album was released on October 22, 2012, by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment,

and was distributed by Interscope Records. The album serves as Lamar's major label debut,

after his signing to Aftermath and Interscope in early 2012. It was preceded by the release

of Kendrick's debut studio album Section.80, released exclusively through the iTunes Store

independently. The album was recorded mostly at several studios

in California with producers such as Dr. Dre, Just Blaze, Pharrell Williams, Hit-Boy, Scoop

DeVille, Jack Splash and T-Minus, among others. Billed as a "short film by Kendrick Lamar"

on the album cover, the concept album follows the story of Lamar's teenage experiences in

the drug-infested streets and gang lifestyle of his native Compton, California. Upon its

release, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City received rave reviews from music critics, who praised its

thematic scope and Lamar's lyrics. Good Kid M.A.A.D City earned Lamar four Grammy Award

nominations at the 56th Grammy Awards including Album of The Year.

The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 242,000 copies in its first

week – earning the highest first-week hip hop album sales of 2012 from a male artist,

along with the best-selling debut from a male artist of the year. It became Lamar's first

album to enter the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number 16, and entering the UK R&B Albums

Chart at number two. The album was also met with rave reviews from music critics, being

named to many end-of-the-year lists. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry

Association of America and, by March 30, 2014, had sold 1,226,000 copies, according to Nielsen

SoundScan. The album's release was supported by five

singles – "The Recipe" featuring Dr. Dre, "Swimming Pools", "Backseat Freestyle", "Poetic

Justice" featuring Drake, and the remix of "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" featuring Jay-Z.

All five singles received varied chart success. Lamar also went on a world tour between May

and August 2013, featuring the other members of the hip hop collective Black Hippy.

Background

After the release and success of his 2011 studio album Section.80, Lamar signed a major

label record deal with Interscope and Dr. Dre's Aftermath. He told HipHopDX he did not

want to work with high-profile producers, but with those he had established himself

with, mainly producers from Top Dawg's in-house production team Digi+Phonics.

In an interview for XXL, Lamar said that the album would not sound like Section.80, but

will return to his Compton, California roots: "I couldn’t tell you what type of sound

or where I’ma be in the next five years as far as music ... Going back to the neighborhood

and going to different spots, chilling with my homeboys, put me back in that same space

where we used to be, bringing back them thoughts, reminiscing how I was feeling. I got myself

right back in that mode and I got inspired by that. So this album won’t sound like

Section.80. Completely nothing like it.” Lamar also said that the album will showcase

the influence of his hometown: "The kid that’s trying to escape that influence, trying his

best to escape that influence, has always been pulled back in because of circumstances

that be". Before the album's title was officially revealed, fans had already been calling Lamar's

major label debut Good Kid, Mad City or Good Kid in a Mad City, as it was a nickname of

some sort that Lamar had given himself. The album's title mainly refers to Lamar's childhood

innocence and how the notorious city of Compton, California affected that and his life. After

keeping the album title's acronym concealed, Lamar later revealed M.A.A.D is an acronym

with two meanings: "My Angry Adolescence Divided" and more importantly "My Angels on Angel Dust",

with Lamar stating: "That was me. I got laced. The reason why I don't smoke, and it's in

the album. It's in the story. It was just me getting my hands on the wrong thing at

the wrong time, being oblivious to it." The cover artwork for Good Kid, M.A.A.D City

fits to the concept of the album. The album cover features Kendrick Lamar, two of his

uncles, and his grandfather, with the elders' eyes censored. Though there is no confirmed

explanation for why Kendrick chose to do this, he explained that the reason why he had not

censored his own eyes was that the story was told through his eyes, and the story is based

around his experiences. The uncle who is holding Lamar also is displaying the Crips gang sign

with his hand, which also fits the story of the album, and how Kendrick was stuck in a

lifestyle of gangs and drugs. The poster above the head of Kendrick features him and his

father. Recording and production

Recording sessions for the album took place at PatchWerk Recording Studios in Atlanta,

Encore Studios in Burbank, TDE Red Room in Carson, and "At [Kendrick Lamar's] Mama's

Studio" in Los Angeles. Lamar stated Good Kid, M.A.A.D City would sound “nothing”

like Section.80, his previous album: “I couldn't tell you what type of sound or where

I’ma be in the next five years as far as music,” he said. “It’s a big difference

from the next project compared to the last. And that’s what happened with this album.

