To Pimp a Butterfly

To Pimp a Butterfly

by Kendrick Lamar
To Pimp a Butterfly

To Pimp a Butterfly

by Kendrick Lamar

CD

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Overview

Becoming an adult ultimately means accepting one's imperfections, unimportance, and mortality, but that doesn't mean we stop striving for the ideal, a search that's so at the center of our very being that our greatest works of art celebrate it, and often amplify it. Anguish and despair rightfully earn more Grammys, Emmys, Tonys, and Pulitzer Prizes than sweetness and light ever do, but West Coast rapper Kendrick Lamar is already on elevated masterwork number two, so expect his version of the sobering truth to sound like a party at points. He's aware, as Bilal sings here, that "Shit don't change 'til you get up and wash your ass," and don't it feel good? The sentiment is universal, but the viewpoint on his second LP is inner-city and African-American, as radio regulars like the Isley Brothers (sampled to perfection during the key track "I"), George Clinton (who helps make "Wesley's Theory" a cross between "Atomic Dog" and Dante's Inferno), and Dr. Dre (who literally phones his appearance in) put the listener in Lamar's era of Compton, just as well as Lou Reed took us to New York and Brecht took us to Weimar Republic Berlin. These G-funky moments are incredibly seductive, which helps usher the listener through the album's 80-minute runtime, plus its constant mutating (Pharrell productions, spoken word, soul power anthems, and sound collages all fly by, with few tracks ending as they began), much of it influenced, and sometimes assisted by, producer Flying Lotus and his frequent collaborator Thundercat. "u" sounds like an MP3 collection deteriorating, while the broken beat of the brilliant "Momma" will challenge the listener's balance, and yet, Lamar is such a prodigiously talented and seductive artist, his wit, wisdom, and wordplay knock all these stray molecules into place. Survivor's guilt, realizing one's destiny, and a Snoop Dogg performance of Doggystyle caliber are woven among it all; plus, highlights offer that Parliament-Funkadelic-styled subversion, as "The Blacker the Berry" ("The sweeter the juice") offers revolutionary slogans and dips for the hip. Free your mind, and your ass will follow, and at the end of this beautiful black berry, there's a miraculous "talk" between Kendrick and the legendary 2Pac, as the brutalist trailblazer mentors this profound populist. To Pimp a Butterfly is as dark, intense, complicated, and violent as Picasso's Guernica, and should hold the same importance for its genre and the same beauty for its intended audience. ~ David Jeffries

Product Details

Release Date: 03/16/2015
Label: Aftermath
UPC: 0602547270917
Rank: 903

Tracks

  1. Wesley's Theory
  2. For Free? [Interlude]
  3. King Kunta
  4. Institutionalized
  5. These Walls
  6. u
  7. Alright
  8. For Sale? [Interlude]
  9. Momma
  10. Hood Politics
  11. How Much a Dollar Cost
  12. Complexion (A Zulu Love)
  13. The Blacker the Berry
  14. You Ain't Gotta Lie (Momma Said)
  15. i
  16. Mortal Man

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Kendrick Lamar   Primary Artist,Lead Vocals
Snoop Dogg   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Bilal   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist,Vocals (Background)
Anna Wise   Primary Artist,Featured Artist,Vocals (Background),Vocals
Rapsody   Primary Artist,Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
James Fauntleroy   Primary Artist,Featured Artist,Vocals (Background),Vocals
Ronald Isley   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Assassin   Featured Artist,Vocals
Miles Mosley   Bass,Double Bass
Robert "Sput" Searight   Drums,Keyboards
Kamasi Washington   Sax (Tenor)
Dr. Dre   Vocals (Background)
Adrienne Woods   Cello
Ryan Porter   Trombone
Rickey Washington   Flute
Trevor Lawrence   Drums
Sam Barsh   Keyboards
Craig Brockman   Organ
Lalah Hathaway   Featured Artist,Vocals (Background)
Ginger Murphy   Cello
Pharrell Williams   Vocals (Background)
Robert Glasper   Piano,Keyboards
Terrace Martin   Sax (Alto),Horn,Vocoder,Keyboards
Amy Sanchez   French Horn
Thundercat   Bass,Vocals,Featured Artist,Vocals (Background)
The Rapsody   Featured Artist
Rahki   Percussion
Dion Friley   Vocals (Background)
Neel Hammond   Violin
Pete Rock   Scratching,Vocals (Background)
Gabriel Noel   Cello,Double Bass
Jessica Williams   Vocals (Background)
Junius Bervine   Keyboards
Taz Arnold   Vocals (Background)
Ronald Bruner, Jr.   Drums
Katalyst   Drums
George Clinton   Vocals,Featured Artist
Paul Cartwright   Violin
Adam Turchin   Sax (Baritone)
Marlon Williams   Guitar
Talkbox Monte   Vocals (Background)
Z Most   Vocals (Background)
William Sweat   Vocals (Background)
Whitney Alford   Vocals (Background)
Shava'sha Dickerson   Vocals (Background)
Pedro Castro   Clarinet
Edwin Orellana   Vocals (Background)
Devon Downing   Vocals (Background)
Darlene Tibbs   Vocals (Background)
Ambrose Akinmusire   Trumpet
Andrea Whitt   Viola
Larrance Dopson   Keyboards,Percussion
Ash Riser   Vocals (Background)
Gregory Moore   Guitar
Bilal Oliver   Featured Artist
Wyann Vaughn   Vocals (Background)
Josef Leimberg   Trumpet,Vocals (Background)
Kendall Lewis   Drums
Brandon Owens   Bass
Tylana Enomoto   Violin
Molly Rogers   Viola
Chris Smith   Bass
Dave Free   Vocals (Background)
Sounwave   Keyboards
Keith Askey   Guitar
JaVonte   Vocals (Background)
SZA   Vocals (Background)
Matt Schaeffer   Guitar
Preston Harris   Vocals (Background)
Candace Wakefield   Vocals (Background)
Jen Simone   Violin

