Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid M.A.A.D. City

Kendrick Lamar is a rapper from Compton, California.  Like most people, the city Kendrick comes from plays a large role in his development as a person.  This is clearly and thoughtfully showcased on "Good Kid M.A.A.D. City."  It is a very autobiographical album, and Kendrick goes through great pains to bring this across through the lyrics, the structure, and the beats.

"Good Kid M.A.A.D. City" shows Kendrick experiencing young love, robberies, peer pressure, and alcohol abuse all during a journey that he takes in his mom's van over what seems like a weekend.  He starts off by falling for a girl named Sherane who sets him up to be robbed.  This and some other tragic events culminates in his acceptance of Christ and vowing to tell his story so people can learn from it.  I don't want to sum up the whole story right here, because I think it makes more sense if you listen to it.

It is a very conceptual album with a story that is told through voice mail messages interwoven into the different songs.  The interesting story is what kept me listening long enough to appreciate some of the songs that I normally would not have cared for.  This was especially true for the song "Backstreet Freestyle" in which Kendrick raps about wishing his dick would get as big as the Eiffel tower...ya.

...Yes Kendrick...We should talk about that.

Its ridiculous and braggadocios, but in the context, this is Kendrick trying to impress his friends as they smoke and goof around.  He does not actually want the women, the fast cars, and the Shaquille O'Neal sized penis.  Trying to impress Kendrick's friends is a big part of this album for him, and this is more fully explained on the next track "The Art of Peer Pressure." In this song, Kendrick is doing break ins, getting high, and robbing people, all things he would not normally do, but life is different when he is "with the homies."

Kendrick also plays with his voice a lot on this album.  In the song "Swimming Pools," when he raps as his drunk conscience, his voice pans from left to right as if his head is spinning.  I thought this was a clever addition to a beat which is already so large and hazy, it sounds like you could drown in it.  Its a very coherent and interesting way to portray what being drunk feels like.  In the song "M.A.A.D. City" his voice is so high and frantic it cracks, just like scared the scared teenager he is reminiscing about being.

Lyrically, Kendrick is very strong on almost all the songs.  I especially liked "Bitch, Dant Kill my Vibe," "Swimming Pools," and "Sing About Me, Im Dying of Thirst."  I found myself particularly annoyed by the hooks in "M.A.A.D. City" and "Real" as well as how Kendrick ends every line with "ya bissch" (sic) in "Money Trees."  They range from tear jerking to ridiculous, but they are always compelling.

I found this album very compelling.  For every moment that I really loved, I had another one that really annoyed me.  However, I never found it boring or drawn out, even in the twelve minute long "Sing About Me..." which has some seriously heavy topic matter and a tragic moment early on that makes you confront death in a sudden and unexpected way.

The strong album structure also gave me a way to make sense of the things I did not like.  For instance, on the song "M.A.A.D. City" the chorus sounds Neanderthal stupid, but I think its supposed to, because in this song Kendrick is being interrogated by a gang member.  Since Kendrick makes me want to praise even the moments I did not like, it makes me really respect his artistry.  He even made me love "Poetic Justice," a song that has Drake in it! In his defence, Drake actually drops some great verses. I think he was a great choice for a feature on this track, because the song is about longing after a woman, which Drake is great at.

In conclusion, there is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the strongest hip-hop albums that has come out this year.  It is thoughtful and entertaining all the way through.  There are also many levels you can appreciate it on, so someone who is just listening to it for the singles would appreciate it as much as someone who stayed for the whole story.

Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes

Flying Lotus is an experimental, instrumental, plain old mental, hip-hop producer from California.  Over the past several years, he has broken many barriers for this genre of music, as well as making quite a name for himself by producing for other interesting artists such as Gonja Sufi and Thundercat.  This year, he has also broken into rapping under the pseudonym "Captain Murphy".

Each of his previous albums have been released to heavy critical acclaim, including his last work, "Cosmogramma," which was a fantastic and energetic union of jazz inspired hip hop and eccentric noise.  Its very evident in this new work that Flying Lotus has taken what he demonstrated on that album and presented in a more controlled form, and in many ways "Until the Quiet Comes" feels like a very organic progression from that album.  The pacing however, feels fairly relaxed and more similar to "Los Angeles" than Cosmogramma.  Also, even though many of the sounds on this album are sampled, they feel as crisp and real as if they were recorded in one take, jazz style.

One thing you will immediately notice about Until the Quiet Comes is the kick drums, which are astronomically huge.  On the tracks "Getting There," "Tiny Tortures," "Sultan's Request," and "Me Yesterday//Corded" they just grab you by your head and force it to bob, you simply have no choice.  The songs that stay away from strong hip-hop influences on this album are consistently spacey and atmospheric, so they provide some nice space in between the more energetic moments.

Like I said before, this feels like a very organic and smooth progression from his last album, but one of my complaints about Flying Lotus actually follows from this same point.  In many ways Until the Quiet Comes does not feel different enough.  If he had released all these tracks with the same cover art as Cosmogramma, I feel like I would not have been able to tell the difference between the two works

I also feel that most of the individual songs get somewhat lost to me.  Other than the singles, many of his songs pass right by me without notice.   I think this is an unavoidable consequence of having a large number of short tracks on each album that all flow seamlessly into one another.  It builds a strong atmosphere, but I had to go back and actually search track by track to find the ones I liked.  I generally liked this album, but it was not distinct in my mind at all.  Without it leaving any sort of lasting impression on me, I find it hard to say that it was one of his better works, but if you are fan of Flying Lotus, you will definitely enjoy it.