Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly

iamanengine

iamanengine wrote: »

I think it is the production that is causing some people to dislike the album. For me personally I was hoping for more aggressive beats to match his lyrics a la GKMC. That doesn't necessarily mean the beats on TPAB are bad just not what I was looking for from a Kendrick album. That said I do believe it will grow on me.

Exactly how I feel at the moment

Doris300

Album got no. 1 UK album. Surprised but very well deserved

den87

Would Golden Discs be stocking this? Hearing really good things

Cheese Wagstaff

If anything, it's a mix of Section 80 (which did have a decent amount of jazz type beats/production) and the darkness of GKMC. Do I prefer it to either of those? Hard to say, but it is growing on me more as the songs and running order becomes more familiar.

I love Snoop's bit on Institutionalized, flows really well.

jonneymendoza

Cheese Wagstaff wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwamhuY6Yy8

So good...

bruv i cant find this anywhere!

jonneymendoza

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfnnpS5_cAU

Sheeeeit

Loving this album, it's one that should be listened to from start to finish as it tells a story. I'd avoid flicking through looking for bangers as there isn't really any apart from Blacker the Berry. The production is amazing as are Kendrick's lyrics and he does get some powerful messages across. I'll admit it took a few listens to really get into it but I'm loving the whole thing now.

callaway92

Cheese Wagstaff wrote: »

If anything, it's a mix of Section 80 (which did have a decent amount of jazz type beats/production) and the darkness of GKMC. Do I prefer it to either of those? Hard to say, but it is growing on me more as the songs and running order becomes more familiar.

I love Snoop's bit on Institutionalized, flows really well.

Other than Rigamortus what you said is incorrect.

Cheese Wagstaff

callaway92 wrote: »

Other than Rigamortus what you said is incorrect.

Hol' Up & Ab-Soul's Outro both have undeniable jazz beats. You could argue that The Spiteful Chant is predominantly based on a brass section, very rooted in jazz also.

Outside of that, F*ck your Ethnicity has a funky piano riff going on. There are others that are driven by similar piano playing, but I won't attempt to argue those for fear of trying to push it.

All in all, a definite 5 songs on the album, over a quarter in total. People may class that as a decent amount, some may not. However, I don't think it's farfetched to say that what I said is definitely not incorrect.

AG918

Haven't listened to it in full from start to finish yet but I like what I've heard so far.

I see Dre hasn't featured in the production credits for any song (again). Does anyone know if he made any significant contribution or did he just "oversee" it? Every time I hear that I can't help but think that Kendrick did his thing with the TDE team and when it was finished they just played it for Dre and he gave it the go ahead...

Sheeeeit

AG918 wrote: »

Every time I hear that I can't help but think that Kendrick did his thing with the TDE team and when it was finished they just played it for Dre and he gave it the go ahead...

That sounds about right.

jonneymendoza

Sheeeeit wrote: »

That sounds about right.

TDE?

FaulknersFav

Amazing, best rap album I've listened to in a long while. Thanks for the older songs I'd never heard of, great stuff.

Although it took a few listens to get s=comfortable with the structure of some of the songs form the listen it was apparent that there really is a lot of personal investment in his lyrics, he really fcking means what he is saying. Well at least I hope he does!

AG918

jonneymendoza wrote: »

TDE?

Top Dawg Entertainment.

Cheese Wagstaff

jonneymendoza wrote: »

TDE?

Top Dawg Entertainment, a record label that the Black Hippy crew and a few others are on.

buried

Interesting Timeline yoke looking at some of the historical themes on the LP

https://m.timeline.com/stories/7-ways-kendrick-lamar-to-pimp-a-butterfly-brought-us-troubled-history-to-life

Slim1996

Great album, has to be listened all the way through to enjoy it at its full potential. Hood Politics, These Walls and Alright my favourite 3 tracks off the album. Probably the best overall project dropped so far this year (not my favourite though) but I do think the album is being somewhat over hyped by a lot of media outlets saying its the best hip-hop album of the last decade

SeaDaily

Slim1996 wrote: »

Great album, has to be listened all the way through to enjoy it at its full potential. Hood Politics, These Walls and Alright my favourite 3 tracks off the album. Probably the best overall project dropped so far this year (not my favourite though) but I do think the album is being somewhat over hyped by a lot of media outlets saying its the best hip-hop album of the last decade

Just out of interest what albums would you put above it from the last decade?

mufcboy1999

Was anybody else kind of hoping we had more stuff like this or at least the finished version of the song, this could of been a monster of a track.

He needs to start spazzing out more on his songs imo, rigamortis etc he's well capable of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thtPhtMcdlY

SeaDaily

mufcboy1999 wrote: »

Was anybody else kind of hoping we had more stuff like this or at least the finished version of the song, this could of been a monster of a track.

He needs to start spazzing out more on his songs imo, rigamortis etc he's well capable of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thtPhtMcdlY

I still live in hope that that song will come out at some point in time. It would have been out of place on TPaB though.

buried

Slim1996 wrote: »

Great album, has to be listened all the way through to enjoy it at its full potential. Hood Politics, These Walls and Alright my favourite 3 tracks off the album. Probably the best overall project dropped so far this year (not my favourite though) but I do think the album is being somewhat over hyped by a lot of media outlets saying its the best hip-hop album of the last decade

I wouldn't care too much what the media outlets have to say about anything music-wise myself, the only reason I even heard about Kendrick Lamar was through internet forum discussion about 'good kid maad city' in 2012 so I checked that out and really, really enjoyed it.

