To Pimp a Butterfly

Did You Know?

• The album was originally going to be titled Tu Pimp a Caterpillar, a backronym for Tu.P.A.C., alluding to Tupac.
• The CD and vinyl releases included a booklet with braille letterings; when translated, the braille reads 'A Kendrick by Letter Blank Lamar,' likely intended as 'A Blank Letter by Kendrick Lamar.'
• Lamar scrapped two or three albums worth of material after visiting South Africa and touring historic sites such as Nelson Mandela's jail cell on Robben Island.

Recording and production

To Pimp a Butterfly was recorded at several studios, including Chalice Recording Studios, Downtown Studios, House Studios, Notifi Studios, and No Excuses Studios. Lamar wrote the lyrics for "Mortal Man" while on Kanye West's Yeezus Tour. During that tour, producer Flying Lotus played Lamar tracks intended for Captain Murphy's album; Lamar kept them, but only "Wesley's Theory" (featuring Thundercat and George Clinton) made the final cut. Flying Lotus also produced a version of "For Sale? (Interlude)" that was discarded in favor of Taz Arnold's version, and Lotus stated it is unlikely his version will be released. Rapsody contributed a verse to "Complexion (A Zulu Love)" after Lamar requested that 9th Wonder contact her; Lamar gave little instruction beyond the song's title and the concept of addressing colorism. Lamar contacted Madlib for collaboration but was unable to reach him. Pharrell Williams and Sounwave played the track "Alright" at the Holy Ship Festival in 2014; it uses the same unidentified sample Williams used on Rick Ross's "Presidential." The album went through three phases before production moved forward. Thundercat was brought in after Flying Lotus took him to see Lamar's performance on the Yeezus Tour. The lead single "I" was produced by Rahki, who also produced "Institutionalized"; it samples "That Lady" by the Isley Brothers, and Lamar personally visited Ronald Isley to obtain permission.

Musical style

To Pimp a Butterfly engages with and celebrates the black music tradition, according to musicologist Will Fulton. Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly described the album as embracing the entire history of black American music. Lamar's co-engineer MixedByAli said Lamar incorporated everything from his experiences in Africa to complete a puzzle. Lamar called the album an honest, fearful, and unapologetic work drawing on funk, hard bop, spoken word, and soul, with critics noting elements of West Coast hip-hop, avant-garde, and G-funk. Co-producer Terrace Martin said deeper listening reveals the lineage of James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Mahalia Jackson, the sounds of Africa, and Cuban elements. The West Coast Get Down collective, including Lamar, Flying Lotus, Martin, and Kamasi Washington, contributed jazz and progressive hip-hop sounds. Ben Ratliff observed the music is jazz-like in spirit if not always in sound, while Mosi Reeves noted a virtuosic quality to its prog-rap cornucopia. Stereogum called it an ambitious avant-jazz-rap statement, and The Source categorized it as experimental hip-hop. Dan Weiss of Spin noted shades of Miles Davis's On the Corner, Sly Stone's There's a Riot Goin' On, Funkadelic, and Erykah Badu's New Amerykah, but said the album is vividly contemporary. Greg Kot argued Lamar takes familiar musical tropes into new territory. The Atlantic noted Flying Lotus's signature sound of jazz instrumentation and hip-hop layered into chaotic collages is all over the album.

Lyrics and themes

To Pimp a Butterfly is a politically charged conscious rap album exploring themes of race, culture, and discrimination. Critic Neil Kulkarni said it appraises the broken promises and bloody pathways in and out of America's heartland malaise. Jay Caspian Kang observed elements of critical race theory, respectability politics, theology, and meta-analysis of Lamar's success. Natalie Graham compared it to the 1977 miniseries Roots, saying the album radically disrupts meanings of black respectability, heroic morality, trauma, and memory. James D. McLeod Jr. drew parallels between Lamar's examination of death in the African-American experience and the works of Paul Tillich, calling the album an example of existentialist hip hop. Adam Blum discerned connections to psychoanalysts such as Wilfred Bion, Nicolas Abraham, and Sigmund Freud. Akeem Sule and Becky Inkster described Lamar as the street poet of mental health, noting the album explores addiction, anxiety, depression, and resilience.

Critical reception

To Pimp a Butterfly received widespread critical acclaim. On Metacritic, it has an average score of 96 out of 100 based on 44 reviews, indicating universal acclaim. AnyDecentMusic? gave it 9.3 out of 10. Gigwise's Will Butler said it was universally hailed as an instant classic. Dan Weiss of Spin called it the Great American Hip-Hop Album and an essential listen. Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph deemed it a dense but dazzling masterpiece. Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly found it twice as substantial as Lamar's debut major label album and more comprehensive of African-American music styles, with cinematic production and the freedom of a mixtape. Jim Carroll of the Irish Times called it a record for the times we're in. Greg Tate of Rolling Stone called it a masterpiece of fiery outrage, deep jazz, and ruthless self-critique. Robert Christgau wrote that Lamar offered a strong, brave, effective bid to reinstate hip hop as black America's CNN. Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop gave it a rare 10 rating. Some reviews were critical: Jon Caramanica of the New York Times said Lamar still struggled with reconciling his density as a lyricist with the music, and Alexis Petridis of The Guardian found the music somewhat erratic and lamented moments of self-indulgence such as the twelve-minute "Mortal Man."