To Pimp a Butterfly

Untitled

To Pimp a Butterfly is the third studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on March 15, 2015, by Top Dawg Entertainment and Aftermath Entertainment, and distributed by Interscope Records. The album is a follow-up to Lamar's platinum selling, multi-Grammy Award nominated, critically acclaimed major-label debut album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012). Due to an error on the part of Interscope Records, the album was released on iTunes and Spotify a week earlier than scheduled.

The album was recorded in studios throughout the United States, with executive production from Dr. Dre and Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. Boi-1da, Flying Lotus, Terrace Martin, Pharrell Williams, Knxwledge, Sounwave, Thundercat and several other hip hop producers also contributed. The album is influenced by aspects of funk, jazz and spoken word.

Upon its release, To Pimp a Butterfly received widespread acclaim from music critics, who praised Lamar's introspective lyrics and varied rap flow techniques, as well as the music production's density and eclecticism, and the storytelling and thematic concepts. At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 96 out of 100, based on 44 reviews. The album topped the Billboard 200 for two consecutive weeks and reached the top 10 in several countries worldwide. It was supported by four singles: "i", "The Blacker the Berry", "King Kunta" and "Alright".

Background

On February 28, 2014, Kendrick Lamar first revealed plans for releasing a follow-up to his second studio album, good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012), during an interview with Billboard. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he was quoted as saying, "Just putting the word 'pimp' next to 'butterfly'… It's a trip. That's something that will be a phrase forever. It'll be taught in college courses — I truly believe that." Lamar would later reveal that the album's original title was Tu Pimp a Caterpillar, which was an homage in its abbreviation to Tupac Shakur. In an interview with MTV, Lamar said: "Tu Pimp a Caterpillar was the original name and they [Dead End Hip Hop] caught it because the abbreviation was Tupac, Tu-P-A-C. Me changing it to Butterfly, I just really wanted to show the brightness of life and the word 'pimp' has so much aggression, and that represents several things. For me, it represents using my celebrity for good. Another reason is, not being pimped by the industry through my celebrity." The album was at one point believed by many to be called Return of Enoch.

Recording

Bilal featured on "Institutionalized" and "These Walls" and added backing vocals to four other songs.

To Pimp a Butterfly was recorded during 2012 to 2015 at a variety of studios including Chalice Recording Studios, Downtown Studios, House Studios, Notifi Studios, and No Excuses Studios. Lamar wrote the lyrics to the song Mortal Man while on Kanye West's Yeezus Tour. During that tour producer Flying Lotus played Lamar a selection of tracks originally intended for the Captain Murphy album; a Flying Lotus offshoot. Lamar kept all the tracks, but only opener "Wesley’s Theory", which also features Thundercat and George Clinton, made it to the album. Lotus had produced a version of "For Sale? (Interlude)" that was ultimately discarded, with Lamar using Taz Arnold's version of the song on the album instead. Lotus said that it is unlikely that his version of the song will see a release. American rapper Rapsody appeared on the album, contributing a verse to the song "Complexion (A Zulu Love)". Lamar had requested that 9th Wonder contact Rapsody and request her appearance. Rapsody and Lamar discussed the song but there was little instruction from Lamar regarding her contribution. Speaking about the song, she stated that Lamar had already decided on the concept of the song and stated that the only instructions he gave were the song's title and the idea that "...we are beautiful no matter our race but he really wanted to speak to our people and address this light versus dark complex".

In 2014, record producer Pharrell Williams, who he previously worked with Lamar along with Sounwave, and played on the track "Alright" at the Holy Ship Festival. The track features the same unidentified sample that Williams used on Rick Ross' track titled "Presidential" from his album God Forgives, I Don't (2012) and reportedly at one time featured an American rapper Fabolous. The album went through three different phases before the production team could move forward with the idea. After this, producer Thundercat was brought into the process after Flying Lotus brought him along to see Lamar's performance on the Yeezus tour. The album's lead single "i" was produced by Rahki, who also produced the song "Institutionalized". Although the version of "i" appearing on the album is drastically different from the single release, both versions contained a sample of the song "That Lady" performed by The Isley Brothers. Lamar personally visited Isley Brothers' lead vocalist Ronald Isley to ask his permission to sample the song.

