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To Pimp a Butterfly

March 05, 2023

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, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album was recorded in studios throughout the United States, with production from Sounwave, Terrace Martin, Taz "Tisa" Arnold, Thundercat, Rahki, LoveDragon, Flying Lotus, Pharrell Williams, Boi-1da, Knxwledge, and several other high-profile hip hop producers, as well as executive production from Dr. Dre and Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. Guest appearances include Thundercat, George Clinton, Bilal, Anna Wise, Snoop Dogg, James Fauntleroy, Ronald Isley, and Rapsody.

To Pimp a Butterfly
Studio album by
Kendrick Lamar
ReleasedMarch 15, 2015 (2015-03-15)
Studio
Genre
Length78:51
Label
Producer
Kendrick Lamar chronology
Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
(2012) 		To Pimp a Butterfly
(2015) 		Untitled Unmastered
(2016)
Singles from To Pimp a Butterfly
  1. "I"
    Released: September 16, 2014
  2. "The Blacker the Berry"
    Released: February 9, 2015
  3. "King Kunta"
    Released: March 24, 2015
  4. "Alright"
    Released: June 30, 2015
  5. "These Walls"
    Released: October 13, 2015

Primarily a hip hop album, To Pimp a Butterfly incorporates numerous other musical styles spanning the history of African-American music, most prominently jazz, funk, and soul. Lyrically, it features political commentary and personal themes concerning African-American culture, racial inequality, depression, and institutional discrimination. This thematic direction was inspired by Lamar's tour of historic sites during his visit to South Africa, such as Nelson Mandela's jail cell on Robben Island.

To Pimp a Butterfly sold 324,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, earning a chart debut at number one on the US Billboard 200, while also becoming Lamar's first number-one album in the UK. It was eventually certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and sold one million copies in the United States by 2017. Five singles were released in promotion of the album, including the top 40 hit "I". Lamar also supported the album with the Kunta's Groove Sessions Tour from late 2015 to early 2016.

The album has received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised its musical scope and the social relevance of Lamar's lyrics. It earned Lamar seven nominations at the 2016 Grammy Awards, including a win for Best Rap Album and an Album of the Year nomination. He received four additional nominations for other collaborations from that year, receiving a total of 11 Grammy nominations, which was the most nominations for any rapper in a single night. The most critically acclaimed album of 2015 as well as one of the most critically acclaimed of its entire decade, it topped The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop poll of American critics nationwide, and was also ranked as the best album of 2015 by many other publications. In the years following its release, several publications named To Pimp a Butterfly one of the best albums of the 2010s; in 2020, the album was ranked 19th on Rolling Stone's updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Background

On February 28, 2014, Kendrick Lamar first revealed the plans to release a follow-up to his second studio album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012), during an interview with Billboard.[1] Between the releases of Good Kid, M.A.A.D City and To Pimp a Butterfly, Lamar traveled to South Africa. Touring the country  and visiting historic sites such as Nelson Mandela's jail cell on Robben Island heavily influenced the direction of the record[2] and led to Lamar scrapping "two or three albums worth of material".[3]

Co-producer Sounwave spoke on Lamar's visit, saying, "I remember he [Lamar] took a trip to [South] Africa and something in his mind just clicked. For me, that's when this album really started."[4] Regarding his visit to South Africa, Lamar said, "I felt like I belonged in Africa. I saw all the things that I wasn't taught. Probably one of the hardest things to do is put [together] a concept on how beautiful a place can be, and tell a person this while they're still in the ghettos of Compton. I wanted to put that experience in the music."[4] In addition, Lamar said, "The idea was to make a record that reflected all complexions of black women. There's a separation between the light and the dark skin because it's just in our nature to do so, but we're all black. This concept came from South Africa and I saw all these different colors speaking a beautiful language."[4]

Recording and production

 
The mixing desk at Chalice Recording Studios in Hollywood

To Pimp a Butterfly was recorded 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.[5] During the whole tour, producer Flying Lotus played Lamar a selection of tracks that was intended for Captain Murphy's album (Flying Lotus's alter ego). Lamar kept all the tracks, but only opener "Wesley's Theory", which also features Thundercat and George Clinton, made the final cut onto the album.[6] 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 stated that it is unlikely his version of the song will see a release.[7] 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".[8][9] Lamar also contacted Madlib to seek his collaboration on the record but was unable to reach him.[10]

In 2014, Pharrell Williams, who previously worked with Lamar, along with producer Sounwave, played the track "Alright" at the Holy Ship Festival.[11] The track features the same unidentified sample that Williams used on Rick Ross' track "Presidential" from his album God Forgives, I Don't (2012). Reportedly, at one time it featured a guest appearance from American rapper Fabolous.[11][12][13] The album went through three different phases before the production team could move forward with the idea. Afterwards, producer Thundercat was brought into the process, after Flying Lotus brought him along to see Lamar's performance on The Yeezus Tour.[14] The album's lead single, titled "I", was produced by Rahki, who also produced a song for the album entitled "Institutionalized". Although the version of "I" appearing on the album is drastically different from that on the single release, both versions contained a sample of the song "That Lady" performed by The Isley Brothers. Lamar personally visited The Isley Brothers, to receive permission from lead vocalist Ronald Isley to sample the song.[15]

 
 
Bass player Thundercat (left) and singer Bilal are among the musicians who contributed to the album.

Lamar began traveling to St. Louis and began working with Isley at the studio. Isley also performed on the song "How Much a Dollar Cost" alongside the singer-songwriter James Fauntleroy.[15] Producer and rapper Pete Rock provided some backing vocals and scratches to the song "Complexion (A Zulu Love)", and as he stated, the contribution was unusual, as he was not the producer for the track.[16] Singer Bilal features on the songs "Institutionalized" and "These Walls", and has provided un-credited backing vocals on the songs "U", "For Sale? (Interlude)", "Momma" and "Hood Politics".[17] Bilal stated that he and Lamar were initially unsure of how many songs he would be featured on, stating he worked on various tracks, but did not yet know the outcome. "For a lot of the material, Kendrick had an idea of what he wanted. He would sing out the melody and some of the words, and I would interpret what he was telling me." On the songs where Bilal added backing vocals, he stated that "...some of it was freestyle; just adding color to make it a fuller sound."[18] Lamar also reportedly worked 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.[19][20][21] Lamar professed to having listened often to Miles Davis and Parliament-Funkadelic during the album's recording.[22]

In 2016, Lamar released Untitled Unmastered, a compilation album, which contains previously unreleased demos that originated during the recording of To Pimp a Butterfly. According to producer Thundercat, it "completes the sentence" of Lamar's third studio album.[23]

Musical style

According to musicologist Will Fulton, To Pimp a Butterfly engages in and celebrates the black music tradition. Much like the singer D'Angelo on his 2014 album Black Messiah, Lamar "consciously indexes African American musical styles of the past in a dynamic relationship of nostalgic revivalism and vanguardism."[24] Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly described the album as "embracing the entire history of black American music."[25] Lamar's co-engineer/mixer MixedByAli praised Lamar, saying, "[Lamar is] a sponge. He incorporated everything that was going on [in Africa] and in his life to complete a million-piece puzzle."[4] Lamar described the album as an "honest, fearful and unapologetic" work that draws on funk, hard bop, spoken word and soul[2][22] while critics also noted elements of West Coast hip hop[26] and avant-garde.[27][28] Allison Stewart from The Washington Post says the album is "threaded" with G-funk.[29] Speaking on the album's styles, co-producer Terrace Martin said, "If you dig deeper you hear the lineage of James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Mahalia Jackson, the sounds of Africa, and our people when they started over here. I hear something different every time. I heard Cuban elements in it the other day."[4]

The album features contributions from the collective of musicians called the West Coast Get Down, who experiment with jazz and progressive hip hop sounds, and feature Lamar, Flying Lotus, Martin, and saxophonist Kamasi Washington, among others. Consequently, the music is "jazz-like in spirit if not always in sound", according to Ben Ratliff,[30] while Mosi Reeves from Deadspin observes a virtuosic quality to its "prog-rap cornucopia".[31] Stereogum described To Pimp a Butterfly as an "ambitious avant-jazz-rap statement,"[32] and The Source categorized the album as an experimental hip hop release.[33] Dan Weiss of Spin noted "shades of Miles Davis' On the Corner and free jazz all over [...], as well as Sly Stone's There's a Riot Goin' On and Funkadelic and Erykah Badu's similarly wah-crazy but comparatively lo-fi New Amerykah (4th World War)," but stated nonetheless that "the sense of this album is vividly contemporary."[34] Other critics regard it as "throwback" to neo soul music of the 1990s.[35] Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune noted the album's affinities with previous black music, but argued that "Lamar takes familiar musical tropes into new territory."[27] The Atlantic noted the influence of collaborator Flying Lotus, writing that "his signature sound—jazz instrumentation and hip-hop layered into chaotic collages—is all over the album."[36] Steve Mallon of The Quietus noted an "eerily warped psychedelia bursting out of its idiosyncratic arrangements."[37]

Lyrics and themes

 
"Institutionalized"
Lamar's lyrics explore the results of institutional racism.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Categorized by Billboard as a "politically-charged" conscious rap album,[38] To Pimp a Butterfly explores a variety of political and personal themes related to race, culture, and discrimination. Critic Neil Kulkarni said it appraises "the broken promises and bloody pathways in and out of America's heartland malaise".[39] Jay Caspian Kang observed elements of critical race theory, respectability politics, theology, and meta-analysis examining Lamar's success and revered status in the hip hop community.[40] It was compared by California State University, Fullerton professor Natalie Graham to the 1977 television miniseries Roots. While "Roots compresses and simplifies" black history, Graham said To Pimp a Butterfly "radically disrupt[s] meanings of black respectability, heroic morality, trauma, and memory".[41]

In the Toronto Journal of Theology, James D. McLeod Jr. drew parallels between Lamar's examination of death's domineering significance in the African-American experience and the works of Christian theologian Paul Tillich, with McLeod calling To Pimp a Butterfly an original example of "existentialist hip hop."[42] Meanwhile, Adam Blum discerned connections between To Pimp a Butterfly and the writings of psychoanalysts such as Wilfred Bion, Nicolas Abraham, and Sigmund Freud.[43] In an essay published in The Lancet Psychiatry, University of Cambridge professors Akeem Sule and Becky Inkster described Lamar as the "street poet of mental health," noting how To Pimp a Butterfly (as well as its predecessor, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City) explore topics such as addiction, anxiety, depression, and resilience.[44]

