Kendrick Lamar: "To Pimp a Butterfly" (Album Review)

Genres: Conscious Hip Hop, West Coast Hip Hop, Jazz Rap

Kendrick Lamar is able to detailedly explore a vast number of topics, in order to develop the main concepts of To Pimp a Butterfly. One of the biggest of this album’s many strengths is how so much is explored and it’s all executed so skillfully. To Pimp a Butterfly is a poem that reveals itself through a couple lines at a time. By breaking through its cocoon, the caterpillar emerges reborn as a butterfly. Although they are the same being, they are also completely different. This aspect of change is present lyrically with how layers of meaning become uncovered as the album progresses, but is also present through Lamar as an artist. Going on a trip to South Africa in 2014 changed his worldview, which in turn changed how he worked as an artist. Inspired by his ethnic history and the music of black culture, Lamar created a body of work that mixes sounds from the past with sounds from the current music scene. Although “Kendrick Lamar” is the same individual, his experiences resulted in a different way of thinking. This caused a shift in the art he created and the scope it reached.

To Pimp a Butterfly is a musical experience that is quite unlike anything I’ve ever heard before, and likely will ever hear. The range of this album is so incredibly vast to the point where it seems unfathomable that Lamar did not spread himself too thin. From conversing with God and Satan (“Lucy”) to using real audio of Tupac Shakur speaking for a discussion with him about the poem that the album had been revealing, Lamar does it all. With something that has such an incredibly wide scope, it is easy for a lack of focus to be present, but Lamar is able to tie the topics that he delves so deeply into together perfectly. Having the album represented by a single poem that builds off of certain songs and then expanding on this with a second album, is a brilliant way to keep everything cohesive and meaningful. This work of art is likely the most thought-provoking piece I’ve encountered across all mediums. Listening to To Pimp a Butterfly feels like going through a master chef’s full course meal, while trying to solve a puzzle at the same time. There is nothing that can be said to overstate how perfectly crafted this record is.

Favorite Tracks: Alright, Wesley’s Theory, u, Mortal Man, Complexion (A Zulu Love), Momma, You Ain’t Gotta Lie (Momma Said), For Sale? (Interlude), Institutionalized, How Much a Dollar Cost, i (Album Version), The Blacker the Berry, These Walls, For Free? (Interlude), King Kunta

Least Favorites: Hood Politics

Enjoyment: 10

Critically: 10

Arbitrary Number: 10/10

The Greatest Album of All Time.