/lit/ - Literature

http://thevine.com.au/music/news/study-kendrick-lamars-good-kid-maad-city-as-a-literary-work-20140903-286253/

>Kendrick Lamar’s second studio album good Kid, m.A.A.d city was everyone's favourite record in 2012, well, except for the Grammys... But Lamar's command of storytelling and fresh commentary on race, drug culture, gender and hip-hop culture had him touted as the new King in hip-hop, while reviewers compared good Kid, m.A.A.d city to author James Joyce’s 1922 modernist novel Ulysses for its detail on the daily life of a young urbanite.

>This comparison has clearly been acknowledged by academics at Georgia Regents University, as they now offer a literature course titled Good Kids, Mad Cities that will “examine the role of urban living on the development of young people.” The course draws reference from Lamar’s album, and also the works of James Joyce, Gewndolyn Brooks, James Baldwin and Boyz N The Hood.

>Course director Adam Diehl believes the album will stand alongside the literature greats. Telling the Augusta Chronicle, “The songs are all coming from a place that happened to him 10 years ago … And this is next to Shakespeare, it’s next to Joyce. In 100 years, people are going to be wanting their poetry or drama or short stories to be as good as Good Kid M.A.A.D City. It’s of extreme literary value.”

thoughts?

full album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek3ZZn3KwzA