“The caterpillar is a prisoner to the streets that conceived it. But Lamar has gone further to give meaning to the metaphor, and he explains it on the album itself, at the end of the record’s last track ‘Mortal Man’: You only have to look at the album artwork, or listen to the single ‘The Blacker The Berry’, to realise that To Pimp A Butterfly shares the same thematic space as Harper Lee’s novel. The most obvious connection is to Harper Lee’s 1960 novel To Kill A Mockingbird itself a politically charged piece of work that deals thematically in oppression and institutionalised racism. To understand the story Kendrick Lamar is telling on this album we first need to look at the title and what it means. I’m sure more details will become clearer on future listens after all there is so much to digest here.
It is my own interpretation of the album based on a day and half of listening to the record. I’m an English Literature graduate, so it is in my nature to over-anaylse pieces of work like this, and therefore I’m going to attempt to explain To Pimp A Butterfly. But after listening to To Pimp A Butterfly, the story of GKMC seems rather simple when compared to everything going on here. And that’s before we even get to the content.īack when GKMC was released I wrote a detailed explanation of that album’s narrative. A platinum selling mainstream rapper has the luxury to dine out on the same sound for years, but Kendrick is a true artist and a risk taker, and has ventured completely left-field for this album. Kendrick is constantly swerving the listener constant beat switches, odd musical detours, instrumentation that appears and disappears without warning. Kendrick is out to knock everyone off balance with this record, and not just in comparison to his prior work, but within the album itself. It sounds nothing like GKMC, which believe it or not, isn’t a bad thing. Sound wise the album is like a foray through the history of black music: from free-form jazz, to Parliament era cosmic funk, spoken word, 90s West Coast g-funk, Aquemini era Outkast, neo-soul, and modern day FlyLo abstract experimentation. There is so much depth of content that the album requires multiple listens to take in everything that Kendrick is saying. To Pimp A Butterfly is a multi-layered, dense record not only musically but lyrically.
I’ve played the album back-to-back for the past day and half and I still haven’t even began to scratch the surface of what this record has to offer. At the 2015 BET awards, Kendrick performed “Alright” on top of a police car, further highlighting the song’s purpose as a protest against police brutality.One week ahead of schedule, Kendrick Lamar’s highly anticipated follow up to 2012′s universally acclaimed good kid, m.A.A.d city (GKMC), the intriguingly titled To Pimp A Butterfly, arrives via iTunes and Spotify for immediate consumption. Some took to twitter suggesting “Alright” as a “new black national anthem” similar to “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and “We Shall Overcome” – also songs of hope emerging out of periods of despair. Is Kendrick Lamar’s ‘ Alright’ the new black national anthem? But homicide be looking at you from the face down. I recognize you’re looking at me for the pay cut. Is Kendrick Lamar looking at you for the pay cut? What are some of your favorite Kendrick Lamar songs? By trusting in God, Kendrick is able to look past his failures and have confidence that everything will be okay – “we gon’ be alright.” What is the meaning of Alright by Kendrick Lamar?Īfter “u” – where Kendrick lays out his burdens – “Alright” responds by detailing how Kendrick means to escape his troubles. What is the meaning of Lucy? Lucy is baby unisex name mainly popular in Christian religion and its main origin is Latin. To pimp a butterfly is the 16th highest rated Album of all time on Rate Your Music, The highest rated rap album this decade and of all time. Is To Pimp A Butterfly the best rap album ever? While this album is currently regarded as a classic and is considered to be one of the best rap albums of all time, “To Pimp A Butterfly” deserves a re-examination of its themes and how its message is still relevant to society today. We Gon’ Be Alright/Released Is To Pimp A Butterfly the best rap album?
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