A decade on from its release we revisit Jonathan Wright’s piece on To Pimp A Butterfly.
On Kendrick Lamar‘s second studio album, To Pimp A Butterfly, he had the tough task of following Good Kid Maad City, which is the one of the most critically-acclaimed albums of the decade. Good Kid… showed Lamar as an amazing rapper and a great storyteller. It also showed him in control of his creative vision – an impressive feat considering his age and that it was his first proper album.
There isn’t a clear story running through To Pimp A Butterfly like there was on its predecessor, but the album feels just as consistent and exciting. It’s musically diverse. There are 70s funk influences all over, especially on the album highlight, ‘King Kunta‘, which must be a contender for single of the year. Jazz influences seep through on ‘For Free?’ and ‘How Much a Dollar Cost’. ‘These Walls’ features Bilal who brings some of the eerie R&B that makes his solo work great. Kendrick’s only Top 40 hit to date, ‘I’, appears here as a live version (it keeps The Isley Brothers sample but doesn’t sound as smooth as the single version). The added grittiness fits well with the rest of the album. It’s one of the songs where his political views are at their most prominent. The recent use of students singing the refrain of ‘Alright’, “We gonna be alright” at the Justice Or Else rallies show how respected and powerful Lamar is.
To Pimp A Butterfly is a brilliant record where Lamar hasn’t repeated what he’s already done. It’s a dense, unsettling and challenging record; it’s also an extremely compelling one. It’s destined to be talked about as a classic in years to come.
