KENDRICK LAMAR - GOOD KID (GOOD KID M.A.A.D CITY)

     The song "Good Kid" by Kendrick Lamar is from the Album GOOD Kid, M.A.A.D. City that sets up the theme for the second half of the Album.  Kendrick describes many of the social ills that he grows up experiencing as a "good kid" living in a crazy(mad) place like his home in Compton, California.  The second verse in particular is where Kendrick really paints the image of how his innocence is ignored because of where he's from, and how he realizes that this is one of those battles he'll have to fight for as long as he's living in the hood.                                                                                                                                                                       In the second verse Kendrick Lamar is recounting the time that some police officers stopped him right after he got jumped which happened in the first verse.  They say they can help him, but Kendrick knows better than to trust them.  Everything is alright until the police decide to hold Kendrick against his will though he had done nothing wrong.  Kendrick argues that because he is a black teen in Compton, he gets racially profiled and treated like a criminal even though he is completely innocent.  Near the end of the line, Kendrick says, "And you ask, 'Lift up your shirt' cause you wonder if a tattoo of affiliation can make it a pleasure to but me through gang files, but that don't matter because the matter is racial profile I heard them chatter: 'He's probably young but I know that he's down.'"  This is Kendrick using the dialogue of the officers to show the audience how a person like Kendrick is perceived by the law enforcement.  Even though he's young they tell him to lift up his shirt so they can see if Kendrick is apart of any local gangs which can be identified by the tattoos they get on their bodies.  They don't care that Kendrick is a young boy because to them, none of the boys they encounter are innocent. The last line of the verse is where Kendrick's full argument can be felt  when he says, "Step on his neck as hard as your bullet proof vest he don't mind, he know we'll never respect, the good kid, M.A.A.D. City."  Kendrick Uses a simile to compare the bullet proof vests that police wear to the force that they're using to step on his neck.  It illustrates the struggle for Kendrick and teens like him, who are literally always minding their business, but get unfairly categorized as thugs because they're black boys in Compton.  He knows that the law enforcement won't ever respect him as a good kid because of the place he's from and the color of his skin. The irony of the whole thing is that a lot of teens in Kendrick's demographic at the time in a place like Compton were usually guilty of the crimes they were getting convicted of.  Throughout the album Kendrick can be quoted discussing the violence and activities of the blood gang that runs rampant through the streets of Compton.  The title and message of the song is just Kendrick's way of saying that all these stereotypes that are associated with him and his peers are mostly true, but there are always exceptions Kendrick being one of them.  Kendrick is saying that the law enforcers should know better than to just generalize everyone boy from the hood that they see as a criminal, it's irresponsible and immoral and ever so often, they'll be wrong.