Review Summary: I love my... self?
Several years ago I gave up Hip Hop cold turkey. I was fed up with how most rap songs were based upon the rapper's wealth, how many girls he's slept with, and how much he is better than you because you don't have the things he has. It seemed to me like no rapper put any deep meaning or emotion in their music. But then I came upon Kendrick Lamar. His intriguing delivery and way of story telling got me hooked right away. Finally I was listening to something new, something different, something creative. And it got me interested in the genre again.
2012's Good Kid Maad City was Kendrick's breakthrough album. It was praised for it's clever story telling and top notch production. It was unlike anything we had heard before. Now with any artist that drops a great record, a question rises of whether they can top it. Some artists succeed in doing so, while others fall flat on their face. Kendrick completely exceeds expectations with this new release. Taking everything we loved from GKMC and whetting our appetite by introducing new elements on To Pimp a Butterfly.
While GKMC focuses on Kendrick being influenced by his peers in a bad neighborhood. TPAB see's Kendrick finally coming out of that situation and is now enjoying the fruits of his labor. As shown in the first track Wesley's Theory: "Too much ain't enough both we know Christmas, tell em what's on your wish list get it all you deserve it Kendrick". Kendrick finally made it out of the ghetto and now has the world in the palm of his hands. But that doesn't stop his problems. If anything, it creates more.
His peers feel like he's abandon them and forgot about his life back at Compton. As shown in the emotional drenched track "U". which shows his friends bashing on Kendrick for not being there for the death of his friend and "leaving Compton for a profit". There's a point in the song where you actually hear Kendrick taking a swig from a bottle of alcohol, and it adds an element of realness to the track and makes it even more emotional. The use of actual instruments on the album was a clever thing as it provides listeners with something fresh and different as opposed to a modern day quintessential hip hop album.
We also see Kendrick abusing his newfound fame by sleeping with a woman, as revealed on the stellar track "These Walls". Feeling guilt over this and other problems taking a toll on Kendrick, he becomes "conflicted" and has an intense desire to go back to Compton where things were a lot simpler. But the question is, will he be accepted back?
Throughout the album we hear Kendrick recite a poem. And after a few tracks or so, he adds a little more to it until finally completing it in the final track. After it is revealed that it is actually Tupac himself that's he's telling this poem to, he then recites another poem that pretty much sums up the theme of the album. Basically the caterpillar is envious of the Butterfly because of how much it's praised and adored, but no one pays attention to the caterpillar. The caterpillar represents the poor, that's still struggling in the ghetto. While the Butterfly represents the rich that made it out the ghetto and are now living comfortable lives.
Kendrick used to be that caterpillar, hating on the butterfly. But the fact that he now is that butterfly that he despised, it doesn't go well with him. To him he basically sold his soul to the devil. Or "Lucy" as he is called in this album. All of this is brilliantly foreshadowed throughout the album and comes full circle on the final track. TPAB is a master-piece and will likely go down as one of the best and important Hip Hop albums of our time. And rightfully so. If Hip Hop needed saving, Kendrick is certainty the one to do it.