The album continues a nuanced dialogue about weighty topics that affect the African-American community. Releasing his album in a time of renewed black activism, Lamar's song "Alright" has become a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.[45] With lyrics like "and we hate po-po / Wanna kill us dead in the street fo sho, nigga" he makes it clear that he is supportive of the movement and the families of black men and women like Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, and others who have fallen victim to police brutality in the United States. Lamar takes his opinions further to lend his position on black crime in the song "The Blacker the Berry". He criticizes himself and his community by rapping, "So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street? / When gang bangin' make me kill a nigga blacker than me?". Some critics claim that his attitude facilitates the rhetoric that silences the Black Lives Matter movement. Stereo Williams of The Daily Beast wrote in response to his lyrics that "it's dangerous to use that violence as a silencing tactic when the public is angry about the systematic subjugation of black people."[46]

Lamar has offered explanations of the meanings behind songs such as "Wesley's Theory" and "King Kunta".[47][48][49] The album's 1970s funk-inspired[50] opening track "Wesley's Theory" is a reference to Wesley Snipes and how the actor was jailed for tax evasion; according to Lamar, "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".[47][48][49] "For Free? (Interlude)" sees Lamar rapping in a dense, spoken word-esque manner with musical accompaniment by jazz pianist Robert Glasper.[50]

"King Kunta" is concerned with the "history of negative stereotypes all African-Americans have to reconcile".[47][48][49] Lamar also explained his criticism of rappers who use ghostwriters on "King Kunta", revealing that he came to prominence as a ghostwriter, and has respect for writers, but says that "as a new artist, you have to stand behind your work."[47][48][49]

"These Walls" has been described by Billboard as "pondering sex and existence in equal measure; it's a yoni metaphor about the power of peace, with sugar walls being escape and real walls being obstacles."[51] Lamar revealed that "U" was inspired by his own experience of depression and suicidal thoughts.[52] He also mentioned feelings of survivor's guilt as inspirations for the album.[53] "Alright" begins as a spoken-word treatise before exploding into a shapeshifting portrait of America that brings in jazz horns, skittering drum beats and Lamar's mellifluous rapping as he struggles with troubles and temptations. Yet at the end of each verse, he reassures himself that "We gon' be alright"—a simple rallying cry for a nation reeling from gun violence and police brutality.[54] For critics a "celebration of being alive",[55] Lamar described "Alright" as a message of hope.[56] "The Blacker the Berry" features a "boom bap beat" and lyrics that celebrate Lamar's African-American heritage and "tackle hatred, racism, and hypocrisy head on."[57] 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.[58][59]

Title and packaging

The album was originally going to be titled Tu Pimp a Caterpillar, a backronym for Tu.P.A.C., itself an allusion to the rapper Tupac.[48] Lamar decided to replace "caterpillar" in the original title to "butterfly", which he explained in an interview for MTV, "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 ... It gets even deeper than that for me. I could be talking all day about it."[48] Lamar later also told Rolling Stone, "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."[60]

The album's CD release included a booklet produced with braille letterings; according to Lamar, these characters when translated reveal the "actual full title of the album."[61] Complex commissioned a braille translator, who found that it translated to A Kendrick by Letter Blank Lamar which Complex noted was most likely supposed to read as A Blank Letter by Kendrick Lamar.[61][62]

Marketing and sales

The album's release was preceded by the release of two singles, "I", on September 23, 2014,[63] and "The Blacker the Berry" in February 2015.[64] The former became Lamar's sixth top-40 single on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was performed on Saturday Night Live.[65] "King Kunta" was released as the third single in March 2015,[66] and "Alright" was released to radio stations on June 30.[67] With the latter's release, several contemporary progressive news outlets, including BET, raised the idea of "Alright" being the modern Black National Anthem,[45][68][69] while the media reported youth-lead protests against police brutality across the country chanted the chorus of the song.[70][71] Primarily for the latter, Lamar was featured on Ebony magazine's Power 100, an annual list that recognizes many leaders of the African-American community.[72] "These Walls" was released as the album's fifth single on October 13.[73] Aside from the singles' accompanying music videos, the song "For Free? (Interlude)" also featured visuals,[74] as did "U" with "For Sale? (Interlude)" as part of the short film God Is Gangsta.[75] In support of the album, Lamar embarked on the Kunta's Groove Sessions Tour, which included eight shows in eight cities during October and November.[76]

To Pimp a Butterfly was first released to the iTunes Store and Spotify on March 15, 2015, eight days ahead of its scheduled release date.[77] According to Anthony Tiffith, CEO of Top Dawg Entertainment, the album's early release was unintentional, apparently caused by an error on the part of Interscope Records.[78] The following day, it was made unavailable on iTunes, and the release was rescheduled for March 23, although it was still available for streaming on Spotify.[79] In its first week of release, To Pimp a Butterfly debuted at number one on record charts in the United Kingdom, Australia,[80] and the United States, where it recorded first-week sales of 324,000 copies.[81] The album was streamed 9.6 million times in its first day on Spotify, setting the service's global first-day streaming record.[82] By the end of 2015, To Pimp a Butterfly was ranked the sixteenth most popular album on the Billboard 200 that year[83] and reached sales of one million copies worldwide.[84] By March 2016, it had sold 850,000 copies in the US,[85] where it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[86] In June 2017, it reached one million copies sold in the US.[87]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?9.3/10[88]
Metacritic96/100[89]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [90]
The Daily Telegraph     [91]
Entertainment WeeklyA[25]
The Guardian     [92]
The Irish Times     [93]
NME8/10[94]
Pitchfork9.3/10[95]
Rolling Stone     [96]
Spin10/10[34]
USA Today    [97]

To Pimp a Butterfly was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 96, based on 44 reviews.[89] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 9.3 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[88] According to Gigwise writer Will Butler, it was universally hailed by critics as an "instant classic".[98]

Spin magazine's Dan Weiss regarded To Pimp a Butterfly as the "Great American Hip-Hop Album" and an essential listen,[34] while Neil McCormick from The Daily Telegraph called it a dense but dazzling masterpiece that positions Lamar ahead of the prog-rap resurgence led by Kanye West and Drake.[91] Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Kyle Anderson found the record twice as substantial as Lamar's debut major label album and more comprehensive of African-American music styles, with supremely "cinematic" production qualities but "the freedom of a mixtape".[25] Irish Times journalist Jim Carroll deemed it "a record for the times we're in", in which Lamar transitioned from his past narratives about Compton to fierce but precise reflections on "black America".[93] In Rolling Stone, Greg Tate deemed To Pimp a Butterfly "a masterpiece of fiery outrage, deep jazz and ruthless self-critique" that along with D'Angelo's third album Black Messiah, made 2015 "the year radical Black politics and for-real Black music resurged in tandem to converge on the nation's pop mainstream."[96] Robert Christgau wrote in his review on Cuepoint that not many artists were as passionate and understanding as Lamar, who offered "a strong, brave effective bid to reinstate hip hop as black America's CNN" during an era of social media.[99]

While the album's reception was almost universally positive, there were still a few reviews at release that offered minor critiques. For instance, New York Times critic Jon Caramanica was less enthusiastic than others, feeling Lamar still struggled in reconciling his density as a lyricist with the music he rapped over: "He hasn't outrun his tendency towards clutter [and] still runs the risk of suffocation."[100] In The Guardian, Alexis Petridis found the music somewhat erratic and lamented "moments of self-indulgence" such as the twelve-minute "Mortal Man" and Lamar's reflections on fame. However, Petridis still ultimately awarded the album four stars out of five.[92]

Accolades

At the end of 2015, To Pimp a Butterfly was the most frequently ranked record in top ten lists of the year's best albums. According to Metacritic, it appeared 101 times in the top ten of lists published by critics, magazines, websites, and music stores. The record topped 51 lists, including those by Rolling Stone, Billboard, Pitchfork, Slant Magazine, Spin, The Guardian, Complex, Consequence, The Irish Times, and Vice.[101] NME ranked it second on their list, while Time named it the year's third best album.[102] It was voted the best album of 2015 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics nationwide, published by The Village Voice.[103] Christgau, the Pazz & Jop's creator, ranked it fourth in his ballot for the poll.[104] The album placed ninth in British magazine The Wire's annual critics' poll.[105] Based on such rankings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists To Pimp a Butterfly as the most critically acclaimed album of 2015.[106]

On their lists of best albums of the decade, The Independent placed it first,[107] Consequence second,[108] Rolling Stone third,[109] and Pitchfork fourth.[110] In The Guardian's 2019 poll of 45 music journalists, To Pimp a Butterfly was voted the fourth best album of the 21st century, and contributing writer Ben Beaumont-Thomas said in an accompanying that, "as a celebration of the richness of black artistry, the whole album was a riposte to bigotry."[111] Similarly, in his March 2015 review of the album for The Verge, editor and journalist Micah Singleton had hailed it as "the best album of the 21st century, the best hip-hop album since The Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die and Nas' Illmatic in 1994, and it cements Kendrick Lamar's spot as an all-time great."[112] In September 2020, Rolling Stone released an updated version of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, based on the opinions of over 300 artists, music journalists, and industry insiders, which ranked To Pimp a Butterfly as the 19th-best album of all time.[113] Tampa Bay Times, placed the album as the second on their list of "The 10 Best Albums of the 2010s".[114]

To Pimp a Butterfly also earned Lamar seven nominations at the 2016 Grammy Awards. It was nominated in the categories of Album of the Year and Best Rap Album, winning the latter but losing the former to Taylor Swift's 1989. "Alright" won for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song while also being nominated for Song of the Year and Best Music Video. "These Walls" won for Best Rap/Sung Performance.[115] He would also receive four additional nominations for other musical collaborations from that year, making it a total of eleven Grammy nominations for Lamar. This earned Lamar the most Grammy nominations for a rapper in a single night and the second most by any artist in a single night. Michael Jackson and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds are tied for the artists with the most Grammy nominations in a single night with twelve; Jackson in 1984 and Babyface in 1997.[116][117] At the previous year's ceremony, "i" had won Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance.[118] To Pimp a Butterfly also received a nomination for Top Rap Album at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards.[119]

