Compton’s great kid Kendrick Lamar is best known for slaying the mic and topping charts with his 2012 debut good kid, m.A.A.d city. Now, hit songs from the album such as, “Swimming Pools” and “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” have become the prominent topics of discussion at Georgia Regents University this fall.
According to USA Today, the course titled “Good Kids, Mad Cities” will analyze the role of urban living and how it plays a substantial role in the development of today’s youth.
“With Kendrick’s album, you’ve got gang violence, you’ve got child-family development in the inner city, you’ve got drug use and the war on drugs, you’ve got sex slavery, human trafficking – a lot of the things that are hot-button issues for today are just inherent in the world of Compton, California,” said Prof. Adam Diehl.
The topic goes hand-in-hand with K. Dot’s LP, a conceptual album based on his upbringing in Compton. The coursework also includes some of the iconic material from esteemed film director Spike Lee and poems from African-American Pulitzer Prize Winner Gwendolyn Brook. Students will also visit cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles and Dublin.