Andrew Haverty
Connector Staff
“King Kendrick” should be his title by now. Nobody, and I mean nobody, is at his level. I thought hip-hop and rap were revitalized through “good kid m.A.A.d city” (2012), but that was apparently just the warm up for what Kendrick was fully capable of. When Kendrick Lamar decided to look upon himself and look at his way of living, he went looking for himself and questioned what made him into the man he is today. He wanted to know how he could be a better person, both to himself and to others. His journey, both mental and physical, is documented through his newest album, “To Pimp A Butterfly.” We all knew that Kendrick was moving on to bigger and better things after his standout, first major label album, but none of us could have prepared for something so beautiful and thought-provoking as this.
Even after listening through it for the second time in my favorite pair of high definition headphones, “To Pimp A Butterfly” is still stuck in my mind. By the end of the album, I felt as if I had listened to a complex major motion picture; in my opinion, this is how any great album is supposed to make you feel.
From the start, in “Wesley’s Theory,” Kendrick talks about his aspirations as a rapper and how Uncle Sam is ready to manipulate him for his own benefit. From there, we gradually gain insight to Kendrick’s roller coaster of emotions through song; and through a poem that’s fulfilled by the end in dramatic fashion.
If there’s one thing for sure on this album, it’s that Kendrick Lamar has brought back the funk. Similar to how I felt about Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories,” “To Pimp A Butterfly” brings back funk in a new and modern way that still respects where it came from. I’ll be shocked if you’re not head-nodding to your first, second and 22nd listen to “King Kunta.”
One of my favorite tracks off the album, “These Walls,” about Kendrick looking through the perspective of the women he convinces to sleep with him, is so clean and catchy in its production that I didn’t fully recognize the overall message until I sat down to listen to the album from beginning to end.
At first listen it was all too easy to get caught up in heavy bass tracks like “Alright” and “Hood Politics” and miss the overall message completely. Don’t get me wrong, as I don’t mean that in a negative way. The production is absolutely top notch on every single track. Every song makes you feel and conjures up emotions; whether they’re negative or positive, it’s all extremely entertaining.
Every track on this album could be a standout, as they all have their own slick production, impressive set of lyrics and intriguing messages. But for me, the two big standouts (other than “These Walls”) are “The Blacker The Berry” and “I.” If you haven’t heard the album yet (and why the heck haven’t you?), you may be thinking you’ve already heard “I,” but the album version is surprisingly different from the radio edit. Some of the lyrics are changed, most notably the more aggressive chorus, and the production creates the illusion that we’re hearing a recording from some sort of live performance. It’s a very intimate way of producing a track and genuinely feels authentic.
“The Blacker The Berry,” however, is possibly the rap highlight of the year so far. Lyrics that are so forceful and relentless in their delivery had my jaw on the floor in seconds. Kendrick simultaneously criticizes the racism in this world while also criticizing himself for his past mistakes, calling himself a “hypocrite,” and the punchline at the end of the track had me speechless at such a well-crafted piece of rap. Not to mention that the the bass-knocking production will rival even hardest of beats.
By the end of “To Pimp A Butterfly,” you just might feel as Kendrick himself had once felt: conflicted. The majority of the album is filled with heavy, thought-provoking material. It’s a poetic mastermind at its finest and his most recent work is nothing short of an expertly-crafted masterpiece. Listen to “To Pimp A Butterfly,” because you may not hear a better rap album this year…or ever.
Album Grade: A+
