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TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY REVIEW

To pimp a butterfly is the 3rd album of the Pulitzer Prize winning artist, Kendrick Lamar. This album, released March 15, 2015, has been known to be one of if not the greatest modern hip hop album of this generation. To Pimp a Butterfly, which also serves as a chronological sequel to his previous album (Good Kid M.A.A.D City), has went on to win a Grammy award and also be called the 19th greatest album by the Rolling Stones beating multiple albums by Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix and even the Beatles.

Opening with Wesley’s theory, which speaks about the exploitation of a young artist, it then speaks about pride in “King Kunta” and abuse of power in “These Walls” before moving to the heaviest track in the album, “u”.

“U” speaks about Kendrick’s self-hate, calling himself “a f***ing failure” and that “the world don’t need you, don’t let them deceive you”, before the bridge with broken audio, symbolizing his broken state of mind in this moment, before moving into the next verse. Where he drunkenly blames himself for multiple accidents which includes leaving people behind to die and it also shows his depression, and suicidal tendencies. The song ends and then we are suddenly berated with singing and now we proceed to “alright”

“Alright” provides a moment of hope to find a purpose through trusting God, and also doubles as a reassurance for solidarity for the African Americans experiencing racial inequality and other problems.

The album then goes on to talk about how he forgot about where he came from and now he wants to come back home with “Momma”, we are then to the time when he was a child, before his world widened and all that he knew was his hood with “Hood Politics”\

He talks about his selfishness in “How much a dollar cost” and racial injustice in “complexion” and “The Blacker The Berry” before “I” which is the complete opposite of “U” , I speaks about positivity and hope before the final track “Mortal Men”

Inspired by his trip to south Africa he wrote “Mortal men” he asks the listener, if something were to happen to him, would you still be a fan?. He questions the loyalty of the people around him, questioning if he went to prison, would he turn from saint to devil to the people around him.

To Pimp a Butterfly itself is a masterpiece in simple words. It deals with concepts of opportunity, exploitation, hope, self-love and hate, depression, violence, race and politics all through jazz inspired instrumentals and a spoken word poem interwoven throughout the album. This album aims to show the life of a black artist in America, from growing up in the bad parts of the cities, where violence and drugs were present, to being blinded by money and unbeknownst to them being exploited by the label, leading to the name of the album, To Pimp a Butterfly, meaning that the caterpillar (the label) being jealous of the butterflies (the young artist) decides to exploit the butterfly through any means necessary and to use them for the caterpillar’s personal growth.