks like Kendrick Lamar's album marked the rising artist's start as a "superstar."
According to Genius, Lamar had actually made his debut as a rapper with his first mixtape, titled, "Young Head N**** in Charge" back in 2003. After he made his second mixtape, TDE or Top Dawg Entertainment immediately signed him on. Eventually, he was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath.
TheVersed says that Lamar is so good at combining different things that he is able to make ends meet. He combines insightful lyrics with amazingly catchy beats, and adds in the fantastic wordplay.
It is Lamar's strong narrative and cohesive story that makes his album stand out from the rest. Although some of his lyrics might be unpleasant, he effectively makes the statement work. Here are some of his best lyrical work:
1. Things we will never learn soon / In the era where we wanna earn soon / That's an error / You can smell it in the air and everybody doomed
According to The Grio, these lyrics talk about Lamar's inescapable violent childhood. He is calling upon the bygone days when children were not exposed to the omnipresent brutality that surrounded them.
2. I was in heat like a cactus / My tactics of being thirsty / Probably could hurt me / But f*** it, I got some heart
Lamar is describing his thirst for physical "comfort," according to TheVersed. He is willing to venture into a land that he knows can hurt him just in order to find the "love" that he is looking for.
3. Every time you clock in the morning / I feel you just want to kill / All my innocence while ignoring my purpose / To persevere as a better person
The now-famous rapper is describing the issues that were forced on him as a child. The manner of how he talks about the racial profiling done by the police is downright chilling.
4. Sat down with a few drinks located where you can't see us / A white waitress on stand-by when we need her / A black Maybach, 40 pulled up / Jeep no doors / All that n**** was missing was Aaliyah
He managed to transform his simple meeting with Drake into an impressively worded narrative. His keen attention to detail gives its listeners a good image of how they first met, as reported by Pigeons and Planes.
5. It's 2: 30 and the sun is beaming / Air conditioner broke and I hear my stomach screaming / Hungry for anything unhealthy and if nutrition can help me
Lamar, who was formerly known as K. Dot, tells his listeners about the life that he grew up in, having to deal with very unpleasant physical conditions.
6. 'Cause ignorance is bliss
Clearly, Lamar was referring to the severity of his violent street life, according to Genius. He would much rather be ignorant than the face the realness of the gruesome incidents in Compton.
7. Greetings people / You're now rockin' with the best
This is the intro of the first track, "Hova Song" of his first mixtape. He uses his first bar to introduce himself to the world.
Check out one of Lamar's latest songs in the video below.
