M.A.A.D City
"m.A.A.d city" is a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar, from his second studio album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. The song, which appears as the eighth track on the album, features a guest appearance from fellow Compton native and West Coast rapper MC Eiht. The song was produced by Top Dawg in-house producers THC and Sounwave for the first part of the instrumental, and Terrace Martin for the second part. The song peaked at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Background
In the song, Lamar tells the story of his upbringing in Compton and its results. The song features MC Eiht of American gangsta rap group Compton's Most Wanted. The song also features additional background vocals from Lamar's Black Hippy cohort Schoolboy Q, doing his signature ad-lib "yawk" four times during the refrain. He also explained "M.A.A.D" is an acronym for "My Angels on Angel Dust". It is also known as "My Angry Adolescence Divided."On "m.A.A.d city", Lamar talks about driving down Rosecrans Avenue in Compton, references smoking the PCP-laced blunt that he smoked in "The Art of Peer Pressure," and talks about being fired from his job as a security guard for staging a robbery. Lamar also talks about how he saw his uncle being shot at a local burger stand. The song features the violent climatic change in the Good Kid, M.A.A.D City story.
Critical reception
The song was met with universal acclaim from music critics, praising the production and both rappers' performances. XXL called "m.A.A.d city" the album's "creative and cinematic climax." David Amidon of PopMatters praised the song's production saying, it "feels like Dr. Dre's The Chronic had a love child with Dr Dre's 2001. Andrew Nosnitsky of Spin described MC Eiht's appearance as show stealing. Complex named the song number 25 on their list of the 50 best songs of 2012.