Impact

The album's immediate influence was felt as "a pantheon for racial empowerment", according to Butler, who also argued that the record helped create a respected space for conscious hip hop and "will be revered not just at the top of some list at the end of the year, but in the subconscious of music fans for decades to come".[98] Writing for Highsnobiety, Robert Blair said, "[To Pimp a Butterfly] is the crystallized moment in time where Kendrick became a generation's most potent artistic voice."[4] Uproxx journalist Aaron Williams said the album "proved that left-field, experimental rap can function in both the critical and commercial realms".[120] Jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington said that the album "changed music, and we're still seeing the effects of it [...] [the album] meant that intellectually stimulating music doesn't have to be underground. It just didn't change the music. It changed the audience."[4] To Pimp a Butterfly was an influence on David Bowie's 2016 album Blackstar. As its producer Tony Visconti recalled, he and Bowie were "listening to a lot of Kendrick Lamar [...] we loved the fact Kendrick was so open-minded and he didn't do a straight-up hip-hop record. He threw everything on there, and that's exactly what we wanted to do."[121]

Track listing

To Pimp a Butterfly track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Wesley's Theory" (featuring George Clinton and Thundercat)
4:47
2."For Free? (Interlude)"
Martin2:10
3."King Kunta"
  • Sounwave
  • Martin[a]
3:54
4."Institutionalized" (featuring Bilal, Anna Wise and Snoop Dogg)
4:31
5."These Walls" (featuring Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat)
  • Martin
  • Dopson
  • Sounwave[a]
5:00
6."U"
  • Arnold
  • Whoarei
  • Sounwave[a]
4:28
7."Alright"
  • Williams
  • Sounwave
3:39
8."For Sale? (Interlude)"
  • Duckworth
  • Arnold
4:51
9."Momma"
4:43
10."Hood Politics"
4:52
11."How Much a Dollar Cost" (featuring James Fauntleroy and Ronald Isley)
LoveDragon4:21
12."Complexion (A Zulu Love)" (featuring Rapsody)
  • Thundercat
  • Sounwave
  • Martin[a]
  • The Antydote[a]
4:23
13."The Blacker the Berry"
5:28
14."You Ain't Gotta Lie (Momma Said)"
  • Duckworth
  • Martin
  • McKinney
  • Leimberg
  • Spears
LoveDragon4:01
15."I"
Rahki5:36
16."Mortal Man"
Sounwave12:07
Total length:78:51
  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer
  • "U" and "I" are stylized in lowercase letters

Sample credits

Personnel

Credits for To Pimp a Butterfly adapted from AllMusic and the album's digital booklet.[122][17]

  • Kendrick Lamar – vocals; art direction
  • George Clinton – vocals (track 1)
  • Thundercat – vocals (tracks 1, 5); background vocals (tracks 7, 12, 14); bass (tracks 3, 13, 15, 16); additional bass (track 5); producer (tracks 10, 12); additional production (track 1)
  • Anna Wise – vocals (tracks 4, 5); backing vocals (tracks 1, 2, 10)
  • Bilal – vocals (tracks 4, 5); backing vocals (6, 8–10)
  • Snoop Dogg – vocals (track 4)
  • James Fauntleroy – vocals (track 11); background vocals (track 16)
  • Ronald Isley – vocals (track 11); additional vocals (track 15)
  • Rapsody – vocals (track 12)
  • Flying Lotus – producer (track 1)
  • Ronald "Flippa" Colson – producer (track 1)
  • Sounwave – producer (tracks 3, 7, 10, 12, 16); additional production (tracks 1, 5, 6, 8, 10); keyboards (track 14); string arrangements
  • Terrace Martin – alto saxophone (tracks 1, 2, 6–9, 11, 13, 14, 16); horns (track 1); keyboards (tracks 5, 6, 8–12); producer (tracks 2, 5); additional production (tracks 3, 8, 12, 13); vocoder (tracks 9, 14); string arrangements
  • Rahki – producer (tracks 4, 15); percussion (track 15)
  • Fredrik "Tommy Black" Halldin – producer (track 4)
  • Larrance Dopson – percussion (tracks 5, 11–14); keyboards, producer (track 5)
  • Taz Arnold aka Tisa – background vocals (tracks 4, 8, 9, 15); producer (tracks 6, 8)
  • Whoarei – producer (track 6)
  • Pharrell Williams – producer, vocals (track 7)
  • Knxwledge – producer (track 9)
  • Tae Beast – producer (track 10)
  • Lovedragon – producer (tracks 11, 14)
  • Boi-1da – producer (track 13)
  • KOZ – producer (track 13)
  • Dr. Dre – executive producer; background vocals (track 1)
  • James Hunt – engineer (tracks 1–7, 13–16); mix assistant
  • Derek "MixedByAli" Ali – engineer (tracks 1–6, 8–16), mixer
  • Katalyst – additional drum programming, additional engineering (track 13)
  • Mike Bozzi – mastering engineer
  • Ash Riser – background vocals (track 1)
  • Josef Leimberg – trumpet (tracks 1, 5, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16), vocals (track 1)
  • Whitney Alford – background vocals (tracks 1, 3)
  • Robert "Sput" Searight – drums (track 2); keyboards (track 10)
  • Robert Glasper – piano (track 2); keyboards (tracks 5, 12, 13, 16)
  • Brandon Owens – bass (tracks 2, 16)
  • Craig Brockman – organ (track 2)
  • Marlon Williams – guitar (tracks 2, 5, 6, 11, 14, 16); additional guitar (track 3)
  • Darlene Tibbs – background vocals (track 2)
  • Matt Schaeffer – additional guitar (track 3); engineer (tracks 3, 6, 11–16)
  • Sam Barsh – keyboards (tracks 4, 15)
  • Pedro Castro – clarinet (track 4)
  • Gabriel Noel – cello (track 4), upright bass (track 11)
  • Paul Cartwright – violin (tracks 4, 11, 16)
  • Gregory Moore – guitar (track 5)
  • Kamasi Washington – tenor saxophone (track 6); string arrangements
  • Adam Turchan – baritone saxophone (track 6)
  • Jessica Vielmas – background vocals (track 6)
  • SZA – background vocals (tracks 6, 8)
  • Candace Wakefield – background vocals (tracks 7, 15)
  • Preston Harris – background vocals (tracks 8, 10, 14)
  • Lalah Hathaway – background vocals (tracks 9, 12, 13)
  • Dion Friley – background vocals (tracks 10, 15)
  • Talkbox Monte – background vocals (track 12)
  • JaVonté – background vocals (tracks 12, 14, 16)
  • Pete Rock – background vocals/scratches (track 12)
  • Ronald Bruner Jr. – drums (track 13)
  • Wyann Vaughn – background vocals (track 14)
  • Keith Askey – guitar (track 15)
  • Kendall Lewis – drums (track 15)
  • Chris Smith – bass (track 15)
  • William Sweat – background vocals (track 15)
  • Devon Downing – background vocals (track 15)
  • Edwin Orellana – background vocals (track 15)
  • Dave Free – background vocals (track 15)
  • Junius Bervine – keyboards (track 16)
  • Ambrose Akinmusire – trumpet (track 16)

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for To Pimp a Butterfly
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[163] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[164] 2× Platinum 160,000 
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[165] Platinum 20,000 
United Kingdom (BPI)[166] Platinum 300,000 
United States (RIAA)[86] Platinum 1,050,000[167]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
  Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

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  162. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. from the original on December 12, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  163. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2015 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  164. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly". Music Canada. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  165. ^ "Danish album certifications – Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  166. ^ "British album certifications – Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
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Further reading

  • Ewell, Philip A. (March 1, 2019). "Introduction to the Symposium on Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly". Music Theory Online. 25 (1). doi:10.30535/mto.25.1.7.
  • Futlon, Will (Spring 2015). "The Performer as Historian: Black Messiah, To Pimp a Butterfly, and the Matter of Albums". American Music Review. XLIV (2).
  • Pizzo, Mike "DJ" (2015). "How Kendrick Lamar & J. Cole Rebooted Conscious Rap". Cuepoint.

