PaakвЂ™s Malibu, Jay-ZвЂ™s 4:44, David BowieвЂ™s Blackstar, Killer MikeвЂ™s R.A.P. BeyoncГ©вЂ™s Lemonade or her 2013 industry-shifting, self-titled album, RihannaвЂ™s ANTI, Kanye WestвЂ™s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Frank OceanвЂ™s Channel Orange or Blonde, AdeleвЂ™s 21, SolangeвЂ™s A Seat at the Table, Freddie Gibbs and MadlibвЂ™s Bandana, Anderson. Still, there is plenty of competition for the mythical title of album of the decade. Photo by Truman Moore/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images With iTunes transforming the music industry into a singles-driven space in 2012, LamarвЂ™s good kid was not only a shift from the norm that demanded to be heard in its entirety, some argued it saved the album format.ДЄmerican civil rights leader Malcolm X relaxes on a couch on March 1964. 1 upon release - the album dropped the same week as Taylor SwiftвЂ™s Red - every Lamar-headlined project in its wake would. The albumвЂ™s arrival and immediate impact was the West CoastвЂ™s biggest moment since The GameвЂ™s The Documentary in 2005, and was instantly recognized as a game-changer, with outlets calling it everything from a вЂњ shot at historyвЂќ to вЂњ probably the yearвЂ™s most significant hip-hop release.вЂќ And while it didnвЂ™t go No. вЂњSwimming Pools (Drank),вЂќ вЂњPoetic JusticeвЂќ featuring Drake, and вЂњB- DonвЂ™t Kill My VibeвЂќ (which later featured a remix with Jay-Z) were all hit singles. Massive critical and commercial acclaim followed.

He rockets through a galaxy of themes: love, lust, loyalty, fear, anger, divinity, spirituality, toxic masculinity, gang politics, gun violence, racial profiling, teenage innocence, police brutality, survivorвЂ™s remorse, hope, self-awareness and mortality. The album itself begins with a teenage Lamar chasing after a girl named Sherane and ends with him witnessing the death of a friend and undergoing a spiritual awakening. Good kidвЂ™s cover art shows baby Kendrick sitting on a family memberвЂ™s lap. вЂњI learned, when I look in the mirror and tell my story, that I should be myself and not peep whatever everybody is doing вЂ¦ If IвЂ™m gonna tell a real story, IвЂ™m gonna start with my name,вЂќ Lamar, who had previously performed as K-Dot, told Vulture on the eve of the albumвЂ™s release. Both fought to gain control over situations that threatened their sense of self and their lives.ДЄftermath Entertainment/Interscope RecordsДЄnd as with Malcolm X, a name change is an important signifier.

Feelings of powerlessness lead to ambitious and aggressive decisions. Like Malcolm XвЂ™s autobiography, good kid, m.A.A.d city chronicles the life of a young black man, organized by fear and motivated to survive. But good kid is the album of the decade because it is The Autobiography of Malcolm X for our time, overflowing with black rage, hopelessness, fear of abandonment, and a sobering understanding (and sometimes reckless disregard) of death and rebirth. Yes, it was the 13-time Grammy winnerвЂ™s major label debut. True, Kendrick LamarвЂ™s 2012 opus good kid, m.A.A.d city is the longest charting hip-hop studio album in history.

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