Kendrick Lamar-To Pimp A Butterfly (March 23) Updated with tracklist & features

[Sccit]

Lmao at people saying this is a classic or a masterpiece, then saying it's gonna probably have some decent replay value. How low are your standards 

Hum.... Interesting. As I said, it's very artistic. Lots of time put into this. It's a great piece of music. What more do you want? Illmatic? Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City? The Chronic? Those come only once in a while now. This is its own lane, its own style that is to be listened to differently. If you can't understand that, it's cool. Music is subjective. But know you are in a minority.

gkmc doesnt even belong with the chronic and illmatic....it looks funny being listed next to em.


its like saying michael jordan, deron williams, kobe bryant

[thegooddoc]

Finally finished the second listen and I hate to say it, but this album sounds more like a Broadway play than a rap album.  I love a couple of the tracks including TBTB, King Kunta and Wesley's Theory, but it is hardly a masterpiece. The production overall is sloppy and sounds cheap.  I'm surprised that with the resources he has at his disposal, he can't afford to get more than a few decent beats.  In my opinion, instead of trying to copy or recreate the Quik, Raphael Saadiq sound, he would have done better to just hire them and have them produce the album.  Sonically it would have been a huge upgrade.  Also surprised to see that Ali mixed the songs.  His mixes were much better on GKMC, mixes on this album sound sloppy and rushed. Which is a shame, because I thought Ali did an amazing job on GKMC.  Overall not a terrible album, but I was expecting more.
   

[.:Hercy Buggz:.]

forget the west coast, this album is way bigger than that! takes me back to the early 90s when de la souil and a tribe called quest was poppin

[.:Hercy Buggz:.]

and about this sounding like a broadway play I think its amazing hiphop is steppin up

[Sccit]

Sonically

this is an important factor that people are forgettin

[thegooddoc]

and about this sounding like a broadway play I think its amazing hiphop is steppin up

Or stepping down, depends on your viewpoint. 

[Will_B]

This ain't hip hop. There isnt a single beat on there that says to me hip hop.


This is a West Coast born and raised, but neo soul infused, contemporary rap album

[Chamillitary Click]

Everyone just ignore Will from here on out. He's either trolling or just has no ear for music.

Honestly believe in a decade, people will group this album with 90's classics. Only time will tell.

[Will_B]

Everyone just ignore Will from here on out. He's either trolling or just has no ear for music.

Honestly believe in a decade, people will group this album with 90's classics. Only time will tell.

This is more like the drop from Doggystyle to Doggfather (but not quite as steep)

[Desert Lord]

This ain't hip hop. There isnt a single beat on there that says to me hip hop.


This is a West Coast born and raised, but neo soul infused, contemporary rap album

^^ so what is your definition of a "hip hop beat"? "wesley's theory", "king kunta" are traditional westcoast hip hop beats to me...."alright" is no hip hop? "the blacker the berry" no hip hop?
nevertheless i enjoy the neo soul, funk & jazz infusion on this album, if you don't like these genres then it might not be the right album for you.

[Will_B]

This ain't hip hop. There isnt a single beat on there that says to me hip hop.


This is a West Coast born and raised, but neo soul infused, contemporary rap album

^^ so what is your definition of a "hip hop beat"? "wesley's theory", "king kunta" are traditional westcoast hip hop beats to me...."alright" is no hip hop? "the blacker the berry" no hip hop?
nevertheless i enjoy the neo soul, funk & jazz infusion on this album, if you don't like these genres then it might not be the right album for you.

Out of every musical genre imo there's nothing worse than bad jazz. Kendrick took all his (good) ideas from his previous music and stirred it in a big pot filled with bad jazz and neo soul and poured out TPAB. He went full Kanye on this one

[Desert Lord]

This ain't hip hop. There isnt a single beat on there that says to me hip hop.


This is a West Coast born and raised, but neo soul infused, contemporary rap album

^^ so what is your definition of a "hip hop beat"? "wesley's theory", "king kunta" are traditional westcoast hip hop beats to me...."alright" is no hip hop? "the blacker the berry" no hip hop?
nevertheless i enjoy the neo soul, funk & jazz infusion on this album, if you don't like these genres then it might not be the right album for you.

