Good Kid, Mad City vs. Food and Liquor 2 vs. Life Is Good

[Versa]

This is how I rank them in specific categories. Just my opinion. Not looking for any co-sign and I'm sure there'll be plenty of hate, but I wanted to sort it all out in my head and figured I'd do it publicly.

Lyricism

F&L II>>>>>>LIG>>>>>>>>GKMC

Concepts and Themes

F&L II>>>GKMC>>>>>LIG

Production

LIG>>F&L II>>>GKMC

Hooks

F&L II>>>GKMC>>>>>>>>LIG(album hardly had any hooks is why I rank it last)

Cohesiveness

GKMC>>LIG>>>F&L II

Originality

GKMC>>F&L II>>>>>>>>>>>LIG

Overall songs

F&L=LIG>>>>>>>>GKMC

My top 5 on each are as follows

LIG = Stay, Cherry Wine, Locomotive, Queen's Story, Back When

F&L II = Strange Fruition, ITAL, Unforgivable Youth, Lamborghini Angels, Put Em' Up

GKMC = Money Trees, Sing For Me/Dying of Thirst, Poetic Justice, Good Kid, MAAD City, Real

Not only do I feel the best songs on F&L II and LIG are superior to those on GKMC, but it should also be noted that I struggled with my top 5 for both of them(Roses, No Introduction, Brave Heart, How Dare You and Form Follows Function ...my top 5's change all the time) while it was extremely easy for GKMC. I also much prefer the weakest songs on F&LII and LIG(Battle Scars and Summer on Smash) to that horrific Backseat Freestyle joint.

I respect opinions as long as they aren't fukking stupid. All three artists and their albums are great. I love Kendrick Lamar. His music - specifically Section 80 - literally kept me from being infuriated when Lupe dropped the massive disappointment that was Lasers. I just think Lupe and Nas got him this time with their projects. They both floored me. K Dot didn't.

 

[Plexxx]

LIG damn sure didnt have better beats than GKMC

 

[prophecypro]

LIG damn sure didnt have better beats than GKMC

Them No ID boom bap/soul beats were solid. It was ideal for the artist in question

GKMC production does carry it through with the spacey mixtape vibe thats been in the past couple of years


Both artists picked beats that fit them.

 

[MR. Conclusion]

Both GKMC and LIG are in my rotation (along with that new Iron Fists soundtrack). Kendrick did his thing and dropped some great music. It's between these two projects for album of the year for me.

 

[45123]

This is how I rank them in specific categories. Just my opinion. Not looking for any co-sign and I'm sure there'll be plenty of hate, but I wanted to sort it all out in my head and figured I'd do it publicly.

Lyricism

F&L II>>>>>>LIG>>>>>>>>GKMC

Concepts and Themes

F&L II>>>GKMC>>>>>LIG

Production

LIG>>F&L II>>>GKMC

Hooks

F&L II>>>GKMC>>>>>>>>LIG(album hardly had any hooks is why I rank it last)

Cohesiveness

GKMC>>LIG>>>F&L II

Originality

GKMC>>F&L II>>>>>>>>>>>LIG

Overall songs

F&L=LIG>>>>>>>>GKMC

My top 5 on each are as follows

LIG = Stay, Cherry Wine, Locomotive, Queen's Story, Back When

F&L II = Strange Fruition, ITAL, Unforgivable Youth, Lamborghini Angels, Put Em' Up

GKMC = Money Trees, Sing For Me/Dying of Thirst, Poetic Justice, Good Kid, MAAD City, Real

Not only do I feel the best songs on F&L II and LIG are superior to those on GKMC, but it should also be noted that I struggled with my top 5 for both of them(Roses, No Introduction, Brave Heart, How Dare You and Form Follows Function ...my top 5's change all the time) while it was extremely easy for GKMC. I also much prefer the weakest songs on F&LII and LIG(Battle Scars and Summer on Smash) to that horrific Backseat Freestyle joint.

I respect opinions as long as they aren't fukking stupid. All three artists and their albums are great. I love Kendrick Lamar. His music - specifically Section 80 - literally kept me from being infuriated when Lupgawd dropped the massive disappointment that was Lasers. I just think Lupgawd and Nasir got him this time with their projects. They both floored me. K Dot didn't.

Mine look more along the lines of this:

Lyricism
1. FNL2 - Pretty obvious selections here
2. LIG
3. GKMC

Concepts & Themes
1. GKMC
2. LIG - FNL2 had Triple F, bytch Bad, and the album is more focused, but LIG had far more variety and Nasir concepts always deliver such as Loco-Motive, Back When, Daughters, Black Bond, Bye Baby, Queens Story, etc. etc.
3. FNL2

Production
1. GKMC - The mastering on this album triumphs that of the two other choices, samples are on point, only the No ID beats on LIG are close to eyeing this. This is a pretty one-on-one situation, I don't see why anyone would place FNL2's production over GKMC and LIG.
2. LIG
3. FNL2

Hooks
1. GKMC
2. FNL2 - As mentioned, LIG didn't have too many hooks.
3. LIG

Cohesiveness
1. GKMC - Kendrick's album is a full threaded story, not a single track is out of place besides Compton sort of. LIG was all over the place at times, and FNL2, though very well sequenced, had some filler tracks.
2. FNL2
3. LIG

Originality
1. GKMC - Again, not much to discuss here. Not too many people, if anyone at that, have tried their hand in what Kendrick did w/ GKMC.
2. FNL2
3. LIG

Overall
1. GKMC - Not one weak track on here for me. I liked Backseat Freestyle, and the album fit over an hour of music into 12 tracks without sounding tired and over-accomplished. Top notch production and mastering, great hooks, on point lyricism and storytelling, tremendous sequencing, all-in-all it lacks very little.
2. LIG - Better listening experience than FNL2. I already gave my thoughts on these 2 albums, but I knew right from track 2 that the direction FNL2 was taking wouldn't topple Nasir' efforts with LIG.
3. FNL2

Top 5:
. GKMC - The Art of Peer Pressure, Money Trees, good kid, mAAd city, Sing About Me/I'm Dying of Thirst
. LIG - No Introduction, Back When, Trust, Bye Baby, Where's The Love
. FNL2 - Form Follows Function, Cold War, Unforgivable Youth, Hood Now, Lamborghini Angels (Go To Sleep as an honorable mention)


I did my duty as a hip-hop fan and copped all 3 of these albums. I refuse to acknowledge you as hip-hop if you did not go to the record store at least once this year, and neglected to shed over 10 bucks for a culture that thrived in 2012 creatively.

July 17, September 18, October 22. Will you let these 3 dates pass and watch hip-hop die?


PS: Oh and the reason why you felt it easy to rank Kendrick's songs is because there were only 12 of them, while Lupe & Nas had like 17 tracks.