Thoughts On: To Pimp A Butterfly

Welcome back to Thoughts On, where I will be trying to prove that a 7 day-old album outshines the modern classic that came before it. This week we will be talking about To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar. Now this album was supposed to drop on the 23^rd, but due to a mix-up (which may or may not have been planned to celebrate the 20^th year of a Tupac album) the album came out early and the world exploded because of it. This was one of the most anticipated projects of the year, not only because of the rapper making it but also because of the speculation surrounding the album. With an album like good kid, m.A.A.d city, or GKMC for the sake of my carpal tunnel syndrome, it was impossible to fathom where Kendrick could go next. Often cited as a true underdog of Hip-Hop, this artist has been making a huge impact on the game since his rise to the public eye a few years back. Luckily, with this new album he managed to stay true to himself while also creating what may possibly be one of the greatest albums I have ever heard.

So who is Kendrick Lamar? K-dot is a rapper from Compton, California who is steadily carrying on the legacy started by other West Coast rappers. Considering NWA and Tupac are both huge influences for him, it is easy to understand the kind narrative that Kendrick builds through his music and personal philosophy. First reaching widespread attention in his Overly Dedicated mixtape Kendrick demonstrated his knack for rhyming ability and smooth song crafting. A year later he released Section.80, a dark album setting up the narrative of broken neighborhoods and moral ambiguity. This album was incredibly well-received and it was at this point that Kendrick became more widely known as an underdog of Hip-Hop. Even among his TDE label mates (Ab-Soul, ScHoolboy Q, Jay Rock, and Isaiah Rashad, almost all of whom were members of their own group Black Hippy before getting signed), this quiet, little rapper was making solid hits and demonstrated a level of rhyming proficiency that could only come from years of practice and hard work. Then, in 2012, he released GKMC, which has since been deemed as a modern classic in most circles and a high point of this decade’s Hip-Hop music. This brought Kendrick into the public eye more than ever before, all without having to rely on hits, despite this being the trend nowadays. Even his songs that became radio and mainstream hits reflected his pure style and contained dark subject matter. Then, in 2013, Kendrick had one of the most controversial and exciting verses of the last few years on Big Sean's song 'Control', in which he calls out rappers by name, claims himself King of both rival Hip-Hop coasts, and brought back the sense of competition to the rap game. A lot of famous rappers responded with their own verses and, while Kendrick never responded to them, it was around this time that he became known as 'King Kendrick'. This man had gone from the underground to many top 5 MC lists in a matter of years and, with no 2013 or 2014 release, many wondered where his music would go.

Compared to an artist like Kanye, who is a better producer than wordsmith, Kendrick is a lyricist through and through. After GKMC and his 'Control' verse, the expectation was that he would drop more poetic songs that would somehow come together and make something that paralleled his classic. The first taste that we were able to get of the album was the single 'i', an upbeat song about loving oneself even in the roughest of situations that sampled 'Who's That Lady' by The Isley Brothers. The response to this song was incredibly mixed; while I personally loved it for the fusion of soul and positivity, others took it as a sign of Kendrick “selling out” and trying to make more pop-like music that would sell better. While his live performances on SNL and the Colbert Report more or less showed people he was staying true to his roots, people started to doubt Kendrick's sound. Then, just a month before the album’s release, he put out the single 'The Blacker the Berry', a heavy song about racial profiling, oppression, and hypocrisy in the black community. With these two singles out, it became clear that no one would be able to properly decipher where this album would be going. However, many predicted that it would be stellar, regardless of its direction. Kendrick’s interviews prior to the album’s release revealed that this was going to be a hard-hitting and honest piece of work, with several musical features that would tonally outclass GKMC. When it finally released, we received an album that fused all major elements of black music that also told a story of depression, racism, selling out, and finding peace within oneself. Somehow Kendrick had succeeded in making another fantastic album.

