Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, better known sans his last name, is an artist you need to familiarize yourself with if you have even the slightest taste in hip hop. A young, hungry emcee born and raised in Compton, the same city that gave birth to N.W.A., Kendrick Lamar has garnered a lot of expectations in the infancy of his mainstream relevancy.

His quick rise began with his Section.80 album, in which he lyrically threw the gauntlet down to stake his claim as part of hip hop's musical rebirth, and since he has been burdened by many with the expectation of saving hip hop music. However ridiculous or ill founded it may be to place the hopes of a culture’s music into one man’s hands, Kendrick Lamar, with the release of his latest project Good Kid M.A.A.D. City, has actually lived up to that unreasonable hype.

Let me start with an admission; When I first got the album and listened to it front to back, I was a little disappointed in what Kendrick Lamar had produced. Not that I didn’t find it more enjoyable than 99 percent of the rap music the industry puts out, but it didn’t live up to the expectations Kendrick Lamar had fortified in my mind.

I thought he had given in a little too much to meeting the markets demands rather than dictating his art to the market and I found the voice he used on hooks to become more than annoying with its repetitiveness. After the first play was said and done, I couldn’t move past the assertion that Section.80 had been a much better Hip-Hop product and that Kendrick had strayed a little bit from what had made me take notice of his artistry.

However, the respect K Dot had earned with his previous works lended GKMC another listen. Now, when I say listen I don’t mean, “put it on and let it ride.” Listening to me is digesting the lyrics, dissecting the songs, and finding out what the artist is trying to convey. I can safely say after the second, third, fourth, fifth, and continuing listens that Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid M.A.A.D. City is nothing short of a hip hop masterpiece.

This album is written like a book. Each song rests on the shoulders of its counterparts as if they are chapters in a novel. With the exception of one or two songs, you cannot remove a song from this album without losing a piece of the story Kendrick is trying to convey.

On the surface, that story is about a teenaged Kendrick borrowing his mom’s car as he lives an average day in Compton. Dig a little big deeper and you find it’s Kendrick’s ode to growing up in Compton California. Go deeper into the rabbit hole and you find that story is about the struggle of good and evil, a critique on American society, the angst and trials of adolescence, the progression of an artist in the industry, and the inner fight to remain true to one’s self.

The lyrical depth on this album is quite incredible once you move past the surface and really begin to comprehend what’s going on. That really is a credit to Kendrick Lamar’s lyrical genius as most rappers in the modern industry are barely able to cover the subjects of women and money from a basic level.

But that’s only the beginning of the genius of this album. As I said to begin with, this album sounds like a mainstream rap album. Though the lyrics may cover more underground-esque topics, the beats, hooks, and presentation of these lyrics are more mainstream style. Kendrick Lamar seems to understand that lyrically ability alone won’t get his message out there.  So much like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, this album is lyricism coated in mainstream aura.

The average listener will be able to listen to this album and pick out songs, lyrics, and hooks that they will deem entertainingly dope. The hip hop head will be able to listen to this album and pick out different pieces of genuine genius. In this sense, Kendrick has one-upped the industry conglomerate this is content with pushing out empty music for the simple fact it will sell. He even takes this to the extreme by featuring the empty, mainstream Hip-Hop poster boy Drake on the song "Poetic Justice".

And, in case you were wondering, yes, he far outshines the Toronto rapper whilst seemingly jacking Drake’s style at the same time. In fact, Poetic Justice serves as the perfect example to prove the point I just presented. It sounds like a bedroom session song, and Drake’s part may fall firmly into that mold, but Kendrick’s bars seem to speak to a deeper message. He even takes the time to let the listener know that is necessary to think outside the box when he says, “living my life in the margin, and that metaphor was proof.” Once again, this album is pure genius.

One of my personal favorite parts of this album are the features. As stated earlier, Kendrick Lamar is from Compton and makes this perfectly clear with some of the artists he chose to feature on it. From the OG Compton rap game legend MC Eiht, to the most famous son of Compton Dr. Dre, to new voice and fellow Black Hippy member Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar makes it perfectly clear which city he grew up in and influenced his music. To be honest, to have it any other way would have taken away from the homage he pays to the city throughout the album.

Now I could sit here and write pages about each song, explicating the poetry and showing its correlation to the central themes, but this isn’t a college paper and I don’t want to ruin the experience for you. This album deserves an attentive ear and an active mind when listening to it. Whilst on the surface it will entertain the true art and beauty of this album lies deeper.

This album, in all honesty, should have no problem being the best hip hop album for the next 3-5 years and though it may be different from Section.80 in its general style, it is no less brilliant.  Once again, this is a masterpiece, and that is an endorsement coming from an admittedly arrogant hip hop head like myself.

I give this Good Kid M.A.A.D. City an A. Seriously this is exactly what Hip-Hop has been missing for a good while. If you have any interest in maintaining your hip hop fandom you have to get this album.