page_title: Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Good Kid, M.A.A.D City / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Compton Blue Line station platform.
context_page_description: Good Kid, M.A.A.D City is the second studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on October 22, 2012, through Top Dawg Entertainment, distributed by Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album is Lamar's major label debut, after his independently released first album Section.80 in 2011 and his signing to Aftermath and Interscope the following year.
  Good Kid, M.A.A.D City was recorded mostly at several studios in California, with producers such as Dr. Dre, Just Blaze, Pharrell Williams, Hit-Boy, Scoop DeVille, Jack Splash, and T-Minus, among others, contributing to the album. Billed as a "short film by Kendrick Lamar" on the album cover, the concept album follows the story of Lamar's teenage experiences in the drug-infested streets and gang lifestyle of his native Compton. The album received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised its thematic scope and Lamar's lyrics. It earned Lamar four Grammy Award nominations at the 2014 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.
context_section_description: After the release and success of his debut studio album Section.80 (2011), Lamar signed a major label record deal with Interscope Records and Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment. He told HipHopDX that he did not want to work with high-profile producers, but with those he had established himself with, mainly producers from Top Dawg's in-house production team, Digi+Phonics.
  In an interview for XXL, Lamar said that the album would not sound like Section.80, but will return to his Compton roots: "I couldn't tell you what type of sound or where I [will] be in the next five years as far as music... Back to the neighbourhood and [going] back in that same space where we used to be, got [me] inspired. So this album won't sound like Section.80." Lamar also said that the album will showcase the influence of his hometown: "The kid that's trying to escape that influence, trying his best to escape that influence, has always been pulled back in because of circumstances that be".
caption: Lamar wanted to discuss life in his native Compton, California, on the album.
exif: {"Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-W370", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "96", "Image YResolution": "96", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "1.2500", "Image DateTime": "2012:02:09 09:16:44", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "Copyright 2009", "Image ExifOffset": "224", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "1", "Thumbnail YResolution": "1", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "12662", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8868", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/320", "EXIF FNumber": "41/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:02:09 09:16:44", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:02:09 09:16:44", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2518529/850500", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1043/125", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4071/1000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "462/125", "EXIF MeteringMode": "MultiSpot", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "83/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4320", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3240", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "12526", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "61", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Hard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Hard"}