"It's one of those pieces of art that comes along something like once a decade, so layered with meaning, so knotted up with intent and resonance, so of-its-time yet treating issues and themes that can span eras, that I am still discovering and uncovering different meanings, references, and picking my way to an imperfect understanding of it, despite having had it — literally — on repeat, daily, since its release," wrote Jude Clarke for Drowned in Sound in April, shortly after the album's release.
Now, To Pimp A Butterfly arrives on vinyl as a 2LP 180-gram set. Housed in a double gatefold jacket, the album features guest artist appearances by Bilal, George Clinton, James Fauntleroy, Ronald Isley, Rapsody, Snoop Dogg, Thundercat, and Anna Wise.
After the success of his major label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d. city, in 2012, Lamar's long-awaited follow-up is about carrying the weight of that clarity: What happens when you speak out, spiritually and politically, and people actually start to listen? And what of the world you left behind? The Compton-bred rapper delivers another uncompromising and deeply affecting listening experience.
Packed with jazzy, dreamlike production and staggering lyrical work, To Pimp a Butterfly finds Kendrick Lamar grappling with the weight of his newfound fame-as a representative of his community and as a young black man. Through the funky menace of "King Kunta," Lamar makes blistering reference to the protagonist of Alex Haley's Roots, while the feverish standout, "The Blacker the Berry," sees him attack black-on-black crime with singular precision and ferocity.