Technical Credits

Fehintola Anikulapo Kuti   Composer
C. Smith   Composer
Flying Lotus   Producer
Sylvester Stewart   Composer
James Hunt   Engineer,Recording,Mixing Assistant
Kenneth Lewis   Composer
Stephen Bruner   Composer
Chris Jasper   Composer
D. Blake   Composer
Dr. Dre   Producer
M. Evans   Composer
Jeffrey Campbell   Composer
1500 or Nothin'   Producer
Andrew Coleman   Engineer
Sam Barsh   Composer
Boris Gardiner   Composer
J. Burns   Composer
J. Campbell   Composer
D. Perkins   Composer
Lalah Hathaway   Composer
Fela Kuti   Composer
Ernie Isley   Composer
Tupac Shakur   Composer
Pharrell Williams   Producer,Composer
S. Stevens   Composer
Terrace Martin   Additional Production,Composer,Producer
Marco a. Izquierdo   Composer
Thundercat   Producer,Additional Production
Matthew Samuels   Composer
Rahki   Producer
Stephen Kozmeniuk   Composer,Producer
Derek "MixedByAli" Ali   Mixing,Engineer,Recording
Kendrick Lamar   Composer,Performer
Sounwave   Additional Production,Producer
Tommy Black   Producer
David Friley   Composer
Kendrick Duckworth   Composer
Ronald Isley   Composer
Rahsaan Patterson   Composer
Rudolph Isley   Composer
Marvin Isley   Composer
Taz Arnold   Composer,Producer
Marlanna Evans   Composer
O'Kelly Isley   Composer
Boi-1da   Producer
Rex Rideout   Composer
Michael Jackson   Composer
Katalyst   Engineer,Programming,Drum Programming
George Clinton   Composer
A. Lewis   Composer
Sufjan Stevens   Composer
Whoarei   Producer
Rose McKinney   Composer
Columbus Smith   Composer
Johnny Burns   Composer
Glen Boothe   Composer
LoveDragon   Producer
The Antydote   Additional Production
Pop Wansel   Producer
Koz   Producer
Ahmad Lewis   Composer
James Fauntleroy   Composer
Larrance Dopson   Composer,Producer
B. Gardiner   Composer
R. McKinney   Composer
Ken Lewis   Composer,Composer
Greg Boothe   Composer
Stefan Gordy   Composer
Josef Leimberg   Composer
Hart Gunther   Engineer
Brent Kolatalo   Composer
Steven Ellison   Composer
Mike Larson   Engineer
Knxwledge   Producer
Ronald Colson   Composer
Alexander Izquierdo   Composer
R. Colson   Composer
Ronald "Flippa" Colson   Composer,Producer
L. Dopson   Composer
David Blake   Composer
Z. Epstein   Composer
Zale Epstein   Composer
Mark Spears   Composer
Fredrik Halldin   Composer,Producer
Thomas Burns   Recording
Matt Schaeffer   Engineer,Recording,Mixing Assistant
Tae Beast   Producer
Donte Perkins   Composer
Michael Brown   Composer
Anna Wise   Composer
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