So what does the album sound like? Well it starts out with 'Wesleys Theory',which starts out with the chorus from the 1973 soul anthem 'Every Nigger is a Star' by Boris Gardiner. This song sets the tone for one of the main themes of this album before changing into a funky breakdown fueled by basslines and classic funk wah wah's reminiscent of Soul Train. You hear instrumentals from Flying Lotus (a huge inspiration behind this album) and Bassist Thundercat all over this intro and it makes for a fantastic opener. This song turns out to be about the pimping of black artists in the music industry who get signed and then lose themselves in the money or fame. After tasting fame, Kendrick may be aware of what people expect to happen to him or what he may have experienced himself. Next we have the interlude 'For Free?' (the two interludes on this album honestly function well as proper songs within their own context); here you’re presented with a female giving someone a hard time, verbally abusing them until Kendrick comes in to respond with the prominent line, “This dick ain't free”. After this hilarious but oddly provoking line Kendrick goes off on a rant about how much he works for the money he strives to earn, all over a straight standard Jazz bass line drum riff playing in the background, as if this rant was happening in some jazzy nightclub. Some have speculated that this builds off the metaphor of the previous song, but to me this short interlude highlights the time-old black struggle of looking for our 40 acres and a mule; how we work so hard for others gain and never get anything ourselves. This idea will come back in the future. Next is 'King Kunta', another song that starts with a funky bass and evolves over the course of the song. This song, playing off the character Kunta Kinte from the classic novel/Tv series “Roots” describes his personal rise from “a peasant to a king.” Not only is this a funky song that fuses Kendrick's confidence and storytelling with an amazing musical backing, but it is also at the tail end of this song that we hear the first part of a poem that is constructed throughout this album.

Kendrick delivers the line, “I remember you was conflicted” in order to sum up the aforementioned rags to riches concept and set up the next song,'Institutionalized'. In this song, which features a simple keyboard-focused intro before musically shifting to the smoother chord and snare powered main song, Kendrick speaks on the woes of relying on material means and systematic oppression that he and many others suffer from. At the same time he states that nothing will change unless you change it, a light of hope in a dark tale of being powerless. Snoop Dogg is featured in this song with a bedtime story-like reminder of where Kendrick is from and claiming that Compton is a “divine city.” This may be in order to support the idea that Kendrick is a prophet and savior of the rap game, not by choice mind you, but by our own perceptions. In the following song, 'These Walls', we hear more of the poem at the start and immediately hear pained moaning wails and someone slamming the keyboard of a piano before the main instrumentals kicks in; additionally, this track features vocals by Bilal and Anna wise. This is one of my personal favorite songs on the album based on production alone, but when the lyrics start up this becomes a complex song that juxtaposes vaginal walls with the walls that we as people feel trapped behind. Using the old phrase “if these walls could talk”, he goes back and forth talking about sex and prison sentences, showing both the most pleasurable and painful of human experiences. His poem snippet about feeling conflicted could highlight the real meaning behind the song. We are all trapped in the never ending battle between pleasure and pain, and, as a popular artist, temptation to stay in one for fear of being swallowed by the other seems to always be on the rapper’s mind. Next we have the darkest song on the album, 'u'. Here we hear more wailing, another bass riff, and a wicked saxophone solo by Terrace Martin (who is also all over this album). This song is the polar opposite of the song 'i' and encompasses all of the rapper’s doubt and guilt. This is a tale of self-loathing that culminates in a heartbreaking verse from a drunken Kendrick in a hotel room, bad-mouthing what seems to be himself while audibly taking swings of a hard drink. This is a low point in the rappers life that he was able to honestly demonstrate in such a way that you can almost personally feel.

