After causing an internet tremour when he released the artwork for his anticipated sophomore album last week, Kendrick Lamar, has unexpectedly dropped To Pimp a Butterfly with no warning whatsoever.
We know what you’re thinking. With what has become a popular trend for artists; abrupt or no alum release date announcements, it’s not irregular for K.Dot to have sprung his album on us (and on a Sunday of all days?). Except that, the early release of the album was NOT intentional. Yup. According to TDE‘s CEO, Anthony Tiffith, the album’s early release was unintentional, apparently caused by an error on the part of Interscope records.
Nevertheless, Kendrick, who has basically receded from public interaction, appears unbothered, calmly tweeting this morning to reassure that everything is still gravy:
The album takes the lead from its first singles ‘i’ and ‘Blacker the Berry’, which were both very conversational and slapped with the ‘conscious rap’ label. Speaking openly on a few occasions in interviews about his recent depression due to being disillusioned with the general fails of humanity (police brutality, illtreatment of black people in USA, etc.) , it’s no surprise that Kendrick has chosen the introspection path as opposed to going for a more universal approach which would appeal to a greater scope of audience.
With the exception of Snoop Dogg, the album boasts no rap features at all. In fact, even the other vocal contributions read like a lineup for a funk/jazz festival more than a tracklist one would expect for a hip hop artists that has had the commercial appeal that Kendrick has in the past few years. Bilal, Ronald Isley, George Clinton, Thundercat and Fauntleroy are the only guests that make appearances on the rather dark album.
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Kendrick indicated that the title was a play on Harper Lee‘s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. He was quoted as saying, “Just putting the word ‘pimp’ next to ‘butterfly’… It’s a trip. That’s something that will be a phrase forever. It’ll be taught in college courses — I truly believe that.”
Production credits include Flying Lotus, Pharrell Williams, Sounwave, TI$A, Boi1-Da, and Rahki, among others.
What do you think of Kendrick’s second album? Another classic or is it a miss?
