"Poetic Justice" contains a sample of "Any Time, Any Place" as performed by Janet Jackson."Money Trees" contains a sample of "Silver Soul" as performed by Beach House."The Art of Peer Pressure" contains a sample of "Helt Alene" as performed by Suspekt."Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" contains a sample of "Tiden Flyver" as performed by Boom Clap Bachelors.Period Piece: Various references in the lyrics place the album in the mid-2000s.Letting the Air Out of the Band: The end of "Poetic Justice", leading to the skit setting up the No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.Incredibly Lame Pun: The first track introduces Sherane as " Master Splinter's Daughter" - she's a hood rat, you see.Genre Throwback: The latter section of "m.A.A.d city" shifts into an old-school Gangsta Rap style.Genre Deconstruction: ''good kid, m.A.A.d City" is a critique on Gangster Rap and pointing out how empty the lifestyle is and how it instead will lead those down darker paths, as K-Dot almost does after the events of "Swimming Pools (Drank)".Fun with Acronyms: "m.A.A.d city", as revealed by Lamar, refers both to " My Angry Adolescence Divided" and " My Angels on Angel Dust".Many tracks run long, but the spoken-word sketches are responsible in large part - live versions are actually more reasonable in length. Even the music itself is more down-tempo than its peers. Darker and Edgier: This album is much darker and more introspective than most hip-hop music that was coming out in the early 2010s.An actual short film adaptation, directed by Lamar, is supposedly in the works. Coming-of-Age Story: The later songs imply that K-Dot takes responsibility for his life after years of ill-judgment "when he's with the homies".Censor Box: The eyes of all the people on the album cover have been blackboxed, save for the child (which is the artist himself).Catchphrase/ Singer Namedrop: Record Producer Just Blaze inserts his on "Compton", though it also functions in context as a drug reference.Call-and-Response Song: "Poetic Justice" provides a Sampling-based variant in the chorus, where Lamar's repeated "you can get it" queues Janet Jackson singing "anyplace" and "anytime" in response.Broken Record: In "Real", in the bridge section, Anna Wise sings "Sing my song, it's all for you" 16 times.It's also a Discussed Trope during one sketch - two of K-dot's friends work out that anyone successful enough to actually make these isn't on the streets enough to back them up. Boastful Rap: "Backseat Freestyle" is an exaggerated version and possibly a partial Deconstruction, clearly meant as the work of an immature teenager.He and his friends (In a broken rage) are about to fight back until an elderly woman convinces him to not to and embrace God as a way to recover in "Sing About Me, Dying of Thirst" and Kendrick's able to slowly recover and cope with the events in "Real", with his mother and father sending their voicemails to comfort him from the ordeal, his mother encouraging him to follow up with Top Dawg Entertainment and tell his story to the kids of Compton and "give back to his city". Bittersweet Ending: Kendrick's friend gets shot and killed after they retaliate against Sherane's cousins jumping Kendrick at the end of "Swimming Pools (Drank)".I pray my dick get big as the Eiffel Tower/So I can fuck the world for 72 hours! Encouraged by family and religious figures not to continue down this path, K-dot is implied to find religion and grows into a successful rap artist. Tired of Running, Lamar's friends get into a shootout to avenge him and drive off the other gang members at the cost of one of their own, seemingly ensuring a Cycle of Revenge. Two blocks from her home, Lamar is instead intercepted by members of a rival gang who predictably beat him senseless for his trouble. The young Lamar - K-dot - isn't such a "good kid" when he's "with the homies" he claims to believe in sobriety and nonviolence but discards both in their presence, barely evading arrest and suffering through bad drug trips as a result.ĭistracted by sexual fantasies, K-dot impulsively drives into the wrong neighborhood alone to hook up with Love Interest Sherane. Billed as a "short film", the album plays as a fictionalized narrative about Lamar's teenage experiences in Compton, California, deconstructing Gangsta Rap by featuring a Darker and Edgier vision of teenage gang life. Good kid, m.A.A.d city is the major label debut album of Alternative Hip Hop artist Kendrick Lamar.