During the album development, he had to traveled to St. Louis and began working in the studio with Isley. Isley also performed on the song "How Much a Dollar Cost?" alongside with an singer-songwriter James Fauntleroy. Producer and rapper Pete Rock provided some backing vocals and scratches to the song "Complexion (A Zulu Love)", as he stated; the contribution was unusual for the fact, he's not the producer on the track. Singer Bilal features on the songs "Institutionalized" and "These Walls" and has provided un-credited backing vocals on these songs "u", "For Sale? (Interlude)", "Momma" and "Hood Politics". Bilal stated about him who was initially unsure of how many songs he would be featured on, stating he worked on various tracks, but did not know the outcome. "For a lot of the material, Kendrick had a idea of what he wanted". Lamar would sing out the melody and some of the words, and Bilal would interpret what Lamar was telling him. On the songs where Bilal added backing vocals, "...some of it was freestyle; just adding color to make it a fuller sound." Lamar was also reportedly working with American musician Prince, however, the duo were too pressed for time during the recording session and therefore were unable to complete any work for inclusion on the album.

Music and lyrics

Lamar has described the album, which incorporates elements of funk, spoken word poetry and jazz, as "honest, fearful and unapologetic." In an interview with MTV, Kendrick explained the meaning behind the tracks "Wesley's Theory" and "King Kunta". The album's opening track, "Wesley's Theory", is a reference to Wesley Snipes and how the actor was thrown in jail for tax evasion. In the interview Lamar states that "no one teaches poor black males how to manage money or celebrity, so if they do achieve success, the powers that be can take it from right under them". He states that "King Kunta" is concerned with the "history of negative stereotypes all African-Americans have to reconcile" in the same interview. The interviewer finishes by asking about Lamar's criticism of rappers who use ghostwriters on "King Kunta"; Lamar revealing that he came to prominence as a ghostwriter, so he has respect for the writers, but says "as a new artist, you have to stand behind your work... and honor the code of hip-hop."

"The Blacker the Berry" is a racially-charged song, noted for being a departure from the "self-love-promoting" "i", a single released in late 2014. The song features a "boom bap beat", with lyrics that celebrate his African-American heritage and "tackle hatred, racism, and hypocrisy head on." The song's hook is performed by Jamaican dancehall artist Assassin, notable for performing on Kanye West's 2013 LP Yeezus, whose lyrics similarly address racial inequality, specifically against African Americans.

Singles

On September 23, 2014, Kendrick Lamar released "i", as the album's lead single via digital distribution. The song was met with critical acclaim from music critics and was placed on numerous critics year end lists. On November 15, 2014, Lamar appeared on Saturday Night Live, as the musical guest, where he performed the extended version of "i".

On February 9, 2015, Lamar released the album's second single, titled "The Blacker the Berry". The single was also met with critical acclaim from music critics upon its release.

The album's third single "King Kunta", was released on March 24, 2015. Lamar was spotted at Compton, California, filming the music video. A video for the song was released on April 1, 2015 and did feature Kendrick in Compton, he is seen dancing around the Compton Swap Meet and is also shown sitting on a throne outside a house which connects to the title of "King". There is also a 2Pac reference in the video. The song was met with rave reviews from music critics upon its release, praising the multi-layered production and Lamar's lyrics.

On June 10, 2015, Interscope Records announced the fourth single from the album is "Alright". It is slated to impact Rhythmic radio stations on June 30. Lamar was seen shooting music video for the track on Treasure Island in San Francisco, CA and atop a traffic light pole in Los Angeles, CA.