External links

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

March 05, 2023
pimp, butterfly, third, studio, album, american, rapper, kendrick, lamar, released, march, 2015, dawg, entertainment, aftermath, entertainment, interscope, records, album, recorded, studios, throughout, united, states, with, production, from, sounwave, terrace. 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 Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records The album was recorded in studios throughout the United States with production from Sounwave Terrace Martin Taz Tisa Arnold Thundercat Rahki LoveDragon Flying Lotus Pharrell Williams Boi 1da Knxwledge and several other high profile hip hop producers as well as executive production from Dr Dre and Anthony Top Dawg Tiffith Guest appearances include Thundercat George Clinton Bilal Anna Wise Snoop Dogg James Fauntleroy Ronald Isley and Rapsody To Pimp a ButterflyStudio album by Kendrick LamarReleasedMarch 15 2015 2015 03 15 StudioChalice Hollywood Downtown New York House Washington D C Notifi St Louis No Excuses Santa Monica GenreExperimental hip hop progressive rap conscious hip hop jazz rap G funk neo soulLength78 51LabelTDE Aftermath InterscopeProducerBoi 1da Flippa Flying Lotus Knxwledge KOZ Larrance Dopson LoveDragon Pharrell Williams Rahki Sounwave Tae Beast Taz Arnold Terrace Martin Thundercat Tommy Black WhoareiKendrick Lamar chronologyGood Kid M A A D City 2012 To Pimp a Butterfly 2015 Untitled Unmastered 2016 Singles from To Pimp a Butterfly I Released September 16 2014 The Blacker the Berry Released February 9 2015 King Kunta Released March 24 2015 Alright Released June 30 2015 These Walls Released October 13 2015Primarily a hip hop album To Pimp a Butterfly incorporates numerous other musical styles spanning the history of African American music most prominently jazz funk and soul Lyrically it features political commentary and personal themes concerning African American culture racial inequality depression and institutional discrimination This thematic direction was inspired by Lamar s tour of historic sites during his visit to South Africa such as Nelson Mandela s jail cell on Robben Island To Pimp a Butterfly sold 324 000 copies in the United States in its first week of release earning a chart debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 while also becoming Lamar s first number one album in the UK It was eventually certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America RIAA and sold one million copies in the United States by 2017 Five singles were released in promotion of the album including the top 40 hit I Lamar also supported the album with the Kunta s Groove Sessions Tour from late 2015 to early 2016 The album has received widespread acclaim from critics who praised its musical scope and the social relevance of Lamar s lyrics It earned Lamar seven nominations at the 2016 Grammy Awards including a win for Best Rap Album and an Album of the Year nomination He received four additional nominations for other collaborations from that year receiving a total of 11 Grammy nominations which was the most nominations for any rapper in a single night The most critically acclaimed album of 2015 as well as one of the most critically acclaimed of its entire decade it topped The Village Voice s annual Pazz amp Jop poll of American critics nationwide and was also ranked as the best album of 2015 by many other publications In the years following its release several publications named To Pimp a Butterfly one of the best albums of the 2010s in 2020 the album was ranked 19th on Rolling Stone s updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Contents 1 Background 2 Recording and production 3 Musical style 4 Lyrics and themes 5 Title and packaging 6 Marketing and sales 7 Critical reception 7 1 Accolades 8 Impact 9 Track listing 9 1 Sample credits 10 Personnel 11 Charts 11 1 Weekly charts 11 2 Year end charts 12 Certifications 13 See also 14 References 15 Further reading 16 External linksBackground EditOn February 28 2014 Kendrick Lamar first revealed the plans to release a follow up to his second studio album Good Kid M A A D City 2012 during an interview with Billboard 1 Between the releases of Good Kid M A A D City and To Pimp a Butterfly Lamar traveled to South Africa Touring the country and visiting historic sites such as Nelson Mandela s jail cell on Robben Island heavily influenced the direction of the record 2 and led to Lamar scrapping two or three albums worth of material 3 Co producer Sounwave spoke on Lamar s visit saying I remember he Lamar took a trip to South Africa and something in his mind just clicked For me that s when this album really started 4 Regarding his visit to South Africa Lamar said I felt like I belonged in Africa I saw all the things that I wasn t taught Probably one of the hardest things to do is put together a concept on how beautiful a place can be and tell a person this while they re still in the ghettos of Compton I wanted to put that experience in the music 4 In addition Lamar said The idea was to make a record that reflected all complexions of black women There s a separation between the light and the dark skin because it s just in our nature to do so but we re all black This concept came from South Africa and I saw all these different colors speaking a beautiful language 4 Recording and production Edit The mixing desk at Chalice Recording Studios in Hollywood To Pimp a Butterfly was recorded 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 5 During the whole tour producer Flying Lotus played Lamar a selection of tracks that was intended for Captain Murphy s album Flying Lotus s alter ego Lamar kept all the tracks but only opener Wesley s Theory which also features Thundercat and George Clinton made the final cut onto the album 6 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 stated that it is unlikely his version of the song will see a release 7 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 8 9 Lamar also contacted Madlib to seek his collaboration on the record but was unable to reach him 10 In 2014 Pharrell Williams who previously worked with Lamar along with producer Sounwave played the track Alright at the Holy Ship Festival 11 The track features the same unidentified sample that Williams used on Rick Ross track Presidential from his album God Forgives I Don t 2012 Reportedly at one time it featured a guest appearance from American rapper Fabolous 11 12 13 The album went through three different phases before the production team could move forward with the idea Afterwards producer Thundercat was brought into the process after Flying Lotus brought him along to see Lamar s performance on The Yeezus Tour 14 The album s lead single titled I was produced by Rahki who also produced a song for the album entitled Institutionalized Although the version of I appearing on the album is drastically different from that on the single release both versions contained a sample of the song That Lady performed by The Isley Brothers Lamar personally visited The Isley Brothers to receive permission from lead vocalist Ronald Isley to sample the song 15 Bass player Thundercat left and singer Bilal are among the musicians who contributed to the album Lamar began traveling to St Louis and began working with Isley at the studio Isley also performed on the song How Much a Dollar Cost alongside the singer songwriter James Fauntleroy 15 Producer and rapper Pete Rock provided some backing vocals and scratches to the song Complexion A Zulu Love and as he stated the contribution was unusual as he was not the producer for the track 16 Singer Bilal features on the songs Institutionalized and These Walls and has provided un credited backing vocals on the songs U For Sale Interlude Momma and Hood Politics 17 Bilal stated that he and Lamar were initially unsure of how many songs he would be featured on stating he worked on various tracks but did not yet know the outcome For a lot of the material Kendrick had an idea of what he wanted He would sing out the melody and some of the words and I would interpret what he was telling me On the songs where Bilal added backing vocals he stated that some of it was freestyle just adding color to make it a fuller sound 18 Lamar also reportedly worked 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 19 20 21 Lamar professed to having listened often to Miles Davis and Parliament Funkadelic during the album s recording 22 In 2016 Lamar released Untitled Unmastered a compilation album which contains previously unreleased demos that originated during the recording of To Pimp a Butterfly According to producer Thundercat it completes the sentence of Lamar s third studio album 23 Musical style EditAccording to musicologist Will Fulton To Pimp a Butterfly engages in and celebrates the black music tradition Much like the singer D Angelo on his 2014 album Black Messiah Lamar consciously indexes African American musical styles of the past in a dynamic relationship of nostalgic revivalism and vanguardism 24 Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly described the album as embracing the entire history of black American music 25 Lamar s co engineer mixer MixedByAli praised Lamar saying Lamar is a sponge He incorporated everything that was going on in Africa and in his life to complete a million piece puzzle 4 Lamar described the album as an honest fearful and unapologetic work that draws on funk hard bop spoken word and soul 2 22 while critics also noted elements of West Coast hip hop 26 and avant garde 27 28 Allison Stewart from The Washington Post says the album is threaded with G funk 29 Speaking on the album s styles co producer Terrace Martin said If you dig deeper you hear the lineage of James Brown Jackie Wilson Mahalia Jackson the sounds of Africa and our people when they started over here I hear something different every time I heard Cuban elements in it the other day 4 The album features contributions from the collective of musicians called the West Coast Get Down who experiment with jazz and progressive hip hop sounds and feature Lamar Flying Lotus Martin and saxophonist Kamasi Washington among others Consequently the music is jazz like in spirit if not always in sound according to Ben Ratliff 30 while Mosi Reeves from Deadspin observes a virtuosic quality to its prog rap cornucopia 31 Stereogum described To Pimp a Butterfly as an ambitious avant jazz rap statement 32 and The Source categorized the album as an experimental hip hop release 33 Dan Weiss of Spin noted shades of Miles Davis On the Corner and free jazz all over as well as Sly Stone s There s a Riot Goin On and Funkadelic and Erykah Badu s similarly wah crazy but comparatively lo fi New Amerykah 4th World War but stated nonetheless that the sense of this album is vividly contemporary 34 Other critics regard it as throwback to neo soul music of the 1990s 35 Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune noted the album s affinities with previous black music but argued that Lamar takes familiar musical tropes into new territory 27 The Atlantic noted the influence of collaborator Flying Lotus writing that his signature sound jazz instrumentation and hip hop layered into chaotic collages is all over the album 36 Steve Mallon of The Quietus noted an eerily warped psychedelia bursting out of its idiosyncratic arrangements 37 Lyrics and themes Edit Institutionalized source source track Lamar s lyrics