good kid, m.A.A.d city

Good Kid, m. A. A. d City is at first glance a story of Kendrick Lamar's upbringing in Compton, California. While this is definitely the narrative of the album the overall purpose of the album serves as much more. To me it's an album that shows that even if you're given the toughest of situations, such as Kendrick growing up in an incredibly rough neighborhood, the key to being a good person is shining a light to the people around you.

You have a certain circle of people around you that you make an impression on daily. For Kendrick that's his family and friends in Compton and now his audience that will listen to everything he says and thus his platform is seemingly bigger than yours and mine. But every human being is born with the same intrinsic value, this album makes me question whether I am raising or lowering my value based on how I present myself to those around me. Am I being authentic with my family and friends? Am I spreading positivity to those who are going through things I cannot see? I think for a long time the answer was no, I made everything about me and my feelings while failing to recognize that everyone deals with tough things, it's just how the world works. It's up to me to say to myself "stop being selfish, put this in God's hands and focus on bringing energy to those around you" sometimes we get caught up in ourselves and everything that may be presented to us that seems like it's going to be the end of everything that we don't realize we're draining the energy of those around us.

What this album and also my choir director helped me realize is that there's essentially 2 different types of people in this world. There are givers and there are takers. Meaning; there are people who give energy to others by consistently caring about other people, making conversations about others, asking questions about how they are, etc. There are also takers, people who make their entire attitude about how they're feeling, just generally have a vibe of "everything is about me". I think we have too many takers in this world and that's why we have so much divisiveness, we get locked into a mindset of "If everyone thought like me, the world would be a better place" when realistically speaking that's not how things work, that's actually just a selfish mindset to have and I would know cause its how I felt for a very long time. If we took the time to understand where everyone was coming from instead of consistently looking to impose our views and beliefs on other people, I actually think more people would be happy.
Which brings me back to how this album relates to my original point.

Happiness comes from how we impact those around us, Kendrick is using his gift to tell the stories of his troubling times and how he made it through it. As it is explained by his mother in one of the voice memos that are featured in the album "Come back a man, tell your story to these black and brown kids in Compton Let 'em know you was just like them, but you still rose from that dark place of violence. Becoming a positive person But when you do make it, give back with your words of encouragement."

In conclusion, everyone goes through tough times, it can be hard to prioritize loving others over yourself but when you do, it is worth it and you'll be a happier person.