Ali knows that with this album, he’s supplying something that infighting anarchists never could: a sense of unity, a sense of purpose, a sense that you’ll be putting on this repeat for more than a year.
Providing the sort of semi-autobiographical character arc, good kid would be enough for some, but it’s the lush environs surrounding this “short film” that makes good kid not only a compelling story, but also musically interesting.
Biographical shock value aside, R.A.P. Music provides enough jaw drops on its own merits that it’s sure to be a record that comes to define 2010s hip-hop in some way.