explore the results of institutional racism Problems playing this file See media help Categorized by Billboard as a politically charged conscious rap album 38 To Pimp a Butterfly explores a variety of political and personal themes related to race culture and discrimination Critic Neil Kulkarni said it appraises the broken promises and bloody pathways in and out of America s heartland malaise 39 Jay Caspian Kang observed elements of critical race theory respectability politics theology and meta analysis examining Lamar s success and revered status in the hip hop community 40 It was compared by California State University Fullerton professor Natalie Graham to the 1977 television miniseries Roots While Roots compresses and simplifies black history Graham said To Pimp a Butterfly radically disrupt s meanings of black respectability heroic morality trauma and memory 41 In the Toronto Journal of Theology James D McLeod Jr drew parallels between Lamar s examination of death s domineering significance in the African American experience and the works of Christian theologian Paul Tillich with McLeod calling To Pimp a Butterfly an original example of existentialist hip hop 42 Meanwhile Adam Blum discerned connections between To Pimp a Butterfly and the writings of psychoanalysts such as Wilfred Bion Nicolas Abraham and Sigmund Freud 43 In an essay published in The Lancet Psychiatry University of Cambridge professors Akeem Sule and Becky Inkster described Lamar as the street poet of mental health noting how To Pimp a Butterfly as well as its predecessor Good Kid M A A D City explore topics such as addiction anxiety depression and resilience 44 The album continues a nuanced dialogue about weighty topics that affect the African American community Releasing his album in a time of renewed black activism Lamar s song Alright has become a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement 45 With lyrics like and we hate po po Wanna kill us dead in the street fo sho nigga he makes it clear that he is supportive of the movement and the families of black men and women like Michael Brown Sandra Bland Tamir Rice and others who have fallen victim to police brutality in the United States Lamar takes his opinions further to lend his position on black crime in the song The Blacker the Berry He criticizes himself and his community by rapping So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street When gang bangin make me kill a nigga blacker than me Some critics claim that his attitude facilitates the rhetoric that silences the Black Lives Matter movement Stereo Williams of The Daily Beast wrote in response to his lyrics that it s dangerous to use that violence as a silencing tactic when the public is angry about the systematic subjugation of black people 46 Lamar has offered explanations of the meanings behind songs such as Wesley s Theory and King Kunta 47 48 49 The album s 1970s funk inspired 50 opening track Wesley s Theory is a reference to Wesley Snipes and how the actor was jailed for tax evasion according to Lamar 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 47 48 49 For Free Interlude sees Lamar rapping in a dense spoken word esque manner with musical accompaniment by jazz pianist Robert Glasper 50 King Kunta is concerned with the history of negative stereotypes all African Americans have to reconcile 47 48 49 Lamar also explained his criticism of rappers who use ghostwriters on King Kunta revealing that he came to prominence as a ghostwriter and has respect for writers but says that as a new artist you have to stand behind your work 47 48 49 These Walls has been described by Billboard as pondering sex and existence in equal measure it s a yoni metaphor about the power of peace with sugar walls being escape and real walls being obstacles 51 Lamar revealed that U was inspired by his own experience of depression and suicidal thoughts 52 He also mentioned feelings of survivor s guilt as inspirations for the album 53 Alright begins as a spoken word treatise before exploding into a shapeshifting portrait of America that brings in jazz horns skittering drum beats and Lamar s mellifluous rapping as he struggles with troubles and temptations Yet at the end of each verse he reassures himself that We gon be alright a simple rallying cry for a nation reeling from gun violence and police brutality 54 For critics a celebration of being alive 55 Lamar described Alright as a message of hope 56 The Blacker the Berry features a boom bap beat and lyrics that celebrate Lamar s African American heritage and tackle hatred racism and hypocrisy head on 57 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 58 59 Title and packaging EditThe album was originally going to be titled Tu Pimp a Caterpillar a backronym for Tu P A C itself an allusion to the rapper Tupac 48 Lamar decided to replace caterpillar in the original title to butterfly which he explained in an interview for MTV 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 It gets even deeper than that for me I could be talking all day about it 48 Lamar later also told Rolling Stone 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 60 The album s CD release included a booklet produced with braille letterings according to Lamar these characters when translated reveal the actual full title of the album 61 Complex commissioned a braille translator who found that it translated to A Kendrick by Letter Blank Lamar which Complex noted was most likely supposed to read as A Blank Letter by Kendrick Lamar 61 62 Marketing and sales EditThe album s release was preceded by the release of two singles I on September 23 2014 63 and The Blacker the Berry in February 2015 64 The former became Lamar s sixth top 40 single on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was performed on Saturday Night Live 65 King Kunta was released as the third single in March 2015 66 and Alright was released to radio stations on June 30 67 With the latter s release several contemporary progressive news outlets including BET raised the idea of Alright being the modern Black National Anthem 45 68 69 while the media reported youth lead protests against police brutality across the country chanted the chorus of the song 70 71 Primarily for the latter Lamar was featured on Ebony magazine s Power 100 an annual list that recognizes many leaders of the African American community 72 These Walls was released as the album s fifth single on October 13 73 Aside from the singles accompanying music videos the song For Free Interlude also featured visuals 74 as did U with For Sale Interlude as part of the short film God Is Gangsta 75 In support of the album Lamar embarked on the Kunta s Groove Sessions Tour which included eight shows in eight cities during October and November 76 To Pimp a Butterfly was first released to the iTunes Store and Spotify on March 15 2015 eight days ahead of its scheduled release date 77 According to Anthony Tiffith CEO of Top Dawg Entertainment the album s early release was unintentional apparently caused by an error on the part of Interscope Records 78 The following day it was made unavailable on iTunes and the release was rescheduled for March 23 although it was still available for streaming on Spotify 79 In its first week of release To Pimp a Butterfly debuted at number one on record charts in the United Kingdom Australia 80 and the United States where it recorded first week sales of 324 000 copies 81 The album was streamed 9 6 million times in its first day on Spotify setting the service s global first day streaming record 82 By the end of 2015 To Pimp a Butterfly was ranked the sixteenth most popular album on the Billboard 200 that year 83 and reached sales of one million copies worldwide 84 By March 2016 it had sold 850 000 copies in the US 85 where it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America RIAA 86 In June 2017 it reached one million copies sold in the US 87 Critical reception EditProfessional ratingsAggregate scoresSourceRatingAnyDecentMusic 9 3 10 88 Metacritic96 100 89 Review scoresSourceRatingAllMusic 90 The Daily Telegraph 91 Entertainment WeeklyA 25 The Guardian 92 The Irish Times 93 NME8 10 94 Pitchfork9 3 10 95 Rolling Stone 96 Spin10 10 34 USA Today 97 To Pimp a Butterfly was met with widespread critical acclaim At Metacritic which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications the album received an average score of 96 based on 44 reviews 89 Aggregator AnyDecentMusic gave it 9 3 out of 10 based on their assessment of the critical consensus 88 According to Gigwise writer Will Butler it was universally hailed by critics as an instant classic 98 Spin magazine s Dan Weiss regarded To Pimp a Butterfly as the Great American Hip Hop Album and an essential listen 34 while Neil McCormick from The Daily Telegraph called it a dense but dazzling masterpiece that positions Lamar ahead of the prog rap resurgence led by Kanye West and Drake 91 Writing for Entertainment Weekly Kyle Anderson found the record twice as substantial as Lamar s debut major label album and more comprehensive of African American music styles with supremely cinematic production qualities but the freedom of a mixtape 25 Irish Times journalist Jim Carroll deemed it a record for the times we re in in which Lamar transitioned from his past narratives about Compton to fierce but precise reflections on black America 93 In Rolling Stone Greg Tate deemed To Pimp a Butterfly a masterpiece of fiery outrage deep jazz and ruthless self critique that along with D Angelo s third album Black Messiah made 2015 the year radical Black politics and for real Black music resurged in tandem to converge on the nation s pop mainstream 96 Robert Christgau wrote in his review on Cuepoint that not many artists were as passionate and understanding as Lamar who offered a strong brave effective bid to reinstate hip hop as black America s CNN during an era of social media 99 While the album s reception was almost universally positive there were still a few reviews at release that offered minor critiques For instance New York Times critic Jon Caramanica was less enthusiastic than others feeling Lamar still struggled in reconciling his density as a lyricist with the music he rapped over He hasn t outrun his tendency towards clutter and still runs the risk of suffocation 100 In The Guardian Alexis Petridis found the music somewhat erratic and lamented moments of self indulgence such as the twelve minute Mortal Man and Lamar s reflections on fame However Petridis still ultimately awarded the album four stars out of five 92 Accolades Edit At the end of 2015 To Pimp a Butterfly was the most frequently ranked record in top ten lists of the year s best albums According to Metacritic it appeared 101 times in the top ten of lists published by critics magazines websites and music stores The record topped 51 lists including those by Rolling Stone Billboard Pitchfork Slant Magazine Spin The Guardian Complex Consequence The Irish Times and Vice 101 NME ranked it second on their list while Time named it the year s third best album 102 It was voted the best album of 2015 in the Pazz amp Jop an annual poll of American critics nationwide published by The Village Voice 103 Christgau the Pazz amp Jop s creator ranked it fourth in his ballot for the poll 104 The album placed ninth in British magazine The Wire s annual critics poll 105 Based on such rankings the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists To Pimp a