Welcome to hip hop in 2015. You have your party rappers, your trap rappers, your swag rappers, your EDM rappers, there's your hip hop/R&B hybrids, and then...there's Kendrick Lamar. I have to say him separately from everyone else because at this point, no one else is in a class with this man. No one has taken hip hop and grabbed it by the throat the way Kendrick Lamar has done. It's more than just his outstanding lyricism that separates him from the pack. It's his voice, his flow, his delivery, his words and his knowledge. Not to mention his confidence and bravery as he displayed on that controversial "Control" verse. Normally rappers similar to Kendrick (which there are very, very few) almost never make it big. But somehow he managed to do what was right to be a household name in hip hop but at the same time maintain that title as a top tier lyricist in hip hop. Needless to say, the world has been waiting in anticipation for this here. His second album To Pimp A Butterfly. I shouldn't have to explain why this is so anticipated. Look at his previous projects. His 2011 digital album Section.80 was easily one of the best projects that year. It's was garnered him attention from the masses. But he would greatly out do that with his 2012 debut Good Kid, Maad City. An argument can be made that GKMC is the best debut hip hop album probably since Get Rich Or Die Tryin. It's already considered a west coast classic by many. So the question is...how on earth could he possibly follow such an epic debut? Seems almost impossible. Well...he did it. To Pimp A Butterfly exceeded way past my expectations. Now obviously the lyricism and flow is all there, but this album is all concept and theme. The album's concept and topics throughout revolve around many issues involving race, politics and injustice among minorities. Race especially. Detailing things that's going on today, hip hops role in it and how we can all fix this to better the future. Now many people were kinda caught off guard by the sound of this album. Majority of the production sounds very 1970's disco/funk inspired. Which makes sense considering the 70's is considered the blaxploitation/pro-black era which is also talked about on this album. It also explains the impressive guest features of artists who make music in this field. Not to mention, that era's sound also influenced many classic hip hop albums, like Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle for example. This is just another well put together concept album just like GKMC. Okay no more wasting time, here's the break down:
1. Wesley's Theory (featuring George Clinton and Thundercat)
This album begins with Kendrick speaking on black folks (specifically black celebrities) and their mis-management of money. The ones that splurge with their money but are constantly ducking paying their taxes. This also goes on to talk about how the industry and the government "pimps" these celebrities into taking their money. The song's title is named after Wesley Snipes. He committed tax fraud throughout the 2000's and served a three year jail sentence (2010-2013). Now as I mentioned in the intro, this albums sound is 70's inspired and it starts here. This production sounds like vintage electric funk. The with the vocals of the legendary George Clinton and Thundercat, it's almost like stepping in a time machine to 1975. Excellent song.
2. For Free? (interlude)
I normally don't break down the interludes but this one I had to because of the concept. Here, you hear what sounds like some loud ratchet ass chick cursing out Kendrick. "Broke ass nigga" this "ain't shit nigga" that and so on. This girl actually represents the industry. Angry because she's trying to pimp the artist (Kendrick) into giving her his money but Kendrick is refusing. It ends with her saying "I'ma get my Uncle Sam to fuck you up". That part you can figure out on you're own.
3. King Kunta
This is the first song that I fell in love with from this album. Immediately hitting the repeat button. The production is outstanding. Another vintage funk/disco sounding beat with hard drums. It sounds like something you would hear on a soundtrack for a 70's blaxploitation film. Then it samples two funk era classics: James Brown's "The Payback" and Parliament's "We Want The Funk". On this song, he compares himself to Kunta Kinte but not as you may think (Google him if you're not familiar with him). He changes the name to King Kunta because it represents the lowest point (Kunta, slavery, poverty) and highest point (King, freedom, wealth) of one man...himself. It also represents Kendrick's rise from the poverty stricken ghetto feeling like a slave, to a life of fame and one of hip hop's top voices.
4. Institutionalized (featuring Bilal, Anna Wise and Snoop Dogg)
Here's the first song that took me a few listens to understand it's meaning. When you look at the title, you think prison right? Well...kinda. This is another song about the evils of money and wealth. How things like violence, greed and envy are caused by the "institution" of money. This also talks about the ways both the rich and the poor are institutionalized. The poor are institutionalized literally in prisons and even in the streets. While the rich are institutionalized by their wealth, power and nothing but the dollar sign. This song could be interpreted many ways depending on how you listen to it. This is just how I hear it. The song has a very laid back psychedelic sound. Kendrick raps with a very low toned and whispering like voice which matches the smoothness of the beat.
5. These Walls (featuring Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat)
Boy the complexity in this song is overwhelming. First of all I was a little deceived by the title. I thought this would be a continuation of the previous track. Seeing as how both titles could possibly mean the same thing. I was right...sorta. The song mostly revolves around sex. There are two sets of walls being talked about here. The first is the walls of a woman's vagina. Kendrick is using his celebrity status and his fame to lure this woman into having sex with him as he describes what the walls (vagina) is saying to him. But here's the kicker. The woman's baby father is in prison. He is responsible for the death of a friend of Kendrick. So this is Kendrick getting revenge. Those other set of walls are indeed prison walls surrounding the baby father. Telling him what's going on with his baby mother. In a way, this song plays the same role as "Poetic Justice" did from the last album. Although not as "lovey dovey". Great song though. Love it.
