Kendrick Lamar: To Pimp A Butterfly Review

Kendrick Lamar is hot off the heels of his much deserved Grammy wins (Best Rap Song and Best Rao Performance) for his single “i”. As if that wasn’t cause enough for celebration, he is creating quite the buzz for his sophomore album To Pimp A Butterfly. I have no idea what that title means, but for what it’s worth, it’s definitely catchy. My original plan for today was to review another new track from the album called, “King Kuta”, which leaked this weekend. But as you may already know, the entire album is available as of today to stream. So, I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to check out on of rap music’s most anticipated albums of the year.

The album opens with the psychedelic funk groove that is “Wesley’s Theme”. The song was produced by FLYLO and features Thundercat and George Clinton. It has a really nostalgic feel to it. Of course, there just wouldn’t be an authentic Kendrick Lamar album if it didn’t have some interesting interludes. “For Free?” features a gold digging rant from a woman who’s clearly upset at Kendrick Lamar. His rebuttal is a jazzy scat, rapid fire rap that screams Outkast. In fact, I was having a conversation with one of my friends who pointed out that Kendrick’s style is largely based on Andre 3000.

Check out the rest of the review and hear the full album HERE