STREAM: Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly

Written by: Nick Schneider

Stop whatever you are doing. Kendrick Lamar’s new album To Pimp A Butterfly has released ahead of its planned March 23rd release date. You can hardly say enough about how much the hip-hop community has anticipated the follow up to 2012’s good kid, m.A.A.d city, which received near universal acclaim and is already the subject of college courses.

In a post-”Control” world, fans didn’t know what sounds to expect, and the random September release of “i” showed a funky, uplifting side of Kendrick that casual listeners may not have been aware of. TPAB has 16 tracks and lasts 79 minutes, of which each second is crafted with a near obsessive level of detail, filled with sonic nuances one would expect from a Flying Lotus album. In fact, rather than being comparable to a hip-hop album, TPAB is more similar to FlyLo’s You’re Dead (which featured Kendrick) in terms of its jazzy spontaneity. From the album opening “Wesley’s Theory”, the larger messages of the album become apparent; a George Clinton introduction referencing a butterfly leaving the cocoon sets the stage for Compton’s own to tell his tale of leaving the cocoon. This concept is elaborated on “Institutionalized”, a track where Kendrick condemns the corruption of wealth, and juxtaposes the wealth of artists at the BET awards with a friend from the hood who would snatch their jewels given an opportunity. The album itself rests on juxtapositions like this, such as the polarizing “u” and “i”. On “u”, Kendrick sounds like he’s on the brink of (or in the middle of) a mental breakdown. Lines about being a failure, lacking confidence and leadership stand in direct opposition to Grammy-winning “i”, which was extended and redone for the album in a way that plays like a live performance. Throughout the album, while Kendrick switches flows frequently and at times uses vocal rhythms closer to beat poetry than hip-hop, the production is closely attached to him at all times. Cinematic saxophone flairs from Terrance Martin appear numerous times, and even build up to a Boyz N The Hood-esque intensity on “u”. Closing track “Mortal Man” is the culmination of a poem that appears in fragments of various songs to progress the album, followed by Kendrick having a dream-like interview with Tupac. Overall, To Pimp A Butterfly is an extremely engaging album to listen to - a must-hear for anyone with a remote interest in hip-hop.