6. u
Here we see a side of Kendrick that we're not used to seeing. Going through anxiety and having insecurity and self esteem issues. There are two different voices Kendrick uses here. The first is his inner self talking to him. Telling him how he knows deep down he's insecure. He's losing confidence. How he's basically rattled by his haunting past and is letting it get to him and interfering with his music. Making him weak. The second voice is Kendrick himself talking back to his inner self. But Kendrick changes his voice to sound like he's drunk and crying. Trying to blame all that has happened to him on his inner self and that he's not a "fucking failure". His conscious. This song is actually the prelude to the single "i" which I'll talk about later. I like how the beat changes up between both voices giving more emotion to both. A very powerful song and a song I'm sure Kendrick probably had a tough time writing without getting emotional.
7. Alright
Following a song where Kendrick opens up about his demons and his burdens, this song comes right on time. The song talks about no matter what your going through emotionally or what obstacles stand in your way, everything is gonna be alright. Just be happy, shake it off, and let God take care of it. Kendrick is trying to escape these troubles that haunt him and be happier. But at the same time he understands that things happen for a reason. Sometimes you'll have to overcome tough obstacles to gain peace and happiness. It's part of God's plan. This song actually has single potential with it's mainstream sound in the production and Pharrell's catchy hook.
8. For Sale? (interlude)
Well first of all, this will go down as the longest interlude ever made. It's pretty much a full song at almost five minutes. Anyway, on this song Kendrick goes more in depth with this character by the name of Lucy. In the beginning of the song he's running from this character trying to escape. He talks about how Lucy is a liar. Tries to bribe him and deceive him. As well as tempting him with in this case a contract signing where they can tell him to do whatever they want and he must. It was at this point where I realized Lucy must be the devil. Lucy being short for Lucifer. The record label CEO in this case is Lucy and is trying to trick Kendrick into believing that you must flaunt your money and wealth at all time. In short, he's basically just showing how corrupt record labels really are. They use and deceive their artists and fill their heads with lies just to benefit them in the long run. A story we've heard time and time again. I do like this song though and how it falls perfectly in line with the "For Free" interlude.
9. Momma
So now it appears Kendrick is trying to collect himself and return to a peaceful place to clear his mind and rid himself of the evils of Lucy. That peaceful place is home. Now to me, "home" could be a number of places. Compton, his mom's place (hence the title), Africa (which also goes with the title. Africa was an inspiration for a lot of this album as well), or peace within himself. It all depends on what you hear. I do like the sound of this song as well. More specifically it's tone. It has acoustic like neo-soul sound. It sounds very relaxing, calming and well...peaceful. Which matches his emotions here. Props to Knxwledge and Taz Arnold on the production.
10. Hood Politics
Okay now there's a lot I'm getting from this song. This sounds to me like he's giving you a look at what goes on in his hood when it comes to certain topics. Topics people in the hood are discussing. Two of those main topics of discussion are American politics and the rap industry. He talks about American politics in the second verse while talking about the rap industry in the second (mentioning the controversy he created with his verse on "Control"). Now he again changes his voice up to a higher pitch. I think he did this for one of two reasons. He could be displaying the immaturity of people in the hood when it comes to these topics. Imitating how they sound. Or, he could be flashing back to his youth and imitating how he and his homies used to sound back in the day. This beat is an excellent mixture of the funk and hip hop sound. Probably the best on the album. Props to Tae Beats. Dope song.
11. How Much A Dollar Cost (featuring James Fauntleroy and Ronald Isley)
There seems to be a lot going on here too. To the point where it took me almost five listens to even make an assumption as to what's going on. It appears that Kendrick is approached by a homeless man asking for a dollar. Kendrick refuses numerous times after the man keeps asking. Kendrick then gets in his car and thinks about it feeling a little bit guilty. The homeless man comes to him again asking if he's read a certain bible verse about being humble. Kendrick gets very angry with and that's when the man reveals who he really is...God. Deep. Now I could be wrong about that but it does seem to makes sense. Nice song.
12. Complexion (A Zulu Love) (featuring Rapsody)
This one is pretty easy to figure out. It kinda delivers the same message "i" does. Self love. Kendrick talks about the importance of black people to love their selves regardless of their skin tone. Also how just because one person is lighter or darker than the other doesn't make them different in any way. We are all black. If you look around on social media, there's a lot of light skin vs. dark skin wars that go on and that could be the very influence for this song. Rapsody was without a doubt my favorite guest feature on this album. I often call her a female version of Kendrick Lamar and her incredibly dope verse proves that. Great song and great message.
