Kendrick Lamar's latest and arguably most impressive effort "To Pimp a Butterfly" is laden with dazzling bars, equipped with illuminating lyrics, all of which marinate in the back of your head like a mind-fuck film might. Released early, right around the two-decade anniversary of 2Pac's "Me Against the World" record, Lamar (dare I say it?) picks up where Pac left off, leaving a trail of cryptic brain candy behind in almost every track.
We all know by now that the album is a serious statement - shots fired by Lamar and company to the rest of the Hip Hop world, but what about the enigmatic artists' third album is still chewing at us? Below are 6 lines from "To Pimp a Butterfly" we're still digesting.
Item #1
“You really think we could make a baby named Mercedes without a Mercedes Benz and twenty four inch rims, five percent tint, and air conditioning vents? Hell fuckin' naw.”
“You really think we could make a baby named Mercedes without a Mercedes Benz and twenty four inch rims, five percent tint, and air conditioning vents? Hell fuckin' naw.”
In the opening track of “To Pimp a Butterfly” Kendrick’s just tryna fuck. In its follow up “For Free (Interlude)” Lamar, Pianist Robert Glasper, and producer Terrace Martin deliver a tidal wave of sound with a wacky flow. This interlude is laced with dizzyingly delivered bars about responsibility - so rare to both the generation and the genre lately.
“Bitch where you when I was walkin'? / Now I run the game got the whole world talkin', King Kunta / Everybody wanna cut the legs off him, Kunta / Black man taking no losses / Bitch, where you when I was walkin'? / Now I run the game got the whole world talkin', King Kunta / Everybody wanna cut the legs off him”
“Bitch where you when I was walkin'? / Now I run the game got the whole world talkin', King Kunta / Everybody wanna cut the legs off him, Kunta / Black man taking no losses / Bitch, where you when I was walkin'? / Now I run the game got the whole world talkin', King Kunta / Everybody wanna cut the legs off him”
The first sign of Angry Kendrick on “To Pimp a Butterfly” comes in the funky form of “King Kunta.” Don’t be fooled by its weed tinged bass - the track is named after the (almost) eponymous real life character popularized from Roots. With this knowledge and the verses that sandwich them, the chorus then becomes a puzzle. Is he saying that like Kunta-Kinte he’s taking “lashings” from the press and his peers or is he, perhaps, reappropriating the man and his legacy and, with him, claiming the throne?
Item #1
"Knock these walls down, that’s my religion"
Another case of Lamar turning a head-bob worthy jam beat into a track with gravitas and an emotional nucleus, on These Walls Kendrick peels back the curtain and creates an installation of how even high life can be lonely. On this track, Kendrick tells us about a set of walls that could go on and on about Lamar’s breakdowns and suicidal thoughts. He then follows it up by saying the rubble that all creates is his religion - that’s pretty goddamn raw.
"I looked at him and said, "Every nickel is mines to keep" / He looked at me and said, "Know the truth, it'll set you free / You're lookin' at the Messiah, the son of Jehova, the higher power / The choir that spoke the word, the Holy Spirit, the nerve Of Nazareth / And I'll tell you just how much a dollar cost / The price of having a spot in Heaven / Embrace your loss, I am God"
"I looked at him and said, "Every nickel is mines to keep" / He looked at me and said, "Know the truth, it'll set you free / You're lookin' at the Messiah, the son of Jehova, the higher power / The choir that spoke the word, the Holy Spirit, the nerve Of Nazareth / And I'll tell you just how much a dollar cost / The price of having a spot in Heaven / Embrace your loss, I am God"
By the time you reach “How Much a Dollar Cost”, you might be realizing that you’re practically listening to a folk album as Kendrick Lamar dives into another narrative - this time about meeting the Almighty creator himself. The reveal of God's identity is saved for the final moments of the track, leaving so many questions. Is even God hopeless to deadly sin of greed?
"From Compton to Congress, it’s set trippin’ all around / Ain’t nothin' new but a flow of new DemoCrips and ReBloodlicans"
"From Compton to Congress, it’s set trippin’ all around / Ain’t nothin' new but a flow of new DemoCrips and ReBloodlicans"
Ain’t a more condemning dose of perspective on this record, if you ask me. In this matter of fact bar dropped on Hood Politics, Kendrick blurs the lines dividing different levels of gang warfare, forking up some serious food for thought.
"The ghost of Mandela, hope my flows they propel it / Let these words be your earth and moon you consume every message / As I lead this army make room for mistakes and depression / And with that being said my nigga, let me ask this question / When shit hit the fan, is you still a fan?"
"The ghost of Mandela, hope my flows they propel it / Let these words be your earth and moon you consume every message / As I lead this army make room for mistakes and depression / And with that being said my nigga, let me ask this question / When shit hit the fan, is you still a fan?"
In 2014, Kendrick Lamar embarked on a trip to South Africa and on Mortal Man there are tons of clues of the gargantuan influence it had on this record. The whole thing plays almost like a mantra - a holy repetition to channel the spiritual essence and fervor of Nelson Mandela. This lyric is particularly haunting - a naked and vulnerable challenge to his fan-base and praisers.