Kendrick Lamar’s 2012 album Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City is regarded as one of the greatest hip hop albums to ever be released. It garnered praise and acclaim from fans, peers, and critics across the board. A wide range of publications named it the Best Album Of 2012, including Complex, BBC, and Pitchfork.
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Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, touted as a “short film” by Kendrick Lamar himself, wove a tumultuous narrative detailing Kendrick’s environment and his involvement in its happenings. He painted portraits of the crossroads between respect and redemption, while partaking in seemingly unavoidable reckless behavior. Not only did the album have a vivid palette of sonics, the multiple vocal approaches Kendrick took made the album one worthy of being called a classic.
In the same year, 2012, Seattle artists Macklemore & Ryan Lewis released an album titled The Heist. It would seem as though that title held some merit, as at the 2014 GRAMMY Awards, Macklemore’s album took home the award for Best Rap Album. This project won over major rap icons and heavy hitters, some of which include Kanye West’s Yeezus, Drake’s Nothing Was The Same, and Jay Z’s Magna Carta… Holy Grail.
There was collective outrage amongst the hip hop community upon the announcement of Macklemore’s GRAMMY victory. Not only did he manage to win over the previously named legends, his album knocked off the expected and deserving winner in Kendrick Lamar. He took to Instagram later that night, agreeing that he shouldn’t have won the award. He texted Kendrick Lamar post-show “You got robbed. I wanted you to win. You should have. It’s weird and sucks that I robbed you. I was gonna say that during the speech then the music started playing during my speech and I froze.”
Nearly 10 years later, the GRAMMYs clearly biased decision still doesn’t sit well with music listeners. The topic is still spoken about on Twitter, and tends to circulate when GRAMMY season comes to pass:
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