13. The Blacker The Berry
Now comes the controversy. First off, I love this hard hitting production that sounds 100% hip hop without the funk/soul influence. Big props to Boi-1da. Now when this song dropped, the Internet went insane. While majority of this album talks about self love and being happy, this song talks about racialist self-hatred. Being angered towards black people for their hypocritical ways when it comes to racism. Even more angry to them than to white people. But here's where the controversy comes in. Towards the end, Kendrick calls out black people of today. Calling them hypocrites for weeping, protesting and marching for people like Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. But won't do the same when there's black on black violence. Mad at the police (or white racists) but aren't the slightest bit upset with your own people. Kendrick seems to be the opposite. This rubbed a lot of people the wrong way and Kendrick took plenty of heat for it. Not taking his side but he does make a valid point. All violence against innocent, un-armed African Americans is wrong. Regardless of who pulled the trigger. This song almost takes a Malcolm X like approach to racism and injustice.
14. You Ain't Gotta Lie (Momma Said)
Ever heard that saying "the loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room"? Well that's pretty much the bottom line of this song. It talks about the negative place celebrities can find themselves if they don't reach a certain level of success. But at the same time, remaining low key and unknown enough to go anyway without garnering a ton of attention from on lookers. The hook says "you ain't gotta lie to kick it my nigga". Meaning that when your around your own people from your hood, kicking it with friends and family, you don't have to lie about you're money or you're power. They understand what it is you do for a living and you don't have to act a certain way so you don't feel like you're intimidating them or "looking down on them". That's my assumption. Again I could be wrong but nonetheless, this song is cool.
15. i
"The Blacker The Berry" takes the Malcolm X approach, this song takes the Martin Luther King approach. Here's the first single that everyone had mixed feelings about when it first released. It is the ultimate anthem of self love. Loving yourself, respecting yourself and being happy. Regardless of any negativity that others may throw your way. While this song is the total opposite of "The Blacker The Berry", it's also part two to "u". Where Kendrick was at first upset with himself and having esteem issues, to now being completely happy with himself. Now this version of the song is actually the live version. Not the version you hear on the radio. I questioned it at first but it makes sense. Him performing this song better shows his happiness, joy and energy as he communicates with his audience. Then he goes in at the end breaking down his definition of the word "nigga". I won't give that away. Just listen...it makes total sense.
16. Mortal Man
Recently Kendrick visited South Africa, and you can definitely hear the influence from that trip in this amazing song. Kendrick realizes that he's not only the voice of this new generation, but the new voice in long line of black leaders. From Nelson Mandela, to Martin Luther King, to the man he interviews and the end of this track...2Pac. Throughout this whole album, between some of the songs, Kendrick reads parts of a poem that reflect everything that's going on on this album. Here he recites the full poem and we find out he's sharing this poem with Pac. While asking Pac for advice about maintaining humbleness and making it through this industry. Pac basically tells him to reach out to the youth. Teach them, guide them into changing the world. Becoming the next few in the line of black leaders. At the very end, Kendrick reads another poem to Pac. This one breaks down the meaning of the albums title. Which I won't go into because it's a lot. A powerful song and triumphant way to end this album.
Well, in closing, Good Kid Maad City may win in the production department, but To Pimp A Butterfly excels in every other category. I am blown away by the concepts, the themes, the messages and the sheer intelligence behind these powerful songs. I give this a final grade of an A. There are so many bottom line morals you could take from this album. None would be wrong. Here's mine. In the wake of so much recent racism and police brutality among innocent African Americans, it's important to stay strong and not only love yourself but love each other. You've heard people say "black people need to stick together" right? Well that's not just a cliche saying. We do. We have to love, respect one another if we want racists and people who are evil towards us to respect us. But most importantly, be happy. Enjoy life. Enjoy the little things. Family, friends etc. If you're a celebrity, enjoy the fame. Enjoy the time with fans and the people who love what you do. Now I'm not trying to preach some "we shall overcome" type stuff to you. All I'm saying is this. If you want change in this country, change within the industry, change withing your life, it starts with you taking a step forward. Sam Cook said "a change is gonna come", and if you take that step then by God's will, it's gonna happen. Amen. End.
Lyrics: A+
Production: B+
Collaboration: A
Originality: A
Concept(s): A+
Final Grade: A
CREDITS
Executive Producers
Andre Young
Anthony Tiffith
Lead Artist
Kendrick Duckworth
Production
Steven Ellison
Ronald Colson
Mark Spears
Stephen Bruner
Terrace Martin
Columbus Smith III
Tommy Black
Larrance Dopson
Taz Arnold
Michael Brown
Pharrell Williams
Sylvester Stewart
Donte Perkins
Josef Leimberg
Matthew Samuels
Stephen Kozmeniuk
Collaboration
George Clinton
Stephen Bruner
Bilal Powell
Anna Wise
Calvin Broadus
James Fauntleroy
Ronald Isley
Marlanna Evans
Label
TDE/Aftermath/Interscope Records
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