I remember listening to LIG thinking no one close to Nas a rapper but Lamar had the innanet going nuts
One year later.... Life Is Good vs. Good Kid Mad City
- Thread starter Da King
- Start date
Life Is Good.
I_Got_Da_Burna
Superstar
LIG with GKMC a close second
Love both but Life Is Good
Best two albums to come out in a long time.
Best two albums to come out in a long time.
Mastamimd
Ain't shyt
Love both but Life Is Good
Best two albums to come out in a long time.
It's interesting that most people don't see LIG as a classic but think it's better than GKMC.
My number 1 and number 2 albums of 2012
2). Kendrick Lamar- Good Kid m.A.A.d City
“This is a dark movie album. I wanted to tap into that space where I was at in my teenage years. Everybody knows Kendrick Lamar, but he had to come from a certain place, a certain time, and certain experiences.
“I’ve been planning this for years. Everything was premeditated. I already knew what I wanted to talk about, what I wanted to convey. I had that album cover for years. I knew I was going to use it and that it was the best description of what I was talking about in the album. It’s a long time coming. Everything we dwelled on is coming to light."
http://www.complex.com/music/2012/1...ck-lamars-good-kid-maad-city/before-the-album
Genius.
The only word that is needed to describe the absolute splendor of Kendrick Lamar's debut album. K.Dot has been compared to every legendary lyricist from Nas to Jay-Z to Ice Cube, and this is not without some context, as K.Dot has been impressing all of Hip Hop with his lyrical wizardry, but with the release of his debut album this past October I feel that is time to begin comparing Kendrick Lamar's extraordinary vision and attention to detail with that of Steven Spielberg or Spike Lee. "A Short Film By Kendrick Lamar" is the subtitle of the album, Good Kid m.A.A.d City, and t couldn't be a more perfect description. K.Dot weaves such a perfect discernment of his environment, his thoughts, and emotions as he unfolds his tale that it is as if he wrote the lyrics as a screenplay. The production is a dark, lush, and somber soundtrack that perfectly captures the mood of each scene (track) of the film. The skits perfectly piece together the narrative as Kendrick takes you on a ride through Compton with such stunning clarity that you can feel yourself right there with him as we the audience can see the pounding of his chest as he and his friends commit their first burglary. You can see the excited mixture of hormones and teenage bravado as he nears his hopeful sexual conquest, Sherane's house, with not the least bit of worry that he's being set up for violence. You can feel the ache in his heart as he reflects on the lives lost of loved ones and family members, and you can sense the stunning triumph as he takes his experiences and uses them as a means to become a better individual and rise up from his dreary circumstances. Kendrick Lamar's short film is nothing short of a Hip Hop masterpiece, he is the future of this genere and a touch carrier for the new generation of lyricists. He is no longer the film student, he is the Oscar winning director, and his album is a classic.
What I said upon release- GKMC is an unfiltered work of genius. Section 80 was a warm up, a very very GOOD warm up, but GKMC takes every ounce of creative potential Kendrick possesses and leaves it all on the track. This album reminds me of Illmatic in the strictest sense that it feels like it comes from the most introspective depths of the artist's soul. I get the same feeling hearing Sing for Me/I'm Dying Of Thirst, Real, and the Art Of Peer Pressure that I do listening to NY State Of Mind, Life's A bytch and Memory Lane. It's as if Kendrick stabbed himself with a quill and wrote this album with his own blood. The brutal honesty, uncompromising viewpoint, and exceptional lyricism is just such a complex blending of emotion and art that its truly a wonderful listening experience.
GKMC is THE best debut Hip Hop album since Food & Liquor, and with all respects to Lupe, he suffered a leak which compromised a lot of what the OG f&L would've offered, so in effect, this might just be the best Hip Hop debut since the College Dropout. It IS THAT good...
What I say Now- The same damn thing
5/5
2). Kendrick Lamar- Good Kid m.A.A.d City
“This is a dark movie album. I wanted to tap into that space where I was at in my teenage years. Everybody knows Kendrick Lamar, but he had to come from a certain place, a certain time, and certain experiences.
“I’ve been planning this for years. Everything was premeditated. I already knew what I wanted to talk about, what I wanted to convey. I had that album cover for years. I knew I was going to use it and that it was the best description of what I was talking about in the album. It’s a long time coming. Everything we dwelled on is coming to light."
http://www.complex.com/music/2012/1...ck-lamars-good-kid-maad-city/before-the-album
Genius.