Butterfly as the most critically acclaimed album of 2015 106 On their lists of best albums of the decade The Independent placed it first 107 Consequence second 108 Rolling Stone third 109 and Pitchfork fourth 110 In The Guardian s 2019 poll of 45 music journalists To Pimp a Butterfly was voted the fourth best album of the 21st century and contributing writer Ben Beaumont Thomas said in an accompanying that as a celebration of the richness of black artistry the whole album was a riposte to bigotry 111 Similarly in his March 2015 review of the album for The Verge editor and journalist Micah Singleton had hailed it as the best album of the 21st century the best hip hop album since The Notorious B I G s Ready to Die and Nas Illmatic in 1994 and it cements Kendrick Lamar s spot as an all time great 112 In September 2020 Rolling Stone released an updated version of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list based on the opinions of over 300 artists music journalists and industry insiders which ranked To Pimp a Butterfly as the 19th best album of all time 113 Tampa Bay Times placed the album as the second on their list of The 10 Best Albums of the 2010s 114 To Pimp a Butterfly also earned Lamar seven nominations at the 2016 Grammy Awards It was nominated in the categories of Album of the Year and Best Rap Album winning the latter but losing the former to Taylor Swift s 1989 Alright won for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song while also being nominated for Song of the Year and Best Music Video These Walls won for Best Rap Sung Performance 115 He would also receive four additional nominations for other musical collaborations from that year making it a total of eleven Grammy nominations for Lamar This earned Lamar the most Grammy nominations for a rapper in a single night and the second most by any artist in a single night Michael Jackson and Kenneth Babyface Edmonds are tied for the artists with the most Grammy nominations in a single night with twelve Jackson in 1984 and Babyface in 1997 116 117 At the previous year s ceremony i had won Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance 118 To Pimp a Butterfly also received a nomination for Top Rap Album at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards 119 Impact EditThe album s immediate influence was felt as a pantheon for racial empowerment according to Butler who also argued that the record helped create a respected space for conscious hip hop and will be revered not just at the top of some list at the end of the year but in the subconscious of music fans for decades to come 98 Writing for Highsnobiety Robert Blair said To Pimp a Butterfly is the crystallized moment in time where Kendrick became a generation s most potent artistic voice 4 Uproxx journalist Aaron Williams said the album proved that left field experimental rap can function in both the critical and commercial realms 120 Jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington said that the album changed music and we re still seeing the effects of it the album meant that intellectually stimulating music doesn t have to be underground It just didn t change the music It changed the audience 4 To Pimp a Butterfly was an influence on David Bowie s 2016 album Blackstar As its producer Tony Visconti recalled he and Bowie were listening to a lot of Kendrick Lamar we loved the fact Kendrick was so open minded and he didn t do a straight up hip hop record He threw everything on there and that s exactly what we wanted to do 121 Track listing EditTo Pimp a Butterfly track listingNo TitleWriter s Producer s Length1 Wesley s Theory featuring George Clinton and Thundercat Kendrick DuckworthGeorge ClintonSteven EllisonRonald ColsonStephen BrunerBoris GardinerFlying LotusFlippaSounwave a Thundercat a 4 472 For Free Interlude DuckworthTerrace MartinRose McKinneyMartin2 103 King Kunta DuckworthMark SpearsJohnny BurnsMichael JacksonAhmad LewisStefan GordySounwaveMartin a 3 544 Institutionalized featuring Bilal Anna Wise and Snoop Dogg DuckworthColumbus SmithFredrik HalldinSam BarshRahkiTommy Black4 315 These Walls featuring Bilal Anna Wise and Thundercat DuckworthMartinLarrance DopsonJames FauntleroyMcKinneyMartinDopsonSounwave a 5 006 U DuckworthTaz ArnoldMichael BrownArnoldWhoareiSounwave a 4 287 Alright DuckworthPharrell WilliamsSpearsWilliamsSounwave3 398 For Sale Interlude DuckworthArnoldArnoldSounwave a Martin a 4 519 Momma DuckworthGlen BootheArnoldSylvester StewartLalah HathawayRahsaan PattersonRex RideoutKnxwledgeArnold4 4310 Hood Politics DuckworthDonte PerkinsSpearsBrunerSufjan StevensTae BeastSounwaveThundercat4 5211 How Much a Dollar Cost featuring James Fauntleroy and Ronald Isley DuckworthMartinJosef LeimbergMcKinneyFauntleroyRonald IsleyLoveDragon4 2112 Complexion A Zulu Love featuring Rapsody DuckworthBrunerSpearsMarlanna EvansThundercatSounwaveMartin a The Antydote a 4 2313 The Blacker the Berry DuckworthMatthew SamuelsStephen KozmeniukKen LewisBrent KolataloJefferey CampbellAlexander IzquierdoZale EpsteinBoi 1daKOZMartin a 5 2814 You Ain t Gotta Lie Momma Said DuckworthMartinMcKinneyLeimbergSpearsLoveDragon4 0115 I DuckworthSmithRo IsleyO Kelly Isley Jr Ernie IsleyMarvin IsleyRudolph IsleyChristopher JasperRahki5 3616 Mortal Man DuckworthSpearsBrunerFela Anikulapo KutiSounwave12 07Total length 78 51 a signifies an additional producer U and I are stylized in lowercase lettersSample credits Edit 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 resung lyrics from Smooth Criminal written by Michael Jackson elements from The Payback written by James Brown Fred Wesley and John Starks and samples from We Want the Funk written by Ahmad Lewis Momma contains elements of Wishful Thinking written by Sylvester Stewart and performed by Sly and the Family Stone and elements of On Your Own written by Lalah Hathaway Rahsaan Patterson and Rex Rideout and samples from On Your Own performed by Lalah Hathaway Hood Politics contains a sample of All for Myself written and performed by Sufjan Stevens I contains portions of That Lady written by Ronald Isley Christopher Jasper O Kelly Isley Jr Ernie Isley Marvin Isley and Rudolph Isley Mortal Man contains excerpts from I No Get Eye for Back written by Fela Anikulapo Kuti and performed by Houston Person and featuring parts from the music journalist Mats Nileskar s November 1994 interview with Tupac Shakur for P3 Soul Broadcasting Corporation Personnel EditCredits for To Pimp a Butterfly adapted from AllMusic and the album s digital booklet 122 17 Kendrick Lamar vocals art direction George Clinton vocals track 1 Thundercat vocals tracks 1 5 background vocals tracks 7 12 14 bass tracks 3 13 15 16 additional bass track 5 producer tracks 10 12 additional production track 1 Anna Wise vocals tracks 4 5 backing vocals tracks 1 2 10 Bilal vocals tracks 4 5 backing vocals 6 8 10 Snoop Dogg vocals track 4 James Fauntleroy vocals track 11 background vocals track 16 Ronald Isley vocals track 11 additional vocals track 15 Rapsody vocals track 12 Flying Lotus producer track 1 Ronald Flippa Colson producer track 1 Sounwave producer tracks 3 7 10 12 16 additional production tracks 1 5 6 8 10 keyboards track 14 string arrangements Terrace Martin alto saxophone tracks 1 2 6 9 11 13 14 16 horns track 1 keyboards tracks 5 6 8 12 producer tracks 2 5 additional production tracks 3 8 12 13 vocoder tracks 9 14 string arrangements Rahki producer tracks 4 15 percussion track 15 Fredrik Tommy Black Halldin producer track 4 Larrance Dopson percussion tracks 5 11 14 keyboards producer track 5 Taz Arnold aka Tisa background vocals tracks 4 8 9 15 producer tracks 6 8 Whoarei producer track 6 Pharrell Williams producer vocals track 7 Knxwledge producer track 9 Tae Beast producer track 10 Lovedragon producer tracks 11 14 Boi 1da producer track 13 KOZ producer track 13 Dr Dre executive producer background vocals track 1 James Hunt engineer tracks 1 7 13 16 mix assistant Derek MixedByAli Ali engineer tracks 1 6 8 16 mixer Katalyst additional drum programming additional engineering track 13 Mike Bozzi mastering engineer Ash Riser background vocals track 1 Josef Leimberg trumpet tracks 1 5 8 11 12 14 16 vocals track 1 Whitney Alford background vocals tracks 1 3 Robert Sput Searight drums track 2 keyboards track 10 Robert Glasper piano track 2 keyboards tracks 5 12 13 16 Brandon Owens bass tracks 2 16 Craig Brockman organ track 2 Marlon Williams guitar tracks 2 5 6 11 14 16 additional guitar track 3 Darlene Tibbs background vocals track 2 Matt Schaeffer additional guitar track 3 engineer tracks 3 6 11 16 Sam Barsh keyboards tracks 4 15 Pedro Castro clarinet track 4 Gabriel Noel cello track 4 upright bass track 11 Paul Cartwright violin tracks 4 11 16 Gregory Moore guitar track 5 Kamasi Washington tenor saxophone track 6 string arrangements Adam Turchan baritone saxophone track 6 Jessica Vielmas background vocals track 6 SZA background vocals tracks 6 8 Candace Wakefield background vocals tracks 7 15 Preston Harris background vocals tracks 8 10 14 Lalah Hathaway background vocals tracks 9 12 13 Dion Friley background vocals tracks 10 15 Talkbox Monte background vocals track 12 JaVonte background vocals tracks 12 14 16 Pete Rock background vocals scratches track 12 Ronald Bruner Jr drums track 13 Wyann Vaughn background vocals track 14 Keith Askey guitar track 15 Kendall Lewis drums track 15 Chris Smith bass track 15 William Sweat background vocals track 15 Devon Downing background vocals track 15 Edwin Orellana background vocals track 15 Dave Free background vocals track 15 Junius Bervine keyboards track 16 Ambrose Akinmusire trumpet track 16 Charts EditWeekly charts Edit Chart performance for To Pimp a Butterfly Chart 2015 2016 PeakpositionAustralian Albums ARIA 123 1Austrian Albums O3 Austria 124 15Belgian Albums Ultratop Flanders 125 4Belgian Albums Ultratop Wallonia 126 16Canadian Albums Billboard 127 1Danish Albums Hitlisten 128 3Dutch Albums Album Top 100 129 9Finnish Albums Suomen virallinen lista 130 14French Albums SNEP 131 17German Albums Offizielle Top 100 132 7Hungarian Albums MAHASZ 133 34Irish Albums IRMA 134 6Italian Albums FIMI 135 32Japanese Albums Oricon 136 37New Zealand Albums RMNZ 137 1Norwegian Albums VG lista 138 2Portuguese Albums AFP 139 21Spanish Albums PROMUSICAE 140 91Swedish Albums Sverigetopplistan 141 10Swiss Albums Schweizer Hitparade 142 3Scottish Albums OCC 143 3Taiwanese Albums Five Music 144 11UK Albums OCC 145 1UK R amp B Albums OCC 146 1US Billboard 200 147 1US Top R amp B Hip Hop Albums Billboard 148 1 Year end charts Edit 2015 year end chart performance for To Pimp a Butterfly Chart 2015 PositionAustralian Albums ARIA 149 23Belgian Albums Ultratop Flanders 150 40Belgian Albums Ultratop Wallonia 151 173Canadian Albums Billboard 152 23Danish Albums Hitlisten 153 52Dutch Albums MegaCharts 154 84New Zealand Album RMNZ 155 32UK Albums OCC 156 55US Billboard 200 83 16US Top R amp B Hip Hop Albums Billboard 157 32016 year end chart performance for To Pimp a Butterfly Chart 2016 PositionAustralian Albums ARIA 158 65US Billboard 200 159 61US Top R amp B Hip Hop Albums Billboard 160 132017 year end chart performance for To Pimp a Butterfly Chart 2017 PositionAustralian Urban Albums ARIA 161 29US Billboard 200 162 181Certifications EditCertifications for To Pimp a Butterfly Region Certification Certified units salesAustralia ARIA 163 Gold 35 000 Canada Music Canada 164 2 Platinum 160 000 Denmark IFPI Danmark 165 Platinum 20 000 