Going back to the neighborhood and going to different spots, chilling with my homeboys,

put me back in that same space where we used to be, bringing back them thoughts, reminiscing

how I was feeling. I got myself right back in that mode and I got inspired by that. So

this album won’t sound like Section.80. Completely nothing like it,” he told XXL

magazine. The first song Lamar and Dr. Dre ever worked on together was "Compton", the

twelfth track on the album, which serves as the standard edition's closing track.

On August 15, 2012, Lady Gaga announced via Twitter, that she had collaborated with Lamar

on a song entitled "Partynauseous", for good kid, m.A.A.d city, and that it would be released

on September 6, 2012. However, on August 23, 2012, Gaga announced that the song was no

longer being released on that date and apologized to fans for the delay. Eventually, it was

confirmed that Lady Gaga would not be featured on the album due to timing issues and creative

differences. The song was later revealed to be re-titled "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe".

On November 8, 2012 Gaga released the version she was featured on, which had her singing

the chorus and a verse. Lamar expressed he was surprised and happy that Gaga released

her version of the song, as it showed confidence in their work together.

Music and lyrics

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City has a low-key, downbeat production, with atmospheric beats and subtle,

indistinct hooks. It eschews contemporary hip hop tastes, and generally features tight

bass measures, subtle background vocals, and light piano. Writers draw comparisons of the

music to OutKast's 1998 album Aquemini. Andrew Nosnitsky of Spin cites the music's "closest

point of reference" as "the cold spaciousness of ATLiens-era OutKast, but as the record

progresses, that sound sinks slowly into the fusionist mud of those sprawling and solemn

mid-2000s Roots albums." Sasha Frere-Jones of The New Yorker finds its use of "smooth"

music as a backdrop for "rough" scenarios to be analogous to Dr. Dre's G-funk during

the early 1990s, but adds that "Lamar often sounds like Drake ... whose various dreamy

styles have very little to do with the legacy of the West." Okayplayer's Marcus Moore writes

that its "expansive and brooding" instrumentals eschew "California's glossy West Coast funk"

for a "Dungeon Family aesthetic." Lyrically, the album chronicles Lamar's experiences

in his native Compton, California and its harsh realities, in a nonlinear narrative.

The songs address issues such as economic disenfranchisement, retributive gang violence,

and downtrodden women, while analyzing their residual effects on individuals and families.

Lamar introduces various characters and internal conflicts, including the contrast of his homesickness

and love for Compton with the city's plagued condition. Del F. Cowie of Exclaim! observes

a "transformation" by Lamar's character "from a boisterous, impressionable, girl-craving

teenager to more spiritual, hard-fought adulthood, irrevocably shaped by the neighbourhood and

familial bonds of his precarious environment." Slant Magazine's Mark Collett writes that

Lamar executes the character's transition by "tempering the hedonistic urges of West

Coast hip-hop with the self-reflective impulses of the East Coast." David Amidon of PopMatters

views that the album provides a "sort of semi-autobiographical character arc", while MSN Music's Robert Christgau

writes that Lamar "softspokenly" enacts a "rap-versus-real dichotomy".

The album features naturalistic, vérité-like skits that dramatize the characters' limitations.

Jon Caramanica of The New York Times finds them to be a part of the album's "narrative

strategy", with "prayers and conversations and different voices and recollections and

interludes, all in service of one overarching story: Mr. Lamar's tale of ducking Compton's

rougher corners to find himself artistically." Pitchfork Media's Jayson Greene feels that

they reinforce the album's theme of "the grounding power of family", interpreting "family and

faith" to be "the fraying tethers holding Lamar back from the chasm of gang violence

that threatens to consume him." Lamar exhibits a tempered delivery on the

album, and raps with dense narratives, internal rhyme, double and triple time flow, and multiple

voices for different characters. Music journalist Jody Rosen characterizes him as "a storyteller,

not a braggart or punch-line rapper, setting spiritual yearnings and moral dilemmas against

a backdrop of gang violence and police brutality." Singles

The album's first single, "The Recipe", was released on April 3, 2012. The song features

his mentor, record producer and fellow rapper Dr. Dre and was produced by Scoop DeVille.

