5 Years Ahead of It’s Time: Kendrick Lamar’s 'To Pimp A Butterfly'

In 2015, Kendrick Lamar released his third studio album, a long awaited follow up to the

critically acclaimed Good Kid M.A.A.D. City. The funk and jazz infused record was well received upon it’s release, debuting at #1 on Billboard and garnering 11 Grammy nominations. In addition to its commercial success, To Pimp A Butterfly showcased a totally unique musical style compared to Lamar’s previous work. This is a feat few rappers are willing to attempt, let alone pull off, especially considering the record has few big name features and virtually no “club music.” Which begs the question...why? Why would a critically and commercially successful rapper reinvent himself so early in his career? Lamar himself gives a detailed answer in the album. The 16 songs are structured in a story format, as Kendrick begins by describing his elation after the success of Good Kid M.A.A.D. City and then details a series of trials, tribulations and life events which altered his perspective. Key among them being a 2014 trip to South Africa. The piece ends with Kendrick concluding that he needed to make TPAB as a way to uplift communities like his hometown of Compton. In addition to creating a story, Lamar crafts a poem, delves into complex political issues and celebrates blackness with musical elements of jazz, funk, spoken word and soul. The album discusses in depth subjects that have come to the forefront of American politics and pop culture as a result of the Black Lives Matter Movement. K.Dot was actively rapping about subjects such as systemic and institutional racism, while taking anti-police stances back when we still lived in “Obama’s America.” Not only was To Pimp A Butterfly unique, it was revolutionary.

The first concept to understand about To Pimp A Butterfly is that most of the lyrics have multiple connotations and act as double or triple entendres (double/triple entendres are phrases that can be read with two/three different meanings). The title “To Pimp A Butterfly” is a triple entendre meant to represent the music industry “pimping” young artists of color for profit and society doing the same to create a stereotype. It also refers to impoverished areas “pimping” successful people from their neighborhoods to get a piece of their money. The title illustrates strong themes of both generational racism and the resulting institutionalized mindset forced upon communities of color, which are prevalent throughout the album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdPtVZDspIY

Each song is conveyed in chronological order by the events they represent. Lamar uses poetry as a tool to tie the story together. Most of the tracks are concluded by reciting verses from a poem. As the album goes on, the recurring poem at the end of each song gets longer. The addressee in the poem is Tupac Shakur, Lamar’s biggest influence and an artist he feels can relate to his struggles. The poetic verses are each meant to illustrate something Kendrick learned and furthers the story for the next song. For example, at end of the song "King Kunta", Lamar recites the words “I remember you was conflicted/ Misusing your influence.” The next song Institutionalized is a story of conflict, as he describes taking a Compton friend to the BET awards whose initial reaction was to rob the celebrities in attendance. This creates hurt because Lamar realizes though he has left Compton, the institutional mentality he grew up with hasn’t left him. “You can take your boy out the hood but you can't take the hood out the homie.” He feels despair, speaking not only of his friend but also himself. Before the song "These Walls", the poem continues “I remember you was conflicted/misusing your influence/sometimes I did the same.” These Walls then spins a complex tale of Kendrick abusing his fame to sleep with a woman whose baby daddy is in prison. The plot twist comes when we realize the woman’s incarcerated lover is serving time for murdering Kendrick’s friend, an event elaborated on in a previous story "Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst" from Good Kid M.A.A.D. City. The chorus is a triple entendre. “If These Walls Could Talk” represents the secrets within the bedroom walls, the act of sex through the woman’s vaginal walls and the walls of the prison holding the baby daddy/murderer. Kendrick feels horrible that he exacted revenge. The poem returns at the end, as his conflict and shame lead him into depression. The poem continues: “I remember you was conflicted/ misusin' your influence/Sometimes I did the same/abusin’ my power/ Full of resentment/Resentment that turned into a deep depression/Found myself screamin' in a hotel room.” The ensuing song "u" begins with a scream and shows a drunk and suicidal Lamar mentally breaking down in a hotel room.