United Kingdom BPI 166 Platinum 300 000 United States RIAA 86 Platinum 1 050 000 167 Shipments figures based on certification alone Sales streaming figures based on certification alone See also Edit2015 in hip hop music List of number one albums of 2015 Australia List of number one albums of 2015 Canada List of number one albums from the 2010s New Zealand List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 2010s List of UK R amp B Albums Chart number ones of 2015 List of Billboard 200 number one albums of 2015 List of Billboard number one R amp B hip hop albums of 2015 List of Billboard number one R amp B hip hop albums of 2016References Edit Top Dawg s Kendrick Lamar amp ScHoolboy Q Cover Story Enter the House of Pain Billboard February 28 2014 Archived from the original on March 4 2014 Retrieved April 22 2014 a b Andres Hale February 9 2016 The Oral History Of Kendrick Lamar s To Pimp A Butterfly The Recording Academy Archived from the original on February 11 2016 Retrieved February 11 2016 6 key players discuss Lamar s To Pimp A Butterfly Grammy com May 15 2017 Retrieved May 26 2020 a b c d e f g To Pimp a Butterfly How Kendrick s Masterpiece Changed Culture Highsnobiety March 24 2020 Archived from the original on May 26 2020 Retrieved May 26 2020 Zach Frydenlund Kendrick Lamar and J Cole Still Want to Release That Joint Album Complex Archived from the original on April 3 2015 Retrieved September 16 2015 Flying Lotus details involvement on Kendrick Lamar s new album Fact March 16 2015 Archived from the original on September 24 2015 Retrieved September 16 2015 Flying Lotus Details His To Pimp A Butterfly Involvement HipHopDX March 16 2015 Archived from the original on May 4 2015 Retrieved September 16 2015 Eric Diep Interview Rapsody Details Her Feature On Kendrick Lamar s To Pimp A Butterfly Album Complex Archived from the original on December 1 2017 Retrieved September 16 2015 Q amp Rapsody Talks Secretly Working on Kendrick Lamar s To Pimp a Butterfly Spin March 16 2015 Archived from the original on April 3 2015 Retrieved March 16 2015 Hutchinson Kate January 30 2021 Madlib Rap right now should be like Public Enemy but it s just not there The Guardian Retrieved January 31 2021 a b Was Kendrick Lamar s Pharrell Produced Alright Track was Originally for Fabolous The Early Registration March 16 2015 Archived from the original on March 20 2015 Retrieved March 16 2015 Kendrick Lamar Alright feat Pharrell amp Thundercat Pharrell Williams Sounwave 15 March 2015 Archived from the original on June 26 2015 Retrieved September 16 2015 Pharrell Shared A Version Of Alright From To Pimp A Butterfly With Fabolous Last Year VIDEO Archived from the original on June 26 2015 Retrieved September 16 2015 Dan Rys March 18 2015 Sounwave Says Kendrick Lamar s To Pimp a Butterfly Went Through Three Phases XXL Archived from the original on September 19 2015 Retrieved September 16 2015 a b NME News Kendrick Lamar says he visited Ronald Isley to ask to use That Lady on new track I NME September 24 2014 Archived from the original on June 26 2015 Retrieved September 16 2015 This Iconic Producer Just Called Kendrick s To Pimp A Butterfly The Best Album Out MTV News Archived from the original on June 27 2015 Retrieved September 16 2015 a b Digital Booklet To Pimp a Butterfly Media notes Kendrick Lamar Top Dawg Entertainment 2015 Archived from the original on March 2 2017 Retrieved July 26 2017 a href Template Cite AV media notes html title Template Cite AV media notes cite AV media notes a CS1 maint others in cite AV media notes link Kendrick Lamar Billboard March 17 2015 Archived from the original on September 16 2015 Retrieved September 16 2015 Kendrick Lamar and Prince hit the studio together April 2 2015 Archived from the original on May 5 2015 Retrieved April 23 2015 Kendrick Lamar Recorded With Prince for To Pimp a Butterfly Rolling Stone April 1 2015 Archived from the original on April 20 2015 Retrieved April 23 2015 Kendrick Lamar reveals he and Prince hit the studio together NME April 2 2015 Archived from the original on April 8 2015 Retrieved April 23 2015 a b Tracklisting Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Rap Up March 13 2015 Archived from the original on September 6 2015 Retrieved March 17 2015 Natalie Weiner March 4 2016 Thundercat on How Kendrick Lamar s New Project Completes the Sentence of To Pimp a Butterfly Billboard Archived from the original on March 6 2016 Retrieved March 5 2016 Fulton Will Spring 2015 The Performer as Historian Black Messiah To Pimp a Butterfly and the Matter of Albums American Music Review 44 2 1 11 Archived from the original on March 20 2018 Retrieved March 20 2018 a b c Anderson Kyle March 26 2015 To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar EW review Entertainment Weekly New York Archived from the original on April 7 2015 Retrieved April 3 2015 Matt Welty March 26 2015 90s Underground West Coast Rap Albums That Preceded Kendrick Lamar s New Album Complex Archived from the original on December 22 2015 Retrieved December 15 2015 a b Kot Greg March 4 2016 Kendrick Lamar s surprise Untitled Unmastered rarely sounds unfinished Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on March 6 2016 Retrieved March 4 2016 Charity Justin March 17 2015 Review Kendrick Lamar s To Pimp a Butterfly Is a Dark Album for a Dark Time Complex Archived from the original on July 30 2017 Retrieved July 30 2017 Stewart Allison March 17 2015 With To Pimp a Butterfly Kendrick Lamar brushes all hip hop rivals aside The Washington Post Archived from the original on October 20 2020 Retrieved May 22 2020 Ratliff Ben April 24 2015 Popcast Kamasi Washington and the West Coast Get Down The New York Times Retrieved July 15 2021 Reeves Mosi March 18 2015 All Eyez On Me Kendrick Lamar s Dense Neurotic To Pimp A Butterfly Deadspin Retrieved July 15 2021 Helman Peter March 17 2015 Kendrick Lamar s To Pimp A Butterfly Sets Spotify s Global One Day Streaming Record Stereogum Archived from the original on October 4 2018 Retrieved October 4 2018 Garofalo Jack January 12 2016 A LOOK AT DAVID BOWIE S LEGACY AND IMPACT ON HIP HOP The Source Archived from the original on June 1 2016 Retrieved April 29 2016 a b c Weiss Dan March 20 2015 Review Kendrick Lamar Returns With the Great American Hip Hop Album To Pimp a Butterfly Spin New York Archived from the original on August 31 2015 Retrieved March 20 2015 Charity Justin March 20 2015 Interview Bilal Rejects Neo Soul Says Kendrick Lamar s To Pimp a Butterfly Is Jazz Complex Archived from the original on August 11 2020 Retrieved August 22 2020 The Power in Kendrick Lamar s Complexity The Atlantic March 17 2015 Archived from the original on March 11 2016 Retrieved March 21 2016 The Quietus March 23 2015 Archived from the original on April 21 2016 Retrieved February 1 2016 Billboard com s 25 Best Albums of 2015 Critics Picks Billboard December 15 2015 Archived from the original on December 18 2015 Retrieved December 15 2015 Kulkarni Neil The Periodic Table of Hip Hop Ebury Penguin Publishing a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help King Jay Caspian March 24 2015 Notes on the Hip Hop Messiah The New York Times Archived from the original on October 4 2018 Retrieved October 4 2018 Graham Natalie 2017 What Slaves We Are Narrative Trauma and Power in Kendrick Lamar s Roots Transition 122 123 132 doi 10 2979 transition 122 1 18 JSTOR 10 2979 transition 122 1 18 McLeod Jr James D Spring 2017 If God Got Us Kendrick Lamar Paul Tillich and the Advent of Existentialist Hip Hop Toronto Journal of Theology 33 1 123 135 doi 10 3138 tjt 2017 0006 S2CID 152265044 Archived from the original on March 20 2018 Retrieved March 20 2018 via Project MUSE Blum Adam August 2016 Rhythm Nation Studies in Gender and Sexuality 17 3 141 149 doi 10 1080 15240657 2016 1199923 S2CID 219641281 Sule Akeem Inkster Becky June 2015 Kendrick Lamar street poet of mental health The Lancet Psychiatry 2 6 496 497 doi 10 1016 S2215 0366 15 00216 3 PMID 26360440 a b Harris Aisha August 3 2015 Is Kendrick Lamar s Alright the New Black National Anthem Slate Archived from the original on December 13 2018 Retrieved April 12 2016 Williams Stereo February 11 2015 Who Exactly Is Kendrick Lamar Raging Against in Blacker the Berry The Daily Beast Archived from the original on April 7 2016 Retrieved April 12 2016 a b c d Kendrick Lamar s Latest Album Wasn t Always Called To Pimp a Butterfly Billboard March 31 2015 Archived from the original on April 25 2015 Retrieved April 23 2015 a b c d e f Kendrick Lamar Reveals To Pimp A Butterfly s Original Title And Its Tupac Connection MTV March 31 2015 Archived from the original on April 29 2015 Retrieved April 23 2015 a b c d Kendrick Lamar Reveals Meaning Behind To Pimp A Butterfly Album Title HNHH March 31 2015 Archived from the original on September 8 2015 Retrieved April 23 2015 a b Rolling Stone Staff March 16 2015 Kendrick Lamar s To Pimp a Butterfly Track by Track Rolling Stone Archived from the original on November 17 2020 Retrieved July 27 2020 Kendrick Lamar s To Pimp A Butterfly Challenges and Rewards Album Review Billboard March 16 2015 Archived from the original on March 17 2015 Retrieved March 17 2015 Boardman Madeline April 3 2015 Kendrick Lamar Opens Up About Depression Suicidal Thoughts Watch Us Weekly Archived from the original on February 17 2016 Retrieved February 20 2016 Golding Shenequa April 1 2015 Kendrick Lamar Talks Survivor s Guilt Depression and the Dangers of Lucy Vibe Archived from the original on March 6 2016 Retrieved February 20 2016 SONG OF THE YEAR Billboard The International Newsweekly of Music Video and Home Entertainment January 2 2016 28 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Rolling Stone June 16 2015 Archived from the original on July 22 2015 Retrieved August 9 2015 Brennan Williams July 6 2015 Kendrick Lamar To Geraldo Rivera How Can You Take A Song That s About Hope And Turn It Into Hatred HuffPost Archived from the original on September 30 2015 Retrieved September 18 2015 New Music Kendrick Lamar The Blacker The Berry Rap Up February 9 2015 Archived from the original on February 28 2015 Retrieved February 27 2015 Assassin collobs with Kendrick Lamar Archived from the original on December 22 2015 Retrieved April 23 2015 Emmanuel C M February 11 2015 Assassin Breaks Down Kendrick Lamar s The Blacker The Berry XXL Archived from the original on February 15 2015 Retrieved February 27 2015 It Is No Longer Untitled Kendrick Lamar s New Album Everything We Know Rolling Stone March 11 2015 Archived from the original on March 17 2015 Retrieved March 17 2015 a b Nostro Lauren Here s What the Braille in Kendrick Lamar s To Pimp a Butterfly Album Booklet Means Complex Archived from the original on January 26 2016 Retrieved January 7 2016 Hidden Braille Message Reveals Full Title Of Kendrick Lamar s To Pimp A Butterfly Stereogum April 29 2015 Archived from the original on January 19 2016 Retrieved January 8 2016 Zach Frydenlund September 23 2014 Listen to Kendrick Lamar s I Complex Archived from the original on September 26 2014 Retrieved September 24 2014 Kendrick Lamar premieres The Blacker The Berry his intense racially charged new single listen Consequence February 2015 Archived from the original on June 25 2016 Retrieved March 7 2015 Kendrick Lamar Makes a Triumphant Return to SNL Rolling Stone November 16 2014 Archived from the original on November 27 2015 Retrieved January 20 2016 Kendrick Lamar s New Album