10 Greatest Hip Hop Concept Albums
7. Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid M.A.A.D. City
Kendrick Lamar’s 2012 narrative album took him from critically acclaimed rapper to one of the biggest in the game, a mantle he has tightly held ever since. The record caught fire in no small part due to the emotional connection he’s able to forge in the story of a young man caught in an often dangerous place.
Lamar represents Compton as well as anyone since the late ‘80s, but his story is a far less glamorous one. He’s a teenager fixated on teenage things as he narrates on opener "Sherane a.k.a Master Splinter's Daughter", but he’s going down a bad path. There are several tracks that see our protagonist drawn into crime ("The Art of Peer Pressure") or boozing (“Swimming Pool”).
He’s refreshingly intrigued by the world beyond himself, though, particularly on the epic "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst" in which he switches characters, first detailing his escape from the streets, them rapping empathetically in the voice of a young woman still stuck.
Beyond the story, the songs are just great, and so varied, from the soulful “Real” to the brash, bombastic standout “Backstreet Freestyle”. One listen and it’s clear that this is one of the most important voices in modern hip hop.