re: To Pimp a Butterfly is going to be one of the all time classics

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I have a Masters in English Literature

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To Pimp a Butterfly Album
“To Pimp a Butterfly” the third album and second major label album of the critically acclaimed artist Kendrick Lamar (age 27). The follow up to the critically acclaimed “good kid, m.A.A.d city” is a play on “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. Harper Lee explains story of an innocent caucasian girl who sees racial injustice when an african american is unjustly blamed for rape. The caucasian girl represents Harper Lee who as a little girl saw injustice in her community as she grew up. “To Pimp a Butterfly" is about kendrick seeing racial injustice and the worst, black on black crime. “To Pimp a Butterfly” like “To Kill a Mockingbird” is about the killing of a person’s innocence. A Mockingbird is a harmless creature and the protagonist’s, of Harper Lee’s book, father tells his daughter killing a mockingbird is evil since it never harms you. The Butterfly represents African American people in Kendrick’s album. The cover even incorporates a young boy on the bottom left who looks like Kunta the protagonist for book and tv series “The Roots’ also the top right cornor has a monkey with a crown, a judge with two X’s on his eyes, and finally kendrick in the center holding a white baby right outside the white house. The album is sonically different than all his albums. With many elements of black music the album incorporates jazz, funk, spoken word poetry, etc. With production by Dr. Dre(exec), Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith(exec.), Boi-1da,Flying Lotus, Pharrell, Terrace Martin, Tae Beast, Thundercat, Lawrence Dopson, Rahki, Sounwave, Willie B, LOZ, Dave Free. The Album is incredibly dark and naked. Exposing many opinions of Kendrick on himself and how his newfound fame can be used and how it depresses him by how it tries to change him and is destroying his innocent thoughts on how to live his life and his music. Also depressed on how the world is still so unsettling and needs still so much help and needs many leading figures, like of the past, Nelson Mandela when he talk about “the ghost of Mandela” on “Mortal Man” the last track of the album. Even includes some protective words of Michael Jackson by referencing “Bilie Jean”. The album has references to albums “Section 80” and “good kid, m.A.A.d city” The very awarding album shows an incredible cohesive theme and each song has something that will transition to a message on the next track. Songs like track #3,5,7,9 all have poems that lead up to track #10 into a perfect message. The album is a journey of Kendrick that is outside of compton with all these newfound influence and how he’s lost, but finds his way back home and realizes what he has to do his his life and newfound voice that is the voice of a new generation. Addition to that is an interview of kendrick with Tupac maybe referencing to Kendrick’s Dream he had about Pac and how Pac told Kendrick to save Hip-Hop. Black empowerment and blacks ignorant ways needing to be corrected is shown as a message by K-Dot. Kendrick leaves with a great poem that he made for Pac and leaves us with a caterpillar which becomes and butterfly to escape the m.A.A.d city.


Track 1 — “Wesley’s Theory” is the first track which references Wesley Snipe and how he was a true hip hop artist but becomes pimped out by the industry, and his talent and true goals in his music career gets destroyed by his fame that he gains and tries to maintain. With even Dr. Dre speaking on gaining fame is easy but keeping it is difficult. Using a sample by Boris Gardiner “Every **** is a star” This track has a great intro that leads to a different beat. Produced by Flying Lotus, Ronald Colson, Sounwave, and Thundercat. With Flying Lotus’s experimental electronic Hip-Hop influence. The “Bo-ing” noise that is so infectious and catchy makes you feel like getting sucked into the album. George Clinton speaks when the beat drops symbolizing a cocoon as a room and saying the canon is caving in. Kendrick uses his very versatile flow which changes about 3 times to perfection on the production of this track. He uses the message of the first track of “good kid, m.A.A.d city” and uses it on the first track of this album. In the previous album on the first track he explains how he first idolized Sherane and will love and admire her until he loses his virginity to her and realized he can just use Sherane now. This is referenced here but instead of Sherane he talks about Fame and Hip-Hop and how he first idolized it and wanted it but now that he achieved it can he use this platform for positive instead of just thinking of fame and hiphop as Sherane something that can just be used whenever he wants. But he realizes no he will use hip-hop not as a means for money and luxury for his lifestyle but will enrich the tradition of Hip-Hop with positive Classic music. He ends the song with saying “Tax man comin” referencing Wesley Snipes Tax Fraud and how he tried to escape charges by using what US government calls “tax protestor theory” which is saying you don’t pay taxes for political argument against the government. Which is a great lead to Track 2 “For Free? (Interlude)” since you think living in freedom is free but you get taxed. Aggressive with a smooth flow

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A lot of people already consider GKMC a classic,

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then can you please decipher this?:

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To Pimp a Butterfly

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people have straight up studied illmatic over its lyricism

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To Pimp a Butterfly

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