It peaked at number 38 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and at number 3 on Bubbling Under Hot

100 Singles. Kendrick shot a video for it featuring Dr. Dre at a mansion in Los Angeles

in May 2012. He also claimed the video will have a feel of 2Pac's California Love clip.

The album's second single "Swimming Pools" was released on July 31, 2012, as a digital

download, while the music video premiered on August 3, 2012. The song became a hit,

peaking at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Swimming Pools" was also certified Gold

in the United States by the RIAA. The week of the album's release, "Backseat

Freestyle" debuted on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at number 106.

It was later revealed to be released as the third single in the United Kingdom on January

7, 2013. The music video was released on January 2, 2013. Lamar's father appears in the video.

The song peaked at number 29 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

"Poetic Justice" was released third single in North America, featuring Drake and production

from Scoop DeVille. The song began to impact American rhythmic contemporary radio on January

15, 2013. The song has since peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Poetic Justice"

was also certified Gold in the United States by the RIAA.

On March 9, 2013, Kendrick told Rap-Up that his next single off the album would probably

be "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe". On March 13, 2013, Jay-Z's engineer Young Guru premiered

a snippet of the song's official remix, featuring rapper Jay-Z. Lamar called it an accomplishment

to have a song with Jay-Z featured on it. Shortly after the remix premiered he would

confirm that, "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" would be the next single. The full version

of the remix was premiered by Funkmaster Flex on March 17, 2013. The remix was released

as the album's fourth single to rhythmic contemporary radio on April 9, 2013. The song has since

peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video for the original version of

the single was released on May 13, 2013. Comedian Mike Epps makes a cameo appearance in the

video. The same day an extended version of the music video was released featuring a cameo

from Juicy J, and a bonus clip of a new song by Schoolboy Q from his own respective major

label debut album, Oxymoron. Promotion

Before and after the album's release, Kendrick toured as a supporting act with other various

artists such as Drake and Steve Aoki. On May 5, 2013, he begun his first headlining tour

with the good kid, m.A.A.d city World Tour, in West Palm Beach, Florida. The tour consisted

of 23 headlining shows, 22 international music festivals, and 15 United States music festivals.

The tour ran through August 24 and also featured the other members of Black Hippy on all the

US dates. After titling the album "a short film" by

Kendrick Lamar, in an interview with GQ he said "he plans on doing a short film to bring

his story to life." He also expressed interest in directing this short film too. Lamar also

threw out names like Tristan Wilds to portray him, Taraji P. Henson and Rihanna as potential

names he'd want to have if he could choose anybody to work with. On December 23, 2013,

the music video for the song "Sing About Me", was released. The video was directed by Darren

Romanelli. Critical reception

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City received rave reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic,

which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album

received an average score of 91, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 36 reviews.

Pitchfork Media's Jayson Greene felt that "the miracle of this album is how it ties

straightforward rap thrills" to its "weighty material" and narrative. David Amidon of PopMatters

felt that the album is simultaneously accessible and substantial, as it can appeal to both

underground and mainstream hip hop listeners. Fact magazine's Joseph Morpurgo called it

an autobiographical "triumph of breadth" and a "wide-ranging, far-reaching success". Sputnikmusic

found its reach comparable to Kanye West's 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,

"but with much subtler shades". Jaeki Cho of XXL called it "one of the most cohesive

bodies of work in recent rap memory" and wrote that each song is "both complexly arranged

and sonically fitting, foregrounding Kendrick’s vivid lyricism and amazing control of cadence."

Jim Carroll of The Irish Times viewed it as an important and entertaining that is forward

thinking, even though it echoes the past era of West Coast hip hop. AllMusic editor David

Jeffries characterized the album as "some kind of elevated gangsta rap" and wrote of

its subject matter:

Besides all the great ideas and life, this journey through the concrete jungle of Compton

is worth taking because of the artistic richness, plus the attraction of a whip-smart rapper

flying high during his rookie season. Any hesitation about the horror of it all is quickly

wiped away by Kendrick's mix of true talk, open heart, open mind, and extended hand.

Add it all up and subtract the hype, and this one is still potent enough to rise to the

top of the pile.

In a mixed review, Hazel Sheffield of NME asserted that the album "might lack the raw

appeal of" Section.80, "but it's a big-budget reminder that [Lamar] hasn't forgotten his