Kendrick Lamar — good kid, m.A.A.d city: How to Identify a First Pressing

• Cover: The cover is an old photo showing a young Kendrick Lamar with his two uncles and grandfather; the adults' eyes are pixelated/blocked out in the photo (presumably for privacy).
• Other: The original October 22, 2012 release was available simultaneously on CD, digital download, and vinyl (LP), with the vinyl offered in both a standard edition and a deluxe edition.
• Other: The album was released jointly by Interscope Records, Top Dawg Entertainment, and Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment; all three label logos should appear together in the copyright information on the original vinyl's sleeve/inner sleeve.

• A vinyl 'Anniversary Edition' was released on October 21, 2022, clearly distinguished from the 2012 original vinyl (standard/deluxe editions) by release batch — the release date and the 'Anniversary' label can be used to judge whether a copy is the 10th-anniversary reissue rather than the 2012 original.

discogs.com returned a 403 this time and could not be accessed; the English Wikipedia entry was used instead. Because this album was released relatively recently (2012), specific details of the original vinyl release — catalog number, vinyl colour, label design, and other first-hand manufacturing details — could not be verified this time; and because it is an album from the digital era, the kind of information found in traditional label-evolution-style 'first-pressing identification' is itself relatively scarce in public sources.

• Read the runout (the smooth area between the last groove and the label) with the disc tilted under a lamp: matrix numbers, stamper codes and mastering initials are the strongest evidence.
• Label details change between pressing plants and years: rim text, logo style, address, "Manufactured by" wording.
• Cover printing shows the plant and era: printer credit, catalog number position, barcode presence.
• Match all three. A first-press disc in a later cover, or the reverse, is common.

Shoot the label straight on in even light, then the runout with the disc tilted so the etched text catches the light (a phone torch from the side works). Add the front and back cover, the spine, and any inner sleeve or insert. The app reads the label and cover; the runout photo is what confirms the pressing.