Release and promotion

On March 10, 2015, Lamar announced that his third album will be titled To Pimp a Butterfly. On the same day, Lamar unveiled the album cover when he posted a picture of it on his official Instagram page. After a rumored track-listing surfaced via the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), on March 12, 2015, Lamar confirmed the album's track listing.

On March 15, 2015, the album was released on iTunes eight days ahead of its scheduled release date. According to TDE's CEO, Anthony Tiffith, the album's early release was unintentional, apparently caused by an error on the part of Interscope Records. On the following day, the option to purchase the album was removed from iTunes and the release date was reverted to March 23. On March 16, 2015, the album was digitally released a week ahead of the original schedule, which was a similar tactic used by Frank Ocean when he released his album channel ORANGE.

On May 28, 2015 Lamar performed "These Walls" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 363,000 equivalent album units, selling 324,000 copies in its first week. It also topped the chart its second week with 123,000 units, selling 107,000 copies that week. It was the first album since Taylor Swift's 1989 (2014) and first R&B or hip hop album since Beyoncé's self-titled album (2013) to spend multiple weeks atop the chart. The album has sold 593,000 copies in the US as of June 2015.

To Pimp a Butterfly debuted atop the charts in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia, even after being released midway through the tracking week.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	96/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Chicago Tribune
Robert Christgau	A–
Entertainment Weekly	A
The Guardian
The Observer
Pitchfork Media	9.3/10
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
Spin	10/10

Upon its release, To Pimp a Butterfly received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 96, based on 44 reviews. Writing in Entertainment Weekly, Kyle Anderson found it twice as substantial as Lamar's debut album and more comprehensive of African-American music styles, with "the freedom of a mixtape ... but the production values of an Oscar-worthy cinematic event". Spin magazine's Dan Weiss hailed it as the "Great American Hip-Hop Album" as well as "mandatory listening." Sam C. Mac, writing for Slant Magazine, contrasted the album with Lamar's previous work: "Where there were once big hooks, energetic rhyming in perfect lockstep with the beat, and a clear narrative thrust, there's now an expansive morass of live music grooves, heady and sometimes contradictory stream-of-consciousness lyrics, and not so much as an overarching narrative as lots of fractured ones ducking in and out of obscurity." Jim Farber of the New York Daily News lauded the album for its "manic" and "embracing" feel.

In Rolling Stone, Greg Tate hailed To Pimp a Butterfly as "a masterpiece of fiery outrage, deep jazz and ruthless self-critique" that, along with D'Angelo's third album Black Messiah, make 2015 "the year radical Black politics and for-real Black music resurged in tandem to converge on the nation's pop mainstream." Kris Ex of Billboard felt similarly: "It's definitely more timely, speaking to the continued discussion of race and racism in America -- the matter of Black lives mattering -- that has dominated the national discourse over the past half year." Pitchfork Media's Craig Jenkins described the album as "a celebration of the audacity to wake up each morning and to try to be better, knowing it could all end in a second, for no reason at all." Robert Christgau said not many artists are as passionate and understanding as Lamar, who offers "a strong, brave effective bid to reinstate hip hop as black American's CNN — more as op-ed than front page, but in the Age of Twitter that's the hole that needs filling." In a less enthusiastic review, Jon Caramanica of The New York Times wrote, "He hasn't outrun his tendency towards clutter. He is a dense rapper, and even though he's more at ease with his music now, he still runs the risk of suffocation."