About halfway through the album we get the 'For Sale?', another interlude in which the character of Lucy is properly introduced as an antagonist. As this song progresses, again another melodic joy with Terrace Martin taking up production, we hear of Lucy (short for Lucifer) and how she has tempted other rappers in the past and is now going after Kendrick. This interlude actually gives major insight into how the god-fearing rapper must feel about others who lose themselves to temptation. It is not simply bad choices but physical temptation that sends some off the deep end. In the transition to 'Momma', which starts with Kendrick declaring he has gone home, we get to see the rapper’s take on his own personal growth and how he has done his best to fight Lucy's temptations. Kendrick extends the metaphor of a mother having an opinion of a girl that you bring home to show that he needed some sense of self that could only be given to him at the place where he started his journey. As he states, “I know everything, I know Compton, I know street shit, I know shit that's conscious, I know Compton”. Being hailed as the king of conscious rap, it is good to see Kendrick having some sort of pride in his ability. It is at this point where the album makes its transition into a ballad of change. Skipping ahead to the song 'Complexion (A Zulu Love)', we get a song about the importance of loving yourself regardless of your complexion. We hear a tale of a slave devoted to a person he has a romantic affair with, as well as how little this complexion affects his devotion. The bassline with an occasionally horn-driven instrumental eventually gets chilling vocals that add a beautiful tone to this powerful message that Kendrick is trying to put out. Female rapper Rhapsody makes an appearance and is the only person to have a lyrical verse on the album besides K-dot. Her bars are well used, to say the least. While not as poetic as her peer, her raw, truth-telling verse pushes forward the important of loving yourself, that reds and blues don't matter, and that maybe one day the media will reflect the love for us that we need to show for ourselves. 

Going ahead a bit to 'i', this song takes a totally different meaning when put in the context of this album. It also sounds different than its single variant. It sounds like it takes place live in a club, with Kendrick being introduced before the song starts. He then stops the song halfway through to speak to his less than receptive audience about the importance of loving life. They were rowdy at the start of the song but as he speaks you can hear the crowd quiet down a bit and proceed to listen. He then goes into a short spoken word piece about the word “Negus” and how it was twisted and used to control instead of carrying its original meaning of royalty and black excellence. This once polarizing song, in its true context, becomes one of the most prominent positive messages that a rapper has dared to put out in several years. Finishing up this album we have the 12 minute 'Mortal Man', in which Kendrick asks his listeners if they would still be a fan if he was accused of getting into some sort of scandal. He criticizes the faith of listeners who doubt some of the most influential artists and thinkers of our time and write off their achievements for potential blemishes on their character. After the song ends we finally get to hear the whole poem that Kendrick has been using to guide us through the album, and it turns out that he had been reciting the poem to his hero Tupac the entire time. After this he asks Pac a question and the two engage in a sort of back and forth that is a result of some of the most clever audio editing I have heard on an album. We get to hear Pac speak on issues that are still relevant to this day, showing how timeless some of his ideals were. On the flip side, we get hear his more radical beliefs and the contrast is just astonishing. The audio is from a 1994 interview and the way the man talks it seems like he could tell the future. Afterward Kendrick recites a final poem about a caterpillar and the potential it hold relative to the butterfly, which people love more for its appearance. He asks his idol’s opinion one last time but gets no response. Then the album is over.

To put it lightly this is the best album to have been released in 2015 thus far. To give more weight to it, I think this album carries more importance, symbolism, and overall cultural value than GKMC. Aside from the fact that the music on this project is stellar all across the board, with some of the most talented musicians on the West Coast leaving their marks all over the album, this album came at the perfect time. With recent racial tensions and black power experiencing a resurgence, we need music like this - music that reminds of where we came from by blending Funk, Soul, Jazz, and Hip-Hop all with spoken word and a flowing narrative to paint a picture of the black struggle and black pride. It was extremely hard to choose what tracks to talk about because this whole album is a continuous story that feels incomplete if you leave anything out. What Kendrick has given us is not just an album, but a statement. This album has been getting unreal reviews, and rightfully so; this is the kind of album that defines a shift in style, the beginning of a new musical subgenre, or even a new era. In interviews, Kendrick often talked about the depression that GKMC sent him through and how kids would tell him that he was the reason they were still alive. Being hailed as the new Tupac or savior of Hip-Hop is not easy for a man who simply enjoys his work and loves music. You can feel it in his songs that Kendrick’s lyrical ability and choice of narratives are on par with none. Described as being able to rap and adjust “like a horn player” by Terrace Martin, this man has given music a wake-up call. This is what artists should strive to do: create good music that also has a meaning that extends past the present. That is what makes music so special, its ability to transcend time and impact our lives years from now. Just as Tupac influenced him, Kendrick has taken up the mantle and continues to wow and influence us. If you don't get it by now I highly recommend you: LISTEN NOW. This album is incredible and me simply talking about it does not do it justice.