"Swimming Pools (Drank)" Kendrick Lamar

Last week, good kid, m.A.A.d city, the first studio album from Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar, debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, bolstered by the success of his bleary-eyed hit "Swimming Pools (Drank)." There's always a place in popular music for odes to alcohol, and Lamar has taken it a step further, crafting a song that feels like the deep dive into a pool of liquor that the chorus recommends. As the dark instrumental oozes along like the fuzzy processing skills of a tipsy brain, it steadily grows to match Lamar's swaggering rhymes, a boost of confidence that will surely be familiar to anyone who's ever felt a little too cool after a few too many drinks. "Pools" is a high-concept party track that still sounds mighty fine up in the club with drank in hand. B+