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Wesley's Theory" (featuring George Clinton and Thundercat)	Kendrick Duckworth George Clinton Steven Ellison Ronald Colson Stephen Bruner Boris Gardiner	Flying Lotus Ronald "Flippa" Colson Sounwave[a] Thundercat[a]	4:47
2.	"For Free? (Interlude)"	Duckworth Terrace Martin R. McKinney	Martin	2:10
3.	"King Kunta"	Duckworth Bruner Johnny Burns Michael Jackson Ahmad Lewis Stefan Gordy	Sounwave Martin[a]	3:54
4.	"Institutionalized" (featuring Bilal, Anna Wise and Snoop Dogg)	Duckworth Columbus Smith Fredrik Halldin Sam Barsh	Rahki Tommy Black	4:31
5.	"These Walls" (featuring Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat)	Duckworth Martin Larrance Dopson James Fauntleroy R. McKinney	Martin Dopson Sounwave[a]	5:01
6.	"u"	Duckworth Taz Arnold Michael Brown	Taz Arnold AKA Ti$a Whoarei Sounwave[a]	4:28
7.	"Alright"	Duckworth Pharrell Williams Mark Spears	Pharrell Williams Sounwave	3:39
8.	"For Sale? (Interlude)"	Duckworth Arnold	Arnold Sounwave[a] Martin[a]	4:51
9.	"Momma"	Duckworth Glen Boothe Arnold Sylvester Stewart Lalah Hathaway Rahsaan Patterson Rex Rideout	Knxwledge Arnold	4:43
10.	"Hood Politics"	Duckworth Donte Perkins Spears Bruner Sufjan Stevens	Tae Beast Sounwave Thundercat	4:52
11.	"How Much a Dollar Cost" (featuring James Fauntleroy and Ronald Isley)	Duckworth Martin Josef Leimberg R. McKinney Fauntleroy Ronald Isley	LoveDragon	4:21
12.	"Complexion (A Zulu Love)" (featuring Rapsody)	Duckworth Bruner Spears Marlanna Evans	Thundercat Sounwave Martin[a] Antydote[a]	4:23
13.	"The Blacker the Berry"	Duckworth Matthew Samuels Stephen "KOZ" Kozmeniuk K. Lewis Brent Kolatalo Jefferey Campbell Alexander Izquierdo Zale Epstein	Boi-1da KOZ Martin[a] Katalyst[b]	5:28
14.	"You Ain't Gotta Lie (Momma Said)"	Duckworth Martin R. McKinney Leimberg Spears	LoveDragon	4:01
15.	"i"	Duckworth Columbus Smith Isley O'Kelly Isley, Jr. Ernie Isley Marvin Isley Rudolph Isley Christopher Jasper	Rahki	5:36
16.	"Mortal Man"	Duckworth Spears Bruner Fela Anikulapo	Sounwave	12:07
Total length:				78:51

Notes

• ^{^a} signifies an additional producer.
• ^{^b} signifies an additional programmer.
• "Wesley's Theory" contains additional vocals performed by Dr. Dre, Anna Wise, Ash Riser, Josef Leimberg and Whitney Alford.
• "For Free? (Interlude)" contains additional vocals performed by Anna Wise and Darlene Tibbs.
• "King Kunta" contains additional vocals performed by Whitney Alford.
• "These Walls" contains additional vocals performed by James Fauntleroy.
• "u" contains additional vocals performed by Bilal, Jessica Vielmas and SZA.
• "Alright" contains additional vocals performed by Pharrell Williams, Candace Wakefield and Thundercat.
• "For Sale? (Interlude)" contains additional vocals performed by Bilal, Taz Arnold AKA Ti$A, Preston Harris and SZA.
• "Momma" contains additional vocals performed by Lalah Hathaway and Bilal.
• "Hood Politics" contains additional vocals performed by Bilal, Anna Wise, Preston Harris and Dion Friley.
• "Complexion (A Zulu Love)" contains additional vocals performed by Thundercat, Lalah Hathaway, Talkbox Monte, Javonte and Pete Rock.
• "The Blacker the Berry" contains additional vocals performed by Assassin and Lalah Hathaway.
• "You Ain't Gotta Lie (Momma Said)" contains additional vocals performed by Thundercat, Preston Harris, Wyann Vaughn and Javonte.
• "i" contains additional vocals performed by Taz Arnold AKA Ti$A, William Sweat, Candace Wakefield, Devon Downing, Edwin Orellana, Dave Free, Dion Friley and Ronald Isley.
• "Mortal Man" contains additional vocals performed by James Fauntleroy, Javonte and Tupac Shakur.

