To Pimp A Butterfly

The most lyrically excellent album of any genre in years, Kendrick Lamar raps fluently on the subjects of social injustice, inequality, greed, religious philosophy, personal anxiety and a lot more. His execution is near flawless but surprisingly diverse, creating characters through his voice to emphasise points of view and topics, adding depth and intrigue to his stories. The musical accompaniment is funky and reminds me a bit of early rhcp, who were inspired by the likes of sly and the family stone and others. Some of the songs would be incredible as instrumentals (listen to the first track) but the music doesn't distract from Lamar's vocal presentation. Instead it drives the album forward and kept me interested the whole way through. The final point to mention is that the album works in itself as a brilliant and concise rap classic, but there's also a unique concept that reveals itself right at the end in the last track that is sure to reward dedicated followers of the genre. I gave this album 5 stars because the lyrical content combined with the musical background and Lamar's execution has given me something new each time I listen to individual tracks, but more when hearing the whole album from start to end.

Christmas gift for my son

Pretty good quality, the inside cover is cool, imo side C is the best of the 4 song wise, but this is undoubtedly one of if not the greatest hip hop album of all time

To Pimp a Butterfly, a musical play, where each song represents a scene of the unfolding drama. Through the course of the sixteen titles on the album, Kendrick describes his rise as a rap star, the temptations he faced with it, the self-hatred that ensued, and the epiphany that allowed him to remain grounded. Although he understands that he is part of a system that is ruled by “the evils of Lucy”, Kendrick feels that his influence can be used to heal, uplift, unify and inspire his community. By becoming an outspoken leader, Kendrick also realizes that he might be sacrificing himself – Uncle Sam and Lucy have no problems crushing those who stand up to them. In short, To Pimp a Butterfly goes against everything the music business is about. It is harsh, honest, difficult, brilliant, unpredictable, anti-mainstream, Afrocentric, a little religious and filled with clarinet solos. There is however one thing Kendrick needs to remember: Lucy does not give up that easily.

This album is nothing short of stunning, I know that the hype machine on Kendrick Lamar has gone into overdrive in recent months but I truly believe it's justified. The thought that has gone into this album is commendable, it touches on so many musical genres yet sounds completely cohesive. Also, the gradually revealing poem that weaves it's way through the album is a very clever idea and ends in an outrageous fashion that shouldn't work but totally does. The songs are amazing - King Kunta, The Blacker The Berry, I and Alright are my personal favourites. A future classic in every sense of the word - buy it.

Everybody knows the album and it’s great ofc like we already knew from Kendrick. The only negative really is that the pictures that are shown on Amazon aren’t as it seems as it makes it seem as if you get 2 insert pictures of Kendrick included, which you don’t. Not the biggest issue but just a bit disappointing. Overall though a quality album and if you haven’t listened before it’s an incredible album to refresh your mind from all the ear diarrhoea mumble auto tune. Some real music here from Kendrick one of the all time greats

Best Kendrick album

More hooks than a fishing pier... this is edgy heartrending rap, danceable pop, adult jazz and Cab Calloway to Chris Rock lunacy with a hefty dose of old fashioned activism. Does not wear out on repeated playing. A new way of linking tracks that I never heard before. A poem about self destructiveness mounts line by line, longer and longer, the tracks pinned to its developing narrative. So when the narrator goes home, you get a track with a family chorus of what sounds like four generations singing 'We been waiting for you, waiting for you.' Best record since Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

para mi, de los mejores albums de la historia del hip hop vino en perfecto estado.

Another masterclass by Kendrick Lamar with this project that goes through all the phases. No damage to the vinyl and package

Kendrick Lamar has finally released the successor to his gigantic success and modern-day classic "Good Kid m.A.A.d City" (2012). Many people, myself included, wondered how he could possibly match the enormous success of GKMC. After all, it was widely-regarded as the best hip-hop album in years, and in my opinion is the greatest hip-hop album of the 2000's or 2010's. So it's impossible Kendrick could possibly find enough inspiration to match the masterpiece that was GKMC, right? Wrong. He proved that completely and utterly wrong with "To Pimp a Butterfly." From the opening sample of the album that quickly turns into a cacophony of old-school west coast G-funk assembling the bassline for the opening track, "Wesley's Theory," it's clear that Kendrick has taken an artistic turn since GKMC, which with some exceptions had a very modern hip-hop sound. P-funk legend George Clinton even laces the track with vocals to make the funk influence more conspicuous. After hearing the next song, the "interlude" (even though both interludes are decently long) "For Free?," it is apparent that this album's sound will be very funk- and jazz- heavy. "For Free?" really displays how Lamar is not at all looking for a mainstream audience with this album as it has Kendrick rapping in a scat-like form over a straight-up jazz backbeat. No bass, no catchy hook, just quick-hitting rapping of "This d*** ain't freeee" over saxophone, piano, and some jazzy percussion. "King Kunta" then displays a James Brown-esque groovy rhythm and "These Walls" combines some soul and funk with great vocals contributed by Anna Wise. While there are some tracks later on the album such as "Alright" or "Hood Politics" that have more traditional percussion-led hip hop beats, there is a major jazz and funk influence on the overall sound of the album. It also must be noted that a majority of the songs contain some sort of beat change mid-song to keep the listener on their feet and rarely ever able to get comfortable with the music. This is a complete 180 from GKMC, which from the first listen was very listener-friendly with its sound. Building on top of the unsettling effect of having so many beat changes within songs is the lyrical content of the album. Anyone that heard the single "The Blacker the Berry" knows that this album has some major racial and social themes running through it. While many concept albums fall victim to the church effect of coming off as too preachy, Kendrick is absolutely incredible at never coming off as haughty or self-righteous. He does this by acting more as a reporter than as someone that is above the topics he's talking about. This gift reminds me of how Nas was able to tell stories fairly objectively in his early career. A good example of this is the song "How Much a Dollar Cost," which is a story about Lamar's confrontation with a homeless person in South Africa. While many rappers may simplify the societal issue of homelessness by rapping something along the lines of "Steal from the rich, give to the poor, you're terrible if you don't support a homeless person," Kendrick takes us through the roller coaster of emotions he experiences in this confrontation that really give you the feeling that this is a true story. Furthermore, it allows the listener to connect to an experience with which they likely have had similar experiences in the past. Overall, I could go on for days and break down each track's brilliant complexity lyrically/sonically, but I'll save that for professional music critics, and I'll just say that: The lyrics on this album explore a huge bevy of societal issues along with personal struggles giving insight into Kendrick's not-so-perfect life ("u"). What I love about it is that he explores how messy and seemingly impossible these problems are to solve, but resolves the album with a track like "i." The message is very similar to MLK Jr. or Gandhi's "Be the change you wish to see in the world," and this isn't even to mention the two beautiful poems that interweave throughout the album and wrap up its themes incredibly well in the final track, "Mortal Man." It's great that such a big artist is so focused on providing a positive message for the countless youth that listen to his music. And he still displays artistic brilliance while doing so. Another instant classic for King Kendrick!

THE BEST ALBUM

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