I wouldn't be the biggest fan of modern hip hop music but I'd like to think I know good music when I can hear it for myself and that LP was it. Same for 'Pinata' by Freddie Gibbs & Madlib from last year, that was one of the most enjoyable LP's I have ever or will ever listen to, same now for 'To Pimp a Butterfly'.

Apart from those LP's the most recent albums from the last 2 years I have actually really enjoyed would be the Actress albums 'RIP' and 'Ghettoville', and DJ Rashad's 'Double cup' which are not Hip Hop, but are all great accessible modern music and well worth checking out if you genuinely like modern progressive music whatever the genre.

jonneymendoza

mufcboy1999 wrote: »

Was anybody else kind of hoping we had more stuff like this or at least the finished version of the song, this could of been a monster of a track.

He needs to start spazzing out more on his songs imo, rigamortis etc he's well capable of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thtPhtMcdlY

i actually preferred the original drums on that track

Jezek

I really enjoyed the album.

Listened all the way through a few times, the tracks flow into each other and the album builds in a very organic way. It's the right side of concept album for me, with a cohesive but not limiting theme.

Production is excellent, the jazz/funk sounds great and modern (and throwback at the same time), thanks to contributors like FlyLo and Robert Glasper. As far as guests they were all excellent, I'm a big fan of some of them already, I loved Snoop's smooth verse.

The rapping of course was top-notch, the writing a satisfying combination of the specific and the abstract.

The only fault might be the length, especially the Tupac extract. However I think I can forgive that given the earnestness of the project and understanding that everything on that album meant something to Kendrick Lamar.

Overall a great album, very ambitious but also very successful . It works best when listened to in its entirety, so I might not be coming back to it very often, but I will be revisiting it for a long time.

Slim1996

SeaDaily wrote: »

Just out of interest what albums would you put above it from the last decade?

MBDTF, GKMC, Channel Orange, Take Care, Carter III, Graduation, The Waters, 1999, Journals, Beyoncé

Jezek

SeaDaily wrote: »

Just out of interest what albums would you put above it from the last decade?

I love the album but I agree that it's crazy to be calling such a recent album the best or top 10 of the decade. That's crazy. You would need a long time to really make that call. A lot of younger heads or more recent converts to the genre jump on recent albums, because maybe they haven't heard a lot of older stuff.

Slim1996, I like the albums you posted, but again, the list is so skewed to the last few years, and the artists that are popular right now. I mean, 'The Waters' as one of the best albums of the decade ? might be one of your favourites but it is not one of the best. So many classics left off the list.

Slim1996

Jezek wrote: »

I love the album but I agree that it's crazy to be calling such a recent album the best or top 10 of the decade. That's crazy. You would need a long time to really make that call. A lot of younger heads or more recent converts to the genre jump on recent albums, because maybe they haven't heard a lot of older stuff.

Slim1996, I like the albums you posted, but again, the list is so skewed to the last few years, and the artists that are popular right now. I mean, 'The Waters' as one of the best albums of the decade ? might be one of your favourites but it is not one of the best. So many classics left off the list.

All down to personal preference at the end of the day, just thought the whole concept of The Waters was different to anything I've heard before and its replay value is great

jonneymendoza

Slim1996 wrote: »

MBDTF, GKMC, Channel Orange, Take Care, Carter III, Graduation, The Waters, 1999, Journals, Beyoncé

lol take care? Beyonce?

o dear

Jezek

Slim1996 wrote: »

All down to personal preference at the end of the day, just thought the whole concept of The Waters was different to anything I've heard before and its replay value is great

well , no! your favourite album is all about preference. The best albums have to earn a spot. I mean, I can think of a lot (a lot) of albums that are better than The Waters made in the last 10 years. Now I can't make you like them more, I wouldn't want to. But you gotta have some perspective. Know that your perspective is skewed - maybe you don't like certain kinds of rap. Maybe you haven't delved into some older stuf..etc, etc.

Again, most of the albums of the decade where made in last 2-3 years? Obviously not . Some of your favourite albums have. There's a crucial difference.

Same as your favourite MC. You cant put Mick Jenkins on the top 5, even if he's you prefer him to Biggie.

Just to bring it back to TPAB, I will now accept that Kendrick Lamar will probably come to be seen as one of the greats, in time. I guess we will see how he develops but he's done everything right so far, in my opinion.

Jezek

jonneymendoza wrote: »

lol take care? Beyonce?

o dear

Both excellent albums. I still wouldn't consider them top 10.

However Take Care was a huge commercial hit, well received critically, and I think it marked a kind of turning point (Along with other albums ) in rap/rnb music. I think looking back at this decade Drake was a huge player in the game and he will be remembered as such.

Now Beyonce isn't rap, it's RnB. If we are to have rnb records though, I would put D'angelo's record in there.

Slim1996

jonneymendoza wrote: »

lol take care? Beyonce?

o dear

Don't quote me till you actually listen to that Beyonce album then you'll understand