Everything We Know Rolling Stone March 10 2015 Archived from the original on July 3 2015 Retrieved June 30 2015 Kendrick Lamar Picks Fourth Single from To Pimp a Butterfly 24Urban June 11 2015 Archived from the original on June 12 2015 Retrieved June 11 2015 Hernandez Victoria August 5 2015 Kendrick Lamar s Alright Dubbed The New We Shall Overcome By Chicago Rapper Ric Wilson HipHopDX Archived from the original on December 21 2015 Retrieved December 10 2015 Kennedy John March 31 2015 Kendrick Lamar s Alright Should Be The New Black National Anthem BET Archived from the original on December 12 2015 Retrieved December 10 2015 Henry Dusty July 28 2015 Cleveland State University conference attendees chant Kendrick Lamar s Alright in protest against police Consequence Archived from the original on July 30 2015 Retrieved July 28 2015 Hendicott James October 11 2015 Kendrick Lamar s Alright chanted at Million Man March for racial equality NME Archived from the original on October 12 2015 Retrieved October 29 2015 Ebony Power 100 2015 Honorees Ebony Archived from the original on December 8 2015 Retrieved December 2 2015 Kendrick Lamar Picks Fifth Single from To Pimp A Butterfly 24Urban September 24 2015 Archived from the original on September 25 2015 Retrieved September 24 2015 Stutz Colin July 31 2015 Kendrick Lamar Goes Looney Living the American Dream in For Free Video Watch Billboard Archived from the original on August 5 2015 Retrieved July 31 2015 Jon Blistein December 31 2015 Kendrick Lamar Confronts Demons Temptation in God Is Gangsta Short Rolling Stone Archived from the original on January 3 2016 Retrieved January 1 2016 Kendrick Lamar announces the Kunta s Groove Sessions Tour Rap Up October 5 2015 Archived from the original on November 8 2015 Retrieved October 28 2015 TDE Feigns Vitriol after Early Kendrick Lamar Release 24Urban March 16 2015 Archived from the original on May 5 2015 Retrieved April 22 2015 Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly Album Leaked By iTunes March 16 2015 Archived from the original on March 18 2015 Retrieved March 17 2015 Update Kendrick Lamar s To Pimp a Butterfly Gets Surprise Digital Release Billboard March 16 2015 Archived from the original on March 19 2015 Retrieved March 17 2015 Kendrick Lamar s To Pimp a Butterfly Lands at No 1 in U K Billboard March 23 2015 Archived from the original on April 27 2015 Retrieved April 23 2015 Lynch Joe March 25 2015 How Do Kendrick Lamar s First Week Album Sales Stack Up Against Other Rappers Billboard Archived from the original on October 17 2019 Retrieved April 4 2020 Yasiin Bey Mos Def Joined Kendrick Lamar for Alright Performance at Osheaga Billboard August 3 2015 Archived from the original on August 6 2015 Retrieved August 3 2015 a b Billboard 200 Year end Chart Billboard Archived from the original on December 11 2015 Retrieved December 9 2015 15 albums a ecouter avant la fin de 2015 in French Canada Ici Radio Canada Tele December 12 2015 Archived from the original on March 17 2016 Retrieved March 5 2016 Chris Tart March 2 2016 Charts Don t Lie March 2 hotnewhiphop Archived from the original on March 4 2016 Retrieved March 2 2016 a b American album certifications Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Recording Industry Association of America Grein Paul June 26 2017 Chart Watch Chart Watch DJ Khaled a Classic Late Bloomer Yahoo Music Archived from the original on June 27 2017 Retrieved June 27 2017 a b To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar reviews AnyDecentMusic Archived from the original on November 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2016 Jenkins Craig March 19 2015 Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Pitchfork Archived from the original on March 22 2015 Retrieved March 19 2015 a b Tate Greg March 19 2015 To Pimp a Butterfly Rolling Stone New York Archived from the original on December 19 2015 Retrieved December 18 2015 Ryan Patrick March 16 2015 Album review Lamar s mighty Butterfly USA Today McLean Archived from the original on October 14 2016 Retrieved September 25 2016 a b Butler Will September 15 2015 Six months of Kendrick Lamar s masterpiece To Pimp A Butterfly Gigwise Archived from the original on April 12 2016 Retrieved April 22 2016 Christgau Robert April 2 2015 Robert Christgau Expert Witness Cuepoint Archived from the original on March 4 2016 Retrieved April 3 2015 Caramanica Jon March 18 2015 Kendrick Lamar Emboldened but Burdened by Success The New York Times Archived from the original on March 22 2015 Retrieved March 23 2015 Music Critic Top 10 Lists Best Albums of 2015 Metacritic Archived from the 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2016 Retrieved February 16 2016 58th Annual GRAMMY Awards Grammy com Archived from the original on April 24 2019 Retrieved November 16 2020 Grammy Awards 2016 Kendrick Lamar made history with an unapologetically black album Los Angeles Times December 7 2015 Archived from the original on December 7 2015 Retrieved December 8 2015 Grammys 2015 And the Winners Are Billboard February 8 2015 Archived from the original on February 10 2015 Retrieved June 28 2015 Billboard Music Awards 2016 See the Finalists Billboard April 11 2016 Archived from the original on April 11 2016 Retrieved April 11 2016 Williams Aaron October 26 2017 Vince Staples Big Fish Theory Deserves A Grammy For Creating The Blueprint For Rap s Next Decade Uproxx Archived from the original on September 2 2018 Retrieved September 1 2018 New David Bowie album inspired by Kendrick Lamar features LCD s James Murphy The Guardian November 24 2015 Archived from the original on September 14 2016 Retrieved February 17 2016 To Pimp a Butterfly Media notes Interscope Records Archived from the original on August 9 2020 Retrieved April 21 2020 Australiancharts com Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Hung Medien Retrieved March 21 2015 Austriancharts at Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly in German Hung Medien Retrieved March 25 2015 Ultratop be Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly in Dutch Hung Medien Retrieved March 27 2015 Ultratop be Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly in French Hung Medien Retrieved March 27 2015 Kendrick Lamar Chart History Canadian Albums Billboard Retrieved March 25 2015 Danishcharts dk Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Hung Medien Retrieved March 28 2015 Dutchcharts nl Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly in Dutch Hung Medien Retrieved March 22 2015 Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly in Finnish Musiikkituottajat IFPI Finland Retrieved March 25 2015 Lescharts com Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Hung Medien Retrieved March 23 2015 Offiziellecharts de Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly in German GfK Entertainment Charts Retrieved March 23 2015 Album Top 40 slagerlista 2015 12 het in Hungarian MAHASZ Retrieved March 27 2015 Irish charts com Discography Kendrick Lamar Hung Medien Retrieved March 23 2015 Album Classifica settimanale WK 12 dal 16 03 2015 al 22 03 2015 in Italian Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana Archived from the original on February 23 2017 Retrieved March 26 2015 トゥ ピンプ ア バタフライ ケンドリック ラマー To Pimp a Butterfly Kendrick Lamar in Japanese Oricon Retrieved November 20 2021 Charts nz Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Hung Medien Retrieved March 20 2015 Norwegiancharts com Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Hung Medien Retrieved April 2 2015 Portuguesecharts com Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Hung Medien Retrieved March 23 2015 Spanishcharts com Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Hung Medien Retrieved March 23 2015 Swedishcharts com Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Hung Medien Retrieved March 23 2015 Swisscharts com Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Hung Medien Retrieved March 25 2015 Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100 Official Charts Company 第30 週 統計時間 2015 7 17 2015 7 23 in Chinese Five Music Archived from the original on November 4 2016 Retrieved July 17 2015 Official Albums Chart Top 100 Official Charts Company Official R amp B Albums Chart Top 40 Official Charts Company Kendrick Lamar Chart History Billboard 200 Billboard Retrieved March 25 2015 Kendrick Lamar Chart History Top R amp B Hip Hop Albums Billboard Retrieved March 25 2015 ARIA Charts End of Year Charts Top 100 Albums 2015 Australian Recording Industry Association Archived from the original on January 12 2016 Retrieved January 6 2016 Jaaroverzichten 2015 in Dutch Ultratop Archived from the original on March 10 2016 Retrieved July 4 2016 Rapports Annuels 2015 in French Ultratop Archived from the original on March 1 2016 Retrieved July 4 2016 Billboard Top Canadian Albums Year end Chart Billboard Archived from the original on June 18 2020 Retrieved December 9 2015 Album Top 100 2015 in Danish Hitlisten Archived from the original on January 1 2016 Retrieved July 4 2016 Jaaroverzichten Album 2015 MegaCharts Hung Medien Archived from the original on March 13 2016 Retrieved July 4 2016 The Official NZ Music Charts End of Year Charts 2015 Recorded Music NZ Archived from the original on March 19 2016 Retrieved January 14 2017 End of Year Album Chart Top 100 2015 Official Charts Company Retrieved September 14 2021 Billboard Top R amp B Hip Hop Albums Year end Chart Billboard Archived from the original on June 20 2018 Retrieved December 9 2015 ARIA Top 100 Albums 2016 Australian Recording Industry Association Archived from the original on January 6 2017 Retrieved January 6 2017 Top Billboard 200 Albums Year End 2016 Billboard Archived from the original on December 8 2016 Retrieved December 9 2016 Billboard Top R amp B Hip Hop Albums Year end Chart Billboard Archived from the original on October 13 2019 Retrieved December 15 2016 ARIA Top 100 Urban Albums Chart PDF ARIA Charts Archived PDF from the original on August 15 2018 Retrieved August 17 2018 Top Billboard 200 Albums Year End 2017 Billboard Archived from the original on December 12 2017 Retrieved January 31 2018 ARIA Charts Accreditations 2015 Albums PDF Australian Recording Industry Association Canadian album certifications Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Music Canada Retrieved April 13 2021 Danish album certifications Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly IFPI Danmark Retrieved January 23 2020 British album certifications Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly British Phonographic Industry Retrieved February 18 2023 Caulfield Keith April 6 2018 Kendrick Lamar Scores Third Million Selling Album in U S With DAMN Billboard Archived from the original on April 7 2018 Retrieved September 2 2020 Further reading EditEwell Philip A March 1 2019 Introduction to the Symposium on Kendrick Lamar s To Pimp a Butterfly Music Theory Online 25 1 doi 10 30535 mto 25 1 7 Futlon Will Spring 2015 The Performer as Historian Black Messiah To Pimp a Butterfly and the Matter of Albums American Music Review XLIV 2 Pizzo Mike DJ 2015 How Kendrick Lamar amp J Cole Rebooted Conscious Rap Cuepoint External links EditTo Pimp a Butterfly at Discogs list of releases Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title To Pimp a Butterfly amp oldid 1141316965, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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