To Pimp A Butterfly has been on repeat in my headphones for almost a month. This album evokes so many emotions out of me whether it be negative or positive. Kendrick is a lyrical genius, and I will always stand by that. This is an activist album that holds many themes of race, oppression, and the experience of being a Black person. The song has 16 songs, so I will be doing 8 in this blog and make a second with the other 8!
1. Wesley’s Theory = 4:47
“Anything, see, my name is Uncle Sam, I’m your dog”
Wesley’s Theory describes how racist American institutions owned by White supremist exploit Black creators for profit. This song starts off by saying that every Black person is a star. It also gives some reference to the album title saying, “When the four corners of this cocoon collide/You’ll slip through the cracks, hoping that you’ll survive/Gather your wind, take a deep look inside/Are you really who they idolize to pimp a butterfly?” The name of the album is something that I’ll come back to on the second part of this blog because it’s not truly addressed until the last song. This song talks about a guy who likes a girl but eventually just lets lust take over that love. This girl is a metaphor for the rap game, since Kendrick addresses in this album that artists are enticed by being in this industry. In this song Kendrick is portrayed as a stereotypical rapper with no education and what not. Dr. Dre is in this song and gives a talk about how you have to keep your head in the game, and you cannot lose sight of yourself. In Verse 2 of this song Kendrick talks about a house and a car, forty acres and a mule, a piano, a guitar. These words are spoken by Uncle Sam who is enticing him to live a material life. Forty Acres and a mule, which Kendrick mentions often in this album, is reference to how African Americans were promised this as compensation for slavery after they were freed.
2. For Free? – Interlude = 2:10
“I picked cotton that made you rich”
This is a very explicit song, but this is like slam poetry I think… The song starts with a woman dogging on this guy for being a bum pretty much, and I think the woman is symbolization for the US because at the end of the song she says, “I’ma get my Uncle Sam to f*ck you up/You ain’t not king”. Kendrick raps about slavery in this, and how Black people had to do so much for free with nothing back in return. He is standing up to the fact that we deserve more than what we are given. He mentions once again, “I need forty acres and a mule/Not a forty ounce and a Pitbull” which references what Black people were promised vs stereotypical things about us. Kendricks speaks on lusting over the American dream once again, and he even says “Matter of fact, it needs interest” speaking more on how little African Americans got after being freed. The lady saying “You ain’t no king” transitions into the next song.
3. King Kunta = 3:55
“Now I run the game, got the whole world talking’,”
Kendrick starts this song off by saying he’s got a bone to pick; he’s mad but not stressing. He goes on to talk about King Kunta aka Kunta Kinte, who was a fictional Black slave featured in the novel “The Roots”. In this Novel, Kunta gets his foot cut off to prevent him escaping his plantation, and Kendrick uses the line, “Everyone wanna cut the legs off him” which means people want to prevent him from leaving the rap game. Kendrick uses King Kunta as an oxymoron meaning both oppressed like a slave and dominant like a king. He speaks of how he used to be poor, but now he runs the game. Kendrick also says “When you got the yams” which references Invisible man by Ralph Ellison. The narrator walks down the streets and smells yams, which reminds him of the South. This line is Kendrick declaring authenticity. Attached to the rap game, Kendrick mentions that “Most of y’all sharing bars like you got the bottom bunk in a two-man cell”. Being a rapper, you usually have a certain way of rapping that’s individual. So, sharing bars is looked down upon (Something like that)
4. Institutionalized = 4:31
“I’m trapped inside the ghetto and I ain’t proud to admit it”
This song talks about being trapped. Kendrick feels as if he could never escape the ghetto despite being successful who knows it will always be a part of him. This is referenced later in the song by Snoop Dog who says, “You can take your boy out the hood, but you can’t take the hood out the homie.” A line sung by Anna Wise and Bilal talks about how if Kendrick was president he would pay his mom’s rent, and free his homies, bulletproof his car doors. He would still be living like he was in Compton. This verse ends by saying, “Master, take the chains off me” which extends the topic of being institutionalized even more. Kendrick also mentions education a lot. He talks about how the streets put him through college since he has more street smarts than book smarts, and he mentions how if you dream for something you have to fight to make it happen. He mentions a quote from his grandma who speaks about if you don’t clean up your act then nothing will change in your life for the better. The song ends with Snoop Dog speaking about a young man in Compton who was talented but under the ruse that he wasn’t able to make anything of himself.