How does this relate to Black Lives Matter? Through his lyricism, Lamar equates his individual struggle with that of his people. He has seen the people in his neighborhood struggle with violence, drug addiction and mental illness, they are hurting just like him because of the effects of a difficult environment. The thesis of TPAB comes when Lamar realizes the solution to his pain is to return to Compton and make music to uplift communities like Compton. He heals through tracks such as "Momma", in which he discusses the impact of a trip to South Africa. "Momma" is a play on the word “motherland.” Here, Kendrick realizes his knowledge of the world was constrained to the self-view America has forced upon it’s black communities. He is humbled in this song, starting the second verse touting his personal knowledge “I know morality, spirituality, good and bad health/I know fatality might haunt you/I know everything/I know Compton/I know street shit, I know sh*t that's conscious, I know everything” and ending it with the realization “I know what I know and I know it well/Not to ever forget/ until I realized I didn't know shit/ The day I came home.” The track concludes with the lines “But if you pick, destiny over Rest In Peace/ Then be an advocate go tell your homies especially/To come back home.” “Home” is also a metaphor for a Africa, exemplifying to his community there is more to their beauty than what they’ve been shown in Compton. It also mirrors a joke from Richard Pryor (famous 70’s comedian referenced several times in the album) in which he retells his own trip to Africa, saying “A voice said to me look around, what do you see...do you see any n*ggers? I said no. And I said, you know why? Because there aren't any. And it hit me like a shot. Man, I started crying. While sitting, I said yeah, I've been here three weeks. I haven't even said it. I haven't even thought it.”

The realization Kendrick has leads him towards the mentality developed in the song "The Blacker The Berry", easily the most outright political track on the record. In it, Lamar flexes his A1 political rapping ability. He spends the entirety of the song referring to himself as a hypocrite and railing against racism in America. Damning lines such as “I mean, it's evident that I'm irrelevant to society/That's what you're telling me, penitentiary would only hire me” and “This plot is bigger than me, it's generational hatred/It's genocism, it's grimy, little justification/I'm African-American, I'm African/I'm black as the heart of a f**kin' Aryan” drive home the fiery tone Lamar uses to verbally attack generational and institutional racism. He concludes by explaining the reasoning for calling himself a hypocrite: “So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street/When gangbangin’ made me kill a n**ga blacker than me?/ Hyporcite!” By doing this, Lamar adds complexity to his opinion about oppression in America. The two political schools of thought around the subject tend to take two sides. Conservative talking points pushed by pundits believe impoverished communities are complicit in their own oppression (often using black-on-black crime as justification) and should strive to lift themselves out of poverty. Liberal logic often takes into account a history of legislation and policies aimed to keep these areas poor. Lamar’s argument here is that one leads to the other. By acknowledging a history of systemic racism and mass incarceration while also calling out black-on-black crime, he argues this oppression creates an institutionalized mindset which traps people in their communities. Lamar is saying when black people kill each other they are doing exactly what their oppressors want, but the reason for the killing is an environment that was created to foster discrimination and hate. Therefore, it is impossible to lift oneself out of said environment without first breaking the mentality of murder and crime which has been forced onto the streets as a collective. He later in "Mortal Man" refers to those stuck in the cycle of poverty as “caterpillars,” and a “butterfly” as someone who has broken this aforementioned mental state. “Finally free, the butterfly sheds light on situations/That the caterpillar never considered/Ending the internal struggle/Although the butterfly and caterpillar are completely different/They are one and the same.”

The final tracks "i" and "Mortal Man" are effective calls to action. Lamar decided he wants to be a beacon of inspiration for communities like Compton. In i he returns to his city and gives a live performance about loving thyself. “(I love myself) Ahh, I put a bullet in the back of the back of the head of the police (I love myself)/illuminated by the hand of God, boy, don't seem shy (I love myself)/One day at a time, huh.” Kendrick has finally come to a place where he can love himself. The journey embarked on at the top of the album is complete. Having the audacity to love himself when his country has taught him to do the opposite is the quintessential lesson of TPAB. His rejection of police in the lyrics represents how the criminal justice system actively fights black joy. Towards the end he stops the live performance to break up a fight, giving a message of unity to rebel against the violence of the streets. "Mortal Man" shows Kendrick reading a completed poem to his idol 2Pac. The two then discuss concepts such as an inevitable uprising such as “the floor rising up and swallowing the rich.” In order for change to be made, there must be a massive social and political uprising which rejects modern forms of racism. This is a call for revolution, one which took five years to be heeded. We are living in a moment Kendrick Lamar told us was coming.

***Bonus Content***

The last line of To Pimp A Butterfly comes when Kendrick is calling for 2Pac but is answered with silence. “Pac? Pac? Pac?!” When he was a kid, Kendrick dreamt 2Pac came to him in a dream and said “Don’t let my music die.” After Kendrick recites the lines “Although the butterfly and caterpillar are completely different/They are one and the same.” 2Pac stops responding to him. This is because Kendrick has finally attained the knowledge he needs to reach his full potential as an artist. 2Pac stopped responding because Kendrick doesn’t need him anymore, the torch has officially been passed and Kendrick is finally ready. 2Pac also had little time to learn this lesson before he died, Kendrick Lamar must now continue alone down the path 2Pac wasn’t able to walk.