To Pimp a Butterfly
by Kendrick Lamar
Distributed by Top Dawg Entertainment
Kendrick Lamar, an American rapper from Compton, Calif., became one of hip hop’s biggest acts back in 2012 after the release of his breakthrough sophomore album good kid, m.A.A d city. Since the album came out Kendrick Lamar has run through the gauntlet of late night T.V. shows, lost to Macklemore at the Grammy’s, toured extensively, and made an appearance at Ottawa Folk Fest in the fall of 2013.
When the rapper released the first single off his new album To Pimp a Butterfly last September, he did so to largest audience his music has ever seen.
That first single “i” raised lots of eyebrows for rap fans that follow Kendrick because unlike the gritty tracks from gkmc or his first album length project Section 80, “i” lacked the distinct west coast gansta-rap influence found in a lot of the rest of Kendrick’s catalogue. The track, “i” relies heavily on a sample from an Isley Brothers tune called “That Lady,” which you might remember it from a Swiffer commercial a few years ago. Its placement lead many fans to worry that Kendrick was moving in a new direction, away from the street-born hardiness of his last albums and towards accessible soulful pop-rap.
Fear not, on To Pimp a Butterfly Kendrick Lamar produces an album that in beats out its predecessor and its own case as best rap record of the decade.
Throughout the To Pimp a Butterfly Kendrick Lamar contends with big ideas. Showing up on this album are topics like self-love in black communities, American white supremacy, capitalism, and few dozen other subjects that will become the topic of think-pieces all across the web in the coming weeks.
In the months since naissance of #blacklivesmatter, several artists have tried their hand at exploring these ideas in music with varying levels of success. Throughout To Pimp a Butterfly Kendrick is stumping on the behalf of black communities that have been involved in the protests over the past few months. And to this end, Kendrick turns to several different black writers who’ve written about racial struggle in America for the past century for words when his own fail him. On “Alright” Kendrick borrows from Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and earlier on “King Kunta” Kendrick Lamar interpolates his lyrics from Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man in order the describe his own experiences.
Kendrick Lamar’s ability to keep an album with that many intellectual and political aspirations from becoming bogged down and impenetrable deserves to be commended.
Besides all of the moralizing that Kendrick does on To Pimp a Butterfly, it must be noted he is backed up by some of the year’s most exciting and innovative rap instrumentals. The album has several features from bass-guitar-magician Thundercat and they are all great. Jazz pianist Robert Glasper also offers up his talents, especially on “For Free (Interlude)” where he leads a free jazz shed while Kendrick rhymes overtop. Flying Lotus, Pharrell Williams, and the cadre of producers managed by Kendrick’s Label Top Dawg Ent. Tae Beast, Sounwave, Dave Free, and Willie B highlight the production team.
To Pimp a Butterfly easily cements Kendrick Lamar as one of the best rappers of our time, maybe even one of the best ever.
