It is virtually impossible to evaluate Kendrick Lamar’s second record without a consideration of the tumultuous sociopolitical context in which it was gestated. Its politics may offend and its sonics may perplex, but there is no doubt that Butterfly is one of the year’s most fascinating and impressive musical artifacts. As its musical tangents grow increasingly idiosyncratic and its lyrical content more cerebral, Butterfly remains proudly impulsive, maddeningly unfocused, and unfailingly engrossing. Lamar’s sophomore effort forcefully and loudly demands that you forget everything you believed you knew about the good kid from the M.A.A.D City. To Pimp A Butterfly leaves no room for such ambiguity or artistic repossession. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City was endowed with undeniable pop hooks, but it was never intended to coexist peacefully with modern pop artifice. To Kendrick’s credit, the pyrotechnic performance exuded remarkable intensity, but it also represented a disappointing commoditization of his outspoken lyricism and personality into the kind of pop product your father might have recalled the following morning. City, the Grammys inexplicably paired the upstart rapper for a live performance with Imagine Dragons, a band that represents everything inoffensive and unforgivably dull about contemporary rock music. Capitalizing on the critical adoration and legitimate street credibility of Lamar’s instant classic debut Good Kid, M.A.A.D. On the night of January 26, 2014, for thankfully only a brief five minutes, Kendrick Lamar was deeply uncool. To Pimp A Butterfly tracklist with samples:Ġ1 Wesley’s Theory, samples Boris Gardiner’s “Every Nigger is a Star”Ġ3 King Kunta, samples James Brown’s “The Payback” and Ahmad’s “We Want the Funk”, resung lyrics from Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal”Ġ9 Momma, samples Lalah Hathaway’s “On Your Own” and Zapp & Roger’s “Computer Love”ġ0 Hood Politics, samples Sufjan Stevens’ “All for Myself”ġ5 i, samples The Isley Brothers’ “That Lady”ġ6 Mortal Man, samples Fela Kuti’s “I No Get Eye for Back” and an interview with Tupac from 1994. Naturally, rap fans wanted to know what samples helped shape the sound of the LP.īelow you can listen to a Spotify playlist of every sample on To Pimp a Butterfly from Boris Gardiner’s “Every Nigger is a Star” to Sufjan Stevens’ “All for Myself” to Fela Kuti’s “I No Get Eye for Back”. It takes sonic cues from Flying Lotus’ You’re Dead! and D’Angelo’s Black Messiah more than the sounds other rappers are peddling in 2015. (Read our review here.) For the most part, the album is jazzy and airy, giving Kendrick’s dynamic delivery and poetry the room it demands to berth. SAT ĚUSTRIA PORGY & BESS (LATE NIGHT SHOW)Īs we’re sure you’ve heard by now, this week Kendrick Lamar released his colossal new album, To Pimp A Butterfly. In fact, after parts of Compton, and that snippet of Kanye’s “No More Parties in LA”, Malibu feels like the proper arrival of post- TPaB hip-hop. Paak fills Malibu with the sunniest vibes from To Pimp a Butterfly-think of it as the TPaB you’d actually want to play at a barbecue.
The album’s 16 tracks will cost you just over an hour, but there isn’t a bum note on here. (He appeared on six of that album’s tracks.) Malibuis not Paak’s first album-he released Venice last year, and two other projects in 2012 as Breezy Lovejoy-but it does feel like his hard-earned breakthrough. You may recognize Paak’s briny voice-at times so reminiscent of Kendrick Lamar-from some of the finest moments of Dr.
Paak has a terrific new album out today called Malibu.