5. These Walls = 5:00
“Everytime I come around demolition might crush”
To expand more on the album title, this is where the poem starts. Kendrick says, “I remember you was conflicted, misusing your influence/Sometimes I did the same.” Every time he mentions a line in this poem it relates to the song that’s about to play. In this song he speaks about literally being with a guy’s girl while the guy is in prison. This song talks about if walls could talk, which we should all know is a metaphor(?) for talking about what happens behind closed doors. So, the woman in this song is dating the man who killed Kendrick’s friend. This woman is alone while her man is in prison, so she goes to party! This woman still loves the man but knows it’s hard while he’s in jail. This song is very explicit with Kendrick talking about how he’s just a tenant because walls are a double meaning… Him using the phrase “Demolition might cross” talks about how the more intimate these two become the more vulnerable the woman gets with him. At the end of the songs Kendrick admits that he used his power as a rapper to get back at the guy who is in jail. The poem continues with, “Abusing my power, full of resentment/Resentment that turned into a deep depression/Found myself screaming in a hotel room.” Which transitions to the next song.
6. u = 4:28
“Loving you is complicated”
Kendrick is.. screaming in a hotel room. The scream is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard, and I always giggle during his little monologue, but this is an amazing song. Kendrick speaks about how he used to be depressed, and there’s a later song in this album about loving yourself because Kendrick once said in an interview that “If you don’t attack it, it will attack you. If you sit around moping, feeling sad and stagnant, it’s gonna eat you alive.” Him saying “Loving you is complicated” references a poem by Tupac Shakur called “Love is just complicated”. It speaks on the complexities of love due to emotions and desires. Kendrick mentions a “You” multiple time, but the “You” mentioned is himself which expands on the topic of being stuck in a bad metal state. Kendrick says in the song, “What can I blame you for?” which I think is a great transition Verse 1. He is guilty and here a few reasons why. Due to the depression, Kendrick’s view of things is completely blurred, and he begins blaming himself for things that are not his fault. The verse starts by saying, “And you the reason why mama and them leavin’. /You say you love ’em, I know you don’t mean it.” which expands on the guilt he is feeling. Kendrick also talks about how when one of his close friends died, he wasn’t able to go see him before surgery, so he begins to feel like a failure. He also mentions drinking more than he used to with the line saying, “And if this bottle could talk/I cry myself to sleep, everything is your fault” This voice is Kendricks’s consciences being vulnerable with the audience. No poem continuation on this song…
7. Alright = 3:39
“Alls my life, I has to fight”
I think most of us have heard this song. It may be the most popular on the album! This first line, being the line I quoted, is from the Novel “The Color Purple”. This line was said by Sofia who talks about having to fight men all her life. Her dad, brothers, cousins, and uncles. She says, “A girl child ain’t safe in a family of men. But I never thought I’d have to fight in my own house.” Kendrick uses the line, “We gon’ be alright” to speak on how despite the pain and suffering, we will survive, which is attached to Black Live Matter; this song even became an anthem of hope and resilience. Kendrick talks more about the rap industry using him for money, but he’s doing this to stand up for the Black community. This song also speaks about police brutality saying, “Wanna kill us dead in the street for sure.” but he continues to say that we will be alright. Again, in this song Kendrick mentions the house, car, forty acres and a mule, a piano, and guitar. The piano and guitar stand for music. When he says all these things he changes from Uncle Sam to Lucy. As in the devil. This verse is Lucy speaking, who will come up once again in the next song. Kendrick talks about the rights and wrongs and attempts to fight back. He ends the verse by saying, “I write ’til I’m right with God.” This song ends with more on the poem, “I didn’t want to self-destruct/The evils of Lucy was all around me/So I went runnin’ for answers.”
8. For Sale? – Interlude = 3:39
“Lucy don’t mind ’cause at the end of the day you’ll pursue me”
This song begins with breathing because Kendrick went “runnin’ for answers” at the end of Alright. There’s a taunting voice at the beginning asking him what’s wrong and saying, “I thought you was keeping it gangsta/I thought this what you wanted.” This voice is speaking on how he is courting with Lucy, and the intro ends by saying. “They say if you scared, go to church/But remember, he knows the bible too” in reference to how Lucy was an angel before being expelled from heaven, so he has an understanding on the bible. The chorus that plays is in perspective of Lucy and he says, “Cause I (Want you)”. Lucy is beckoning Kendrick with pretending like he is a friend to him. Lucy continues to try to convince Kendrick by saying, “Lucy give you no worries/Lucy gon’ fill your pockets/Lucy gon’ move your mama out of Compton/Lucy just want your trust and loyalty”. The voice speaks in a third person before straight up saying “I’m Lucy”. And eventually does his best to convince Kendrick to sign a contract after watching Kendrick all his life to make him successful. The poem continues, “Until I came home”