The only word that is needed to describe the absolute splendor of Kendrick Lamar's debut album. K.Dot has been compared to every legendary lyricist from Nas to Jay-Z to Ice Cube, and this is not without some context, as K.Dot has been impressing all of Hip Hop with his lyrical wizardry, but with the release of his debut album this past October I feel that is time to begin comparing Kendrick Lamar's extraordinary vision and attention to detail with that of Steven Spielberg or Spike Lee. "A Short Film By Kendrick Lamar" is the subtitle of the album, Good Kid m.A.A.d City, and t couldn't be a more perfect description. K.Dot weaves such a perfect discernment of his environment, his thoughts, and emotions as he unfolds his tale that it is as if he wrote the lyrics as a screenplay. The production is a dark, lush, and somber soundtrack that perfectly captures the mood of each scene (track) of the film. The skits perfectly piece together the narrative as Kendrick takes you on a ride through Compton with such stunning clarity that you can feel yourself right there with him as we the audience can see the pounding of his chest as he and his friends commit their first burglary. You can see the excited mixture of hormones and teenage bravado as he nears his hopeful sexual conquest, Sherane's house, with not the least bit of worry that he's being set up for violence. You can feel the ache in his heart as he reflects on the lives lost of loved ones and family members, and you can sense the stunning triumph as he takes his experiences and uses them as a means to become a better individual and rise up from his dreary circumstances. Kendrick Lamar's short film is nothing short of a Hip Hop masterpiece, he is the future of this genere and a touch carrier for the new generation of lyricists. He is no longer the film student, he is the Oscar winning director, and his album is a classic.
What I said upon release- GKMC is an unfiltered work of genius. Section 80 was a warm up, a very very GOOD warm up, but GKMC takes every ounce of creative potential Kendrick possesses and leaves it all on the track. This album reminds me of Illmatic in the strictest sense that it feels like it comes from the most introspective depths of the artist's soul. I get the same feeling hearing Sing for Me/I'm Dying Of Thirst, Real, and the Art Of Peer Pressure that I do listening to NY State Of Mind, Life's A bytch and Memory Lane. It's as if Kendrick stabbed himself with a quill and wrote this album with his own blood. The brutal honesty, uncompromising viewpoint, and exceptional lyricism is just such a complex blending of emotion and art that its truly a wonderful listening experience.
GKMC is THE best debut Hip Hop album since Food & Liquor, and with all respects to Lupe, he suffered a leak which compromised a lot of what the OG f&L would've offered, so in effect, this might just be the best Hip Hop debut since the College Dropout. It IS THAT good...
What I say Now- The same damn thing
5/5
1). Nas- Life Is Good
"In the past I had to deal with issues that hit me as a younger man. As a man who wasn't married who didn't really have the experience that I have now. Today I'm a different guy. Obviously, I'm older. I've been through a lot more. The strongest subject matter that I was writing about was more about me and growing up.
If every rap album is about how you came up in the hood and how you had to make it out of the hood — I'm 38 now; this is my 10th album. I wouldn't want to hear someone be around for a long time talking about the same thing. I want to get to know this person; I want to hear the artist. I want to hear them give me something that I can relate to, other than the fact that everything's about bragging. So today, if I made an album just to sell you a story about how I'm the man, it really doesn't show any human side to me. It's good to talk about what's real and what's relevant."
http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/nas-talks-about-personal-content-on-life-is-good-news.2473.html
Emotion is the greatest asset that an artist can posses. For someone as lyrically gifted as Nasir Bin Olu Dara, there can be 0 question of his greatness. Platinum success? He's had seven straight. The respect of peers? He's been called one of the greatest from everyone starting with Rakim and ending with Drake. The respect of Media? CNN recently crowned him the greatest lyricist of ALL TIME. Classic albums? Do we REALLY need another dissertation on the impact of Illmatic, It Was Written, or Stillmatic? I think not.
So what continues to drive this man? What keeps him at the top of the genre nearly TWENTY ONE YEARS after he debuted as a teenager on Main Source's Live At The Barbecue? Just what inspires the MC who has inspired a generation?
Emotion. Imagination. Appreciation
These three words are the backbone of Nas's tenth studio album. These three words and what they defined are wielded by Hip Hop's foremost Poet Laureate into a breathtaking journey into the mind of a brilliant soul. Nothing is held back as with brutal honesty he speaks on his divorce, emotionally lamenting the destruction of his marriage. Fiercely speaking on his origins and how his environment shaped his will. Orating with awe-inspiring imagination the mind set of young black men who murder for reputation. Appreciatively culminating every single experience as an opportunity to learn and grow. Nas is everything and nothing on this album. He is the street poet, the thug, the dedicated yet absentee father, loving yet unfaithful husband. The man. The human. The perfect MC and the flawed individual. Salaam Remi and No ID create a sonic canvas for Nas to paint lyrical anecdotes of love, loss, heartbreak and triumph. The victory of this album is the maturity and unflinching honesty conveyed in every single song, There is absolutely nothing that Nas has to prove as a rapper, and yet he continues to set the bar as high as it possibly can be set. A rapper who refuses to conform to modern trends, approaching 40 years old, releasing no popular crossover singles, speaking about the challenges of raising a daughter, dealing with divorce, and feeling out of place in today's current rap industry. And yet it absolutely works! It succeeds because of its EMOTION. Because of its IMAGINATION. Because of its APPRECIATION for the culture. Because its honest, because its pure, and because it IS Hip Hop. Nas has paved a path that was once thought impossible to travel, that of a rapper entering middle age, speaking on adult situations and themes, on a mainstream level, and SUCCEEDING. In 1994 he took rap to heights thought unimaginable. In 2012 he does it once again. For Nas Life Is Good. For Hip Hop his album is perfect.
