Kendrick Lamar’s album, “To Pimp A Butterfly” was such a dope album. There was a lot of background meaning to the album that a lot of people may not even know. One of the most unique songs on the album was “How Much A Dollar Cost.” On that song Lamar runs into a homeless man who asks him for money. After asking, the man reads Lamar a bible verse. The verse made Lamar acknowledge the fact that his success made him selfish.
After a while Lamar realizes that the man is actually God himself. He also realizes that his selfish ways has costed him his way into God’s kingdom. During the Outro, Lamar is able to repent and ask God for forgiveness. He then humbles himself. This is a hell of a message to put in a song. Most people would have no idea that this is even what the song meant. That is just the beauty and creativeness that comes from Kendrick Lamar as an artist. “To Pimp a Butterfly” is full of messages which Lamar breaks down for us.
Lamar says his biggest life changing trip, was his trip to Africa.
“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.”
He goes on to say that he wanted his album to show different complexions of black women. He went on to say,
“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. I wanted to do a record like this on my debut album but I wasn’t confident enough.”
The title of the album is very unique. “To Pimp a Butterfly.” A lot of people probably don’t even know the meaning behind it. Lamar says,
“The title grasped the entire concept of the record. [I wanted to] break down the idea of being pimped in the industry, in the community and out of all the knowledge that you thought you had known, then discovering new life and wanting to share it.”
Kendrick Lamar even went on to talk about being a “conscious rapper.” He says,
“I don’t even know [if] that word conscious can only exist in one field of music. Everybody is conscious. That’s a gift from God to put it in my heart to continue to talk about this because that’s how I’m feeling at the moment. The message is bigger than the artist. It was real uncomfortable because I was dealing with my own issues. I was making a transition from the lifestyle that I lived before to the one I have now. When you’re onstage rapping and all these people are cheering for you, you actually feel like you’re saving lives. But you aren’t saving lives back home. It made me question if I am in the right place spreading my voice. ‘Should I be back home sending this message or be on the road?’ It put me in this space where I was in a little bit of a dilemma.”
As if the album wasn’t already beautiful enough, just knowing the meaning behind the album makes it even more beautiful.
Such a creative and dope individual. S/O to Kendrick Lamar.
Source: Complex
