Perhaps worse for good kidвЂ™s legacy is the closing hydraulics of вЂњCompton,вЂќ a perfectly competent tribute to Chronic-era G-funk (Dr. вЂњBackseat Freestyle,вЂќ the albumвЂ™s lone banger, benefits from a demonically raw-throated third verse, but Hit-BoyвЂ™s ham beat adrenalizes Lamar beyond his better judgment from the onset (debasing MLK Jr.вЂ™s most resonant words with a particularly stupid dick joke, for one). Unfortunately, LamarвЂ™s versatility sometimes gets the best of him. The alien(ated) harmonies of вЂњBitch, DonвЂ™t Kill My VibeвЂќ and anxious, nasal inner voice of вЂњSwimming PoolsвЂќ fully realize the potential that the rest of good kid only fulfills to varyingВ degrees.

Enriching his social critiques and hypocritical impulses with a polyvocal array of timbres and registers, Lamar creates a conversation of competing perspectives that engages and thrills in a way that is very much his own. The same is true of LamarвЂ™s lyrics, which are certainly some of the most eloquent and uniquely expressed in what could tenably be called the mainstream music of today. Understatement is LamarвЂ™s most reliable virtue throughout: all of the above succeed because they exhibit restraint where most contemporary rappers and producers would be inclined to push things over the line. Lamar even dares use skits and interludes aplenty to craft a deliberately circular and cinematic narrative that unites good kid, a conceptual gesture that succeeds where countless rap records haveВ failed. Master SplinterвЂ™s DaughterвЂќ reflects LamarвЂ™s keen instincts in placing a beat, flow, and lyric worthy of a late-album Andre 3000 creeper as the opening track of his own (updated via a pitch-perfect vocal sample that would befit a James Blake or Disclosure production, no less). Lamar ignites PharrellвЂ™s most inspired work in ages on вЂњgood kid.вЂќ вЂњSherane a.k.a. вЂњSwimming Pools (Drank),вЂќ with its bone-chilling sub-bass and codeine synths, is both a subtle nod to DJ Screw and a lament of the substance-abuse culture that felled him. Throughout these 12 songs (often bi- or tripartite), Lamar reshapes and improves upon enough modern rap tropes to at least partially justify the вЂњuniqueвЂќ and вЂњforward-thinkingвЂќ mantles that have been placed upon him. But the album nevertheless falls short of the pedigree his storied elders have set for him, and its status as an all-time classic is far fromВ guaranteed.ДЇor the most part, though, good kid is solid.

Like Section.80 and the incredible standalone songs from earlier this year, вЂњThe RecipeвЂќ and вЂњCartoon & Cereal,вЂќ there is plenty here to suggest Lamar has a long career ahead of him.

Because Lamar is one of the good ones - certainly worth saving with a few hundred thousand peopleвЂ™s $12.99, as his first вЂњrealвЂќ album ably deserves. Listening to good kid, m.A.A.d city and all the attendant chatter, itвЂ™s tempting to play along. So itвЂ™s no surprise Lamar has come to see himself as the embodiment of a tradition more fragmented and multidirectional than ever, the first week numbers of his major label ablution an acid test for hip-hopвЂ™s present-dayВ vitality. Industry rags like Vibe have recently posited all manner of hyperbole, including the possibility that LamarвЂ™s debut is the most important in hip-hop since 1994вЂ™s incomparable Illmatic. Dre and Snoop Dogg publicly coronated him as the new king of the West Coast Nas, on the opposite side of the country (and old enough to remember when rap geography mattered), looks to Lamar as the future of the genre in general. If LamarвЂ™s delusional, heвЂ™s not the only one. Voice halfway gone but defiantly charismatic, the 25-year-old rapper croaks what one can only assume will be his last words for a little while: вЂњWill you let hip-hop die on OctoberВ 22nd?вЂќ 3 (Will You Let It Die),вЂќ a song even newer than the recent leak of his new album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, Lamar redirects those expectations upon his audience, audibly tired from all the ones theyвЂ™ve been placing upon him. The video for its introductory single вЂњHiiiPoWerвЂќ opens with a solemn invocation of one Lesane Parish Cookes ( вЂњresearch this name,вЂќ it commands), who Lamar claims visited him in an anxious dream, imploring the Compton kid not to let his music die. For most of his current fans, Kendrick LamarвЂ™s story begins with the creation myth that accompanies Section.80, the most widely heralded hip-hop self-release of yesteryear.

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