While social media has allowed the “classic” label to get thrown around pretty loosely these days, five years following an album’s release is when fans can truly start to gauge its standing in historical terms. Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, m.A.A.d City officially reached this turning point on Sunday (October 22), and ardent observers would be hard-pressed to deny its classic status.
K. Dot became a bonafide rap superstar with GKMC, creating some of the finest Hip Hop of the last decade. While there might be some outliers attempting to poke holes in its resume, most heads won’t dispute that Kendrick’s second studio album is a landmark project.
With GKMC’s five-year anniversary now in the rearview mirror, HipHopDX highlights some of Kendrick’s most memorable lines that helped his album become a classic.
Check out DX’s selections below and let us know what GKMC quotables you’ll never forget in the comments.
Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe
“Bitch, don’t kill my vibe! Bitch, don’t kill my vibe!”
Compton
“Depending on what you expecting, I’m sure it’s bigger than your religion perfected by niggas that manifested music to live in.”
good kid
“Step on my neck and get blood on your Nike checks, I don’t mind ’cause one day you’ll respect the good kid, m.A.A.d city.”
m.A.A.d. City
“If Pirus and Crips all got along, they’d probably gun me down by the end of this song.”
Backseat Freestyle
“I pray my dick get big as the Eiffel Tower, so I can fuck the world for 72 hours.”
Money Trees
“Everybody gon’ respect the shooter, but the one in front of the gun lives forever.”
Poetic Justice
“If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room would you trust it?”
Swimming Pools (Drank)
“First you get a swimming pool full of liquor, then you dive in it.”
Real
“You’re living in a world that come with plan B ’cause plan A never relay a guarantee, and plan C never could say just what it was.”
The Art Of Peer Pressure
“That’s ironic ’cause I’ve never been violent until I’m with the homies.”
What are your favorite quotes from the album?
Kendrick has no quotables. Part of the reason he is so overrated. No one is reciting his bars. He is a great artist but get real – Drake, Jay-Z, 2Pac and Biggie got quotables….Kendrick naw
Lmao this guy said “bitch don’t kill my vibe” is a “hip hop quotable”. I love K-Dot but this guy clearly doesn’t know what a quotable is.
Damn. If you judge Kendrick by this weird list, he’s horrible. He has way better bars than this.
My thoughts exactly. He has so many to choose from and these are like his worst bars
wtf is this?? a Fischer Price My First Article? what the actual fvck??
Queue the drums; ?DUMB DUMB DUMB ISH!?
I mean I guess this article is correct they are all very quotable.. but I wasnt expecting all hooks -___-
kinda bummed on this article
Horrible article, smh
I wouldn’t have any idea… I was at Walmart in Texas one night and was so throwed. I asked what is good on the new releases in music. The homie working there was like Kendrick Lamar. I purchased that clean version, listened to it in my room one time and ain’t hear it again. Not knockin’ it tho.
You bought a clean version? What are you…10 years old? Who buys CDs anymore anyways
If I told you that a flower… is my favourite Kendrick Lamar verse and Poetic Justice is my favourite Kendrick Lamar song right there with “i” being the second one. Much love
Drake has the most memorable verse on this whole album on “Poetic Justice”. Let’s not forget that Drizzaveli was the one who helped Kenwack’s career take off in the first place. Give credit to the 6 God. Real ting ya kno? #DrakeIsLoveDrakeIsLife
Drake got K Dot on the radio. But only an OVO stan would say he had the most memorable verse.
This is really interesting: The author is using some of the most mundane quotes to prove the elevated status of GKMC.
The album may be a classic,but not necessarily because of prestine lyricism alone. If that was the case we would have elevated Tetsou &Youth and Days with Dr. Yen Lo well beyond classic status.
I think most will agree that the narrative and cohesiveness of GKMC create an cinematic feel that allows you to get lost in the album. Kendricks writing avoids the traps of being ultra lyrical on an album that needs more feel than technical proficiency.
That is not to take away from the lyricism at all. In fact, it speaks more to his artistry that he is in tune enough to pull bake from the desire to “black out” in order to maintain the thematic integrity of the album.
With all due respect, these quotes are a reach and may misinform those who haven’t listened to the album yet.