good kid, m.A.A.d city

Lamar told XXL the follow-up would not sound like Section.80 and would go back to his Compton roots. He worked with producers including Dr. Dre, Just Blaze, Pharrell Williams, Hit-Boy, Scoop DeVille, Jack Splash and T-Minus, and the guests are Drake, Dr. Dre, Jay Rock, Anna Wise and MC Eiht. The title M.A.A.D carries two meanings that he later gave as "My Angry Adolescence Divided" and "My Angel's on Angel Dust".

The album is a coming-of-age story with spoken skits and voicemails from his mother. Pitchfork's Greene noted that Backseat Freestyle marks the point where the young Kendrick character first starts rapping, and that the 12-minute Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst is its most dazzling stroke of empathy. Greene felt the closing Compton, with Dr. Dre, sat as an uneasy outlier.

It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and number 16 in the UK, and is certified triple platinum by the RIAA. Metacritic gives it 91 from 36 reviews. Pitchfork, BBC, Complex, Fact and New York named it the best album of 2012. Rolling Stone ranked it first on its 2022 list of the 50 greatest concept albums. At the 56th Grammys it was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album, and lost the latter to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' The Heist.