To Pimp A Butterfly is everything Hip Hop needs today. Kendrick continues his reign as one of the greatest rappers around with the release of his new album, on which we hear the king of Compton expand on his sound and the subject matter that inspire his lyrics. The music goes beyond the Gangsta Rap we prominently heard on his previous masterpiece, now boasting elements of Funk, Jazz, and the Blues into the mix.
The use of those genres speaks of a bigger theme as to why K. Dot is putting these to use in this album. The album is a celebration of Black artistry, and Funk, Jazz, and the Blues are three of the greatest artistic contributions to the world African American artists have created. Not only is Kendrick creating music with these, but he’s embracing those art forms at the same time as he’s paying homage to them. Storied producer and artist, Pharrell described “King Kunta” as “unapologetically black and AMAZING,” but I believe that this compliment can be extended to the album. To Pimp A Butterfly as a whole is so unapologetically black, coming off as the embodiment of the black American: beautiful and ugly, inspirational and disheartening, all at once
The political and social commentary, the cry for change in his community, and the way his pain seeps through when he brings up the state of “Black America” shows another side of Kendrick. His vulnerability makes him human. The album is Kendrick’s London Calling, and I can only imagine how much the late Joe Strummer would see the connections between these two politically-charged, forward-thinking, genre-bending masterpieces. This is Hip Hop perfection, and Kendrick is the undisputed king of the genre.
DOPENESS FACTOR
5
