Critics reflect on "To Pimp a Butterfly" a year after its release.

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This album was my introduction to Kendrick, I was surprised by how weird and inaccessible it is, I really like it.

Enjoying Untitled Unmastered too, will probs go back and listen to his early albums at some point.
 
TPAB completely missed me. I can tell that, objectively it's good music, but I can't connect.

I think the problem is Kendrick. Something about his latest music leaves me apathetic.
 
My love for it has only grown over the past year. When it's all said and done it will probably end up being one of my favorite albums. I'm still connecting with some of the tracks, just the other day I could not stop playing Momma.
 
There are more radio singles/bangers on GKMC but TPAB is the better album concept wise, lyrically and structurally.

RDreamer said:
To me it kind of feels hit or miss. I'm really stunned by the amount of praise it gets, because I feel like it's far from a masterpiece. There are some great things on it, but it's just not consistent enough. It also kind of falls into that weird space that a lot of rap does for me. I don't know whether to take it seriously or not, because one minute he's repeating "this dick ain't free" more times than I care to really listen to and the next he's got some poignant points about race relations or using his fame. So, it just sits in this weird spot for me. If it was all goof then I feel like I could get into a good mindset for it, or if it was all serious I feel like I could praise it more.

I really like King Kunta, Alright, How Much a Dollar Cost, and The Blacker the Berry, but the rest is kinda meh. I really only listen to albums that I want to listen to every track and rarely even listen to one where I don't like a single track (It just throws me off that much), so it's hard to give this enough spins.
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somebody didn't understand that song at all. even with for sale being more obvious.
 
I loved TPAB. Between it and GKMC I'd rather listen to TPAB all the way through. It's only failure seems to be that it couldn't drag other artist into the jazz or funk. It didn't seem to have the same influence Kanye's or Dre's best does. I guess that either means it's too tough to imitate or the industry didn't see it as something worth imitating.
 
TPaB is a lot like The Wire for me. While I appreciate its structure and the vivid, complex picture it paints, it's something I respect way more than I enjoy.
 
I enjoyed it a little more when I revisited it recently. At it's release it had all the expectations of GKMC, one of the the best albums ever made, weighing it down.
With some distance between the two albums, I can say it's a good album, it's just not what I am looking for.


For me TPAB is ATLiens. An album that is far more grown up and smart and interesting than it's predecessor. But I always preferred Southernplayalistic for how much more entertaining it was and how much fun I had listening to it.
 
____ said:
TPAB > GKMC every day of the week.
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This, I didnt even like GKMC like that tbh. I Got caught up in the hype of a modern rapper doing a storytelling concept album but honestly stopped fucking with it after a couple listens. I Only went back to swimming pools and money tree's. TPAB destroys GKMC musically.
 
I liked his new album but I haven't found myself returning to it very often. GKMC is by far my favorite album of his(better singles and love the skits on the album) and I'm even enjoying untitled unmastered more than TPAB. I understand the importance of TPAB but it's just not that enjoyable to listen to from beginning to end like his other albums
 
It's an album that I enjoyed immediately but didn't have a true appreciation for until multiple spins later... The album gets better with each listen for me. I get the desire for another GKMC but this is Kendricks journey and I'm fine with allowing this man to create and appreciate what he shares with us.
 
Rembrandt said:
somebody didn't understand that song at all. even with for sale being more obvious.
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No, I probably didn't. It comes down to the way I listen to music. I rarely get meaning in lyrics until I've listened to an album countless times. I'm purely music first unless something weird catches me off guard, I suppose. Even if that song was making an amazing point, it still stands that I really don't want to hear "this dick ain't free" that many times. It's embarrassing to listen to.
 
I really dislike Genius' typography. Anyway, To Pimp a Butterfly is still, to me, perhaps the most important album of the past decade (or whenever Madvillainy came out or so). It's the album that made me think of Lamar in the way dudes old enough in the 90s to remember talk about Pac and Biggie. It's not only masterfully crafted but an album that speaks directly about the times we live in.
 
What terrible outlets to bring together to make this sort of decision. Pitchfork thrives on being into something and over it before it's cool to do so.

TPAB is a tour-de-force. Reading through it multiple times on Genius was an incredible experience. It's one of the best albums of the last decade.
 
BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO said:
This, I didnt even like GKMC like that tbh. I Got caught up in the hype of a modern rapper doing a storytelling concept album but honestly stopped fucking with it after a couple listens. I Only went back to swimming pools and money tree's. TPAB destroys GKMC musically.
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Yep - basically this.

I did like GKMC a lot, but definitely didn't have the legs that TPAB has for me. Each time I listened to it it got deeper and deeper.
 
Just saw this. Explanations after the jump.

http://djbooth.net/news/entry/2016-03-15-best-tde-albums

Yoh

1. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city
2. Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly
3. Isaiah Rashad, Cilvia Demo
4. Kendrick Lamar, Section80
5. Ab-Soul, Longterm 2: Lifestyles Of The Broke & Almost Famous

Lucas

1. Isaiah Rashad, Cilvia Demo
2. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city
3. Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly
4. ScHoolboy Q, Oxymoron
5. Kendrick Lamar, Section80

Brendan

1. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city
2. ScHoolboy Q, Oxymoron
3. ScHoolboy Q, Habits & Contradictions
4. Ab-Soul, Long Term 2: Lifestyles of the Broke and Almost Famous
5. ScHoolboy Q, Setbacks
 
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