Sample credits

• "Wesley's Theory" contains elements of "Every Nigger is a Star", written and performed by Boris Gardiner.
• "King Kunta" contains interpolations of "Get Nekkid", written by Johnny Burns performed by Mausberg; resung lyrics from "Smooth Criminal", written and performed by Michael Jackson; elements of "The Payback", written by James Brown, Fred Wesley, and John Starks performed by James Brown; and samples of "We Want the Funk", written by Ahmad Lewis performed by Ahmad.
• "Momma" contains elements of "On Your Own", written and performed by Lalah Hathaway.
• "Hood Politics" contains a sample of "All for Myself", written and performed by Sufjan Stevens.
• "i" contains a sample of "That Lady", written by Ronald Isley, O'Kelly Isley, Jr., Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, Rudolph Isley, and Christopher Jasper performed by The Isley Brothers.
• "Mortal Man" contains excerpts from "I No Get Eye for Back", written by Fela Anikulapo performed by Houston Person; and a sample of music journalist Mats Nileskar's November 1994 interview with Tupac Shakur for P3 Soul Broadcasting Corporation.

Personnel

Credits for To Pimp a Butterfly adapted from AllMusic and the album's digital booklet.

• Bilal — primary artist
• George Clinton — primary artist
• James Fauntleroy — primary artist
• Ronald Isley — primary artist
• Kendrick Lamar — primary artist
• Rapsody — primary artist
• Snoop Dogg — primary artist
• Thundercat — primary artist
• Anna Wise — primary artist
• Flying Lotus — producer
• James Hunt — engineer, mix assistant
• Derek Ali — engineer, mixer
• Whitney Alford — background vocals
• Dr. Dre — executive producer, vocals
• Josef Leimberg — producer, trumpet, vocals
• Robert Sput Searight — drums, keyboards
• Robert Glasper — piano, keyboards
• Brandon Owens — bass
• Craig Brockman — organ
• Marlon Williams — guitar
• Darlene Tibbs — background vocals
• Matt Schaeffer — guitar, engineer
• Larrance Dopson — keyboards, percussion, composer
• Lalah Hathaway — background vocals
• Talkbox Monte — background vocals
• Javonte — background vocals
• Pete Rock — background vocals, scratches
• 9th Wonder — engineer
• Paul Cartwright — violin
• Gabriel Noel — cello, bass
• Pedro Castro — clarinet
• Sam Barsh — keyboards, composer
• Gregory Moore — guitar
• Kamasi Washington — tenor saxophone
• Adam Turchan — baritone saxophone
• Jessica Vielmas — background vocals
• SZA — background vocals
• Candace Wakefield — background vocals
• Preston Harris — background vocals
• Dion Friley — background vocals
• Preston Harris — background vocals
• Wyann Vaughn — background vocals
• Chris Smith — bass
• Keith Askey — guitar
• Kendall Lewis — drums
• Dave Free — background vocals
• Edwin Orellana — background vocals
• Devon Downing — background vocals
• Junius Bervine — keyboards
• Ambrose Akinmusire — trumpet

Charts

Chart (2015)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)	15
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	4
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)	16
Canadian Albums (Billboard)	1
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)	3
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)	9
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)	14
French Albums (SNEP)	17
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	7
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)	34
Irish Albums (IRMA)	6
Italian Albums (FIMI)	32
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)	1
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)	2
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)	10
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	3
UK Albums (OCC)	1
UK R&B Albums (OCC)	1
US Billboard 200	1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)	1

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)	Silver	60,000*
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

• List of number-one albums of 2015 (Australia)

External links

• To Pimp a Butterfly at Discogs (list of releases)