Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (studio album)
by Kendrick Lamar

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City by Kendrick Lamar
Year: 2012
Release date: 2012-10-22
Overall rank: 36th   
Average Rating: 
88/100 (from 2,019 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Best album of 2012 (1st)
Award Top 10 albums of the 2010s (3rd)
Award Top 50 albums of all time (36th)

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Kendrick Lamar bestography

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City is ranked 2nd best out of 10 albums by Kendrick Lamar on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Kendrick Lamar is To Pimp A Butterfly which is ranked number 19 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 31,477.

Kendrick Lamar album bestography « Higher ranked (19th)
To Pimp A Butterfly
This album (36th)
Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
Lower ranked (239th) »
Damn.

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

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Riot Fest Presents: State Champs
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Shane Smith & the Saints
House of Blues Orlando, Orlando, United States. United States
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Feb
01
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19:30
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK AND SAY ANYTHING - WINTER TOUR 2026
The Fillmore Silver Spring, Silver Spring, United States. United States
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Good Kid, M.A.A.D City track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 89 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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3.
Average Rating: 89 (554 votes)Comments: View 8
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5.
Track pick (920 - 634 votes)
Average Rating: 92 (634 votes)Comments: View 11
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7.
Average Rating: 89 (543 votes)Comments: View 6
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8.
Track pick (920 - 687 votes)
Average Rating: 92 (687 votes)Comments: View 11
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10.
Track pick (930 - 731 votes)
Average Rating: 93 (731 votes)Comments: View 23
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11.
Average Rating: 83 (481 votes)Comments: View 9
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12.
Average Rating: 84 (479 votes)Comments: View 5
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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 36th | 2010s rank: 3rd | 2012 rank: 1st

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City collection

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City ratings

Average Rating: 
88/100 (from 2,019 votes)
   Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 2,019 ratings for this album.

Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
20/100
 !
4 days ago Olli   6,67264/100
 
95/100
 !
4 days ago vindivast   888/100
 
60/100
 !
12/14/2025 19:03 hombrejingle   5481/100
 
65/100
 !
12/14/2025 07:17 TroutMaskGreg   1,66069/100
 
100/100
 !
12/11/2025 01:32 awesomness425   1,92477/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 88.1/100, a mean average of 85.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 88.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 18.8.

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Good Kid, M.A.A.D City comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 207 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

From 05/16/2025 08:03 | #309017
Shortlisted for album of the year at the 2014 Grammys. The winner was Random Access Memories by Daft Punk
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 10/11/2024 01:16 | #305603
My personal favorite of his albums. He is really overrated imo, but this is a solid record
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 07/12/2024 21:18 | #304288
TPAB is better but I enjoy this one more
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 06/08/2023 16:12 | #297452
Beyond the amazing storytelling and unique achievement of this album, the songs are just tight and nearly perfect. The album is perfect to listen straight through but also you can pull out any song and it's still a jam.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 05/21/2023 14:01 | #297135
A musically impressive album with fantastic storytelling that runs through the whole release. This makes for a cohesive listen as all the songs tie together nicely both in style and lyrics. Kendrick Lamar is also experimental with his sound on this release which results in some exciting moments that utilises violins, guitars and pianos. There is also some very strong beats on here which are infectious and work well with Kendrick Lamar's delivery. This results in a solid experience across the whole run time with no real weak moments. Overall, one of the best modern hip hop albums that has a lot of fantastic songs scattered across the track listing.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 02/26/2023 02:52 | #294455
Un álbum interesante y bien logrado en su concepto, Kendrick Lamar se desnuda con letras autobiográficas, la atmósfera que se crea en cada canción te hace sentir como si te adentraras en los suburbios de Los Ángeles, California. Bien merecido tiene su lugar en lo más alto del Hip-Hop.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 08/06/2022 23:13 | #288196
My favorite album by Kendrick Lamar. So many good songs that just click well with me. I love Backseat Freestyle, Money Trees, and Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 06/29/2022 19:19 | #286862
Heavy, smothering hip-hop that violates the senses in a good way.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 05/23/2022 09:25 | #285631
What an album! Only bangers. The storytelling is 10/10, and songs like Money Trees, SAMIDT, Maad City, Swimming Pools, even Drakes feature on Poetic Justice. Not TPAB level, but still top 10 ever in my book.
Favs:
SAMIDT, Money Trees, Swimming Pools
Least favs
Backseat Freestyle
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 04/12/2022 15:09 | #284092
The story telling on display on this album is absolutely incredible and shows the start of Kendrick's dominance within the hip-hop genre.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 2012
1. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City by Kendrick Lamar
2. Lonerism by Tame Impala
3. Channel Orange by Frank Ocean
4. Bloom by Beach House
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6. An Awesome Wave by alt-J
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15. Attack On Memory by Cloud Nothings
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