Kendrick Lamar's sophomore album (and his first on a major label), good kid, m.A.A.d city -- the album that posited the Compton rapper as a prodigy in the eyes of much of the rap world, was released four years ago on this day (Oct. 22). Fans are using the occasion to revisit the album and remember just how special it sounded upon its release. It so happens that another great emcee, Eminem -- one of Kendrick's idols, has offered his thoughts on GKMC, describing it as a "masterpiece."
Eminem's praise of GKMC comes after Kendrick paid tribute to him during a conversation with Rick Rubin for GQ magazine. Kendrick told Rubin that he acquired his sense of "clarity" by studying Eminem and albums like The Marshall Mathers LP. The GQ interview happened to be annotated by Genius, and the site asked Eminem to annotate Kendrick's quote about him. Em's responded to the quote by recalling his reaction upon hearing GKMC for the first time, writing, "When I first heard Kendrick's debut on Aftermath, I couldn't believe it." Read Em's full annotation below, via Genius.
"When I first heard Kendrick’s debut on Aftermath, I couldn’t believe it. The fact that it was his first real album and he was able to make it into a story which intertwines with the skits like that was genius. That hasn’t really been done that many times, let alone on someone’s first time up. The level of wordplay, the deliveries, the beats—it’s just a masterpiece."