Out of every musical genre imo there's nothing worse than bad jazz. Kendrick took all his (good) ideas from his previous music and stirred it in a big pot filled with bad jazz and neo soul and poured out TPAB. He went full Kanye on this one

bad jazz? sorry, but i don't get how the jazz influences on tpab could be bad jazz...it sounds more like coltrane or miles davis to me. if you don't like it...cool, but don't call it bad.
i don't get the comparison with kanye...kendrick did the things that kanye TRIED to do but never achieved at most

[Will_B]

Meaning it's jazz done badly.

[Raphael]

I'm not a fan but he is talented. I tried to listen to good kid mad city but the production was so bad that i couldn't give it more than two listens. Just by skimming through the album, this sounds more like something i would enjoy.

[M Dogg™]

great review, ty for taking the time to write it.

i'd add that i think this album flows and is more cohesive than his first. whereas the first had a couple joints that maybe didn't fit exactly perfectly in, production wise, this one flows better to me.

just based on one listen. i'm sure my opinion will continue to evolve over time

Thanks man, I didn't see this. Yeah, I have replayed it quite a bit now. When I first listened to it, it seemed to be on some OutKast shit with a pro-black message, the more I listen to it is seems to be on some more modern hip-hop and his internal struggle trying to be something positive. This album evolves every time you hear it. I am not sure it will considered a classic like Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, but it will be the album that helps Kendrick prove he's more than just a one album guy and launch him to top rapper of his era status.

I'm not a fan but he is talented. I tried to listen to good kid mad city but the production was so bad that i couldn't give it more than two listens. Just by skimming through the album, this sounds more like something i would enjoy.

So you are more of a modern hip-hop fan, and I can respect that. I think GKMC was better production wise, but I'm an old head. I know that more modern fans loved this album, and I hear many younger fans talk about the improved production for this album. I remember when OutKast had the Love Below 12 years ago, this sound was considered experimental, and then Kanye really took that experimental sound and made it his own starting with Late Registration. Now one review from a respected young critic called this "pure hip-hop." And Lyrically I'll agree, but he was talking the whole thing from production and to whole nine. So I am starting to realize that this is pure modern hip-hop. What I remember being experimental is now the norm. And that's not a bad thing at all. I always knew hip-hop would have to eventually merge with many different styles of music, and it has. This album I think will be a measuring stick to other rappers now. Young fans seem to really, really like this album, and some older heads are calling it trash. I'm kind of excited to see where hip-hop as a whole goes after this.

This ain't hip hop. There isnt a single beat on there that says to me hip hop.


This is a West Coast born and raised, but neo soul infused, contemporary rap album

Yeah, I actually like Will, but right now he's just trolling because people troll his TI threads. He's more of a southern rap fan, so something like this is a bit over his head. That's okay. Cham, interesting we see eye to eye on this album. But then again, good music is good music.

Lmao at people saying this is a classic or a masterpiece, then saying it's gonna probably have some decent replay value. How low are your standards  

Hum.... Interesting. As I said, it's very artistic. Lots of time put into this. It's a great piece of music. What more do you want? Illmatic? Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City? The Chronic? Those come only once in a while now. This is its own lane, its own style that is to be listened to differently. If you can't understand that, it's cool. Music is subjective. But know you are in a minority.

gkmc doesnt even belong with the chronic and illmatic....it looks funny being listed next to em.


its like saying michael jordan, deron williams, kobe bryant

Really? Because I have no problems listing GKMC as a classic. When I heard it, I was like, this shit is an instant classic. More of a modern classic really, albums since the whole Jay-Z/Nas beef. Since then it's College Dropout, Eminem Show, Be, Carter III, Take Care. Those are albums I consider classic for this era, but only a few rise to level of all-time classic status. And that's College Dropout, Be, Eminem Show, and Good Kid M.A.A.D. City.