What I said upon release- Life Is Good is kind of a slicker version of Gods Son. It's what you'd get if you put It Was Written/I Am Escobar lyrical fierceness with Gods Son maturity and wisdom. The personal anecdotes are there, their just wrapped in Nas's superb talent of storytelling. No Introduction, Daughters, Stay, and Queen's Story are VERY personal tracks that make me say "Damn Nas just spit FIRE" more than they make me go man dude just bared his soul like Dance and Heaven had me. Bye Baby and Roses came the closest to giving that feeling.
What I say Now- "Imagination better than knowledge says Einstein" Goddamn right
5/5
"In the past I had to deal with issues that hit me as a younger man. As a man who wasn't married who didn't really have the experience that I have now. Today I'm a different guy. Obviously, I'm older. I've been through a lot more. The strongest subject matter that I was writing about was more about me and growing up.
If every rap album is about how you came up in the hood and how you had to make it out of the hood — I'm 38 now; this is my 10th album. I wouldn't want to hear someone be around for a long time talking about the same thing. I want to get to know this person; I want to hear the artist. I want to hear them give me something that I can relate to, other than the fact that everything's about bragging. So today, if I made an album just to sell you a story about how I'm the man, it really doesn't show any human side to me. It's good to talk about what's real and what's relevant."
http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/nas-talks-about-personal-content-on-life-is-good-news.2473.html
Emotion is the greatest asset that an artist can posses. For someone as lyrically gifted as Nasir Bin Olu Dara, there can be 0 question of his greatness. Platinum success? He's had seven straight. The respect of peers? He's been called one of the greatest from everyone starting with Rakim and ending with Drake. The respect of Media? CNN recently crowned him the greatest lyricist of ALL TIME. Classic albums? Do we REALLY need another dissertation on the impact of Illmatic, It Was Written, or Stillmatic? I think not.
So what continues to drive this man? What keeps him at the top of the genre nearly TWENTY ONE YEARS after he debuted as a teenager on Main Source's Live At The Barbecue? Just what inspires the MC who has inspired a generation?
Emotion. Imagination. Appreciation
These three words are the backbone of Nas's tenth studio album. These three words and what they defined are wielded by Hip Hop's foremost Poet Laureate into a breathtaking journey into the mind of a brilliant soul. Nothing is held back as with brutal honesty he speaks on his divorce, emotionally lamenting the destruction of his marriage. Fiercely speaking on his origins and how his environment shaped his will. Orating with awe-inspiring imagination the mind set of young black men who murder for reputation. Appreciatively culminating every single experience as an opportunity to learn and grow. Nas is everything and nothing on this album. He is the street poet, the thug, the dedicated yet absentee father, loving yet unfaithful husband. The man. The human. The perfect MC and the flawed individual. Salaam Remi and No ID create a sonic canvas for Nas to paint lyrical anecdotes of love, loss, heartbreak and triumph. The victory of this album is the maturity and unflinching honesty conveyed in every single song, There is absolutely nothing that Nas has to prove as a rapper, and yet he continues to set the bar as high as it possibly can be set. A rapper who refuses to conform to modern trends, approaching 40 years old, releasing no popular crossover singles, speaking about the challenges of raising a daughter, dealing with divorce, and feeling out of place in today's current rap industry. And yet it absolutely works! It succeeds because of its EMOTION. Because of its IMAGINATION. Because of its APPRECIATION for the culture. Because its honest, because its pure, and because it IS Hip Hop. Nas has paved a path that was once thought impossible to travel, that of a rapper entering middle age, speaking on adult situations and themes, on a mainstream level, and SUCCEEDING. In 1994 he took rap to heights thought unimaginable. In 2012 he does it once again. For Nas Life Is Good. For Hip Hop his album is perfect.
What I said upon release- Life Is Good is kind of a slicker version of Gods Son. It's what you'd get if you put It Was Written/I Am Escobar lyrical fierceness with Gods Son maturity and wisdom. The personal anecdotes are there, their just wrapped in Nas's superb talent of storytelling. No Introduction, Daughters, Stay, and Queen's Story are VERY personal tracks that make me say "Damn Nas just spit FIRE" more than they make me go man dude just bared his soul like Dance and Heaven had me. Bye Baby and Roses came the closest to giving that feeling.
What I say Now- "Imagination better than knowledge says Einstein" Goddamn right
5/5
gkmc by far
LIG...it's pretty unfair to compare a debut album to someone's 10th album. Both were good, but Nas just had more to talk about and did it in great form.
Life Is Good. I found that album to be the more enjoyable listen. With Kendrick's album, the experience wasn't as seamless. It's an album that's technically great. There's a great narrative that ties all of the songs together. Some of the songs themselves just felt underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, there's some gems. "Sing About/Dyin' of Thirst", "Real", "Good Kid", "Mad City" and "Swimming Pools" are some of my favorite songs of 2012. It's just that overall, the album just felt underwhelming.
