Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly (2015)

(this is good)

ok first impresh ~ 30 mins in

- someone had to say it: not as good as GKMC
- ...but it's good... really good
- production a smidge too cluttered
- don't wanna be a downer though... it bangs
- 'king kunta' the standout so far, 'for sale? (interlude)' another highlight

It's better.

It took a few full-album listens for me to fully appreciate what a killer opener "Wesley's Theory" is

lol "it's better" cmon now

I like GKMC a lot too, but I immediately liked this more. Taste, what can ya do?

Man, EVERY TIME "For Free?" starts with those low sax notes I think my phone is ringing on vibrate.

It's better.

― warm winds and clear skies, Tuesday, March 17, 2015 11:56 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

man talking about music with people is the pits

It's better.

Mods, close this thread for a week.

no one talking about how bad his rapping is

i'm not anti this album or anything, just surprised everyone skipping over the rapping part of the rap albm

the start of "for free?" kinda hits a sour note...it's like a mean-spirited parody of "lookin' ass" or something. not sure whether the amazing music/twist at the end outweigh it

If he knew how to write a hook/have even mildly insightful something to say other than pussy/money/his dick/ maybe his rapping skills could be put to some use. Usually his production is solid enough. The Art of Peer Pressure was pretty good, more focused. But he doesn't have enough verbal dexterity or technique to pull off his cliched lyrics.

― Raccoon Tanuki, Wednesday, September 24, 2014 3:52 AM (5 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

more insight on Kendrick from Rac's On Rac's On Rac's

I think "better" or "worse" are sort of bad terms in this discussion, I think at this point we should agree that Kendrick is a significant album artist and this section 80 and good kid are all interesting entries in his career, they all bring different themes & vibes & musicality to the table but that's why I think people perceive him as maybe a cut above a lot of rappers now

^

I agree that he's a significant artist, and so far I like this better than GKMC -- but with the caveat that I never really got on board with that one, despite repeat efforts. I hate to be That Guy, but ... I wish he was more fun. I wish he had more fun.

That said -- I like the first track, "King Kunta," "u," "Alright," "Hood Politics" and "i" all plenty -- and they are hardly joyless.

this dick ain't FRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Right, more of that basically.

heh i didn't even notice the radiohead beat on my first listen thru since theres so much else going on

The K.Dot part of that song was like slam poetry/50s speakeasy whoa, I'm still not sure if I admire it or am amused by it

(basically it'll be late summer before i know how I feel about this album really)

I love this album so much. I think I've listened to it 10x now. Favourite part is the rap-crying bit in 'u', I thought it was a bit silly at first, but love it now.

this is really insanely good. trying to remember the last time I was so bowled over by a rap record this dense, rich etc. it's been awhile

This album's longer than my first bad mushroom trip.

(It's significantly more enjoyable however.)

it is very trippy.

still really looking forward to a black hippy album. hope it happens someday.

what does that mean exactly

he hopes that they do a black hippy album w/the crew?

Black Hippy is the rap collective that Kendrick came up as part of

oh!

i am trying to imagine what you thought that might mean

I thought he was describing a sound or something, which is why I was confused.

Too bad he's the only one of them making music worth a damn.

yeah he outshines the rest by so far I would think such an enterprise would be fraught with battling egos, concessions, etc.

i prefer this to good kid but i was always more impressed with good kid than i actually loved it

I've been slow to warm to him - didn't like Section 80 at all and maybe heard Good Kid like twice before forgetting about it but this one has definitely grabbed me

I cherrypicked with GKMC but I let this one run the whole way

Too bad he's the only one of them making music worth a damn.

― longneck, Wednesday, March 18, 2015 12:39 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

schoolboy Q's habits & contradictions and oxymoron are both good and occasionally excellent imo but a lot of ppl were very disappointed by oxymoron

as for the other guys, ab-soul and jay rock are only ever good as feature rappers (and sometimes soul especially is meh), the isaiah rashad album was solid but i need to hear more from him before making an informed qualitative judgment

i like absoul's work quite a lot. Schoolboy prior to oxymoron is great and even oxy is pretty good. Rashad's first feature was excellent. jay has never clicked for me.

This album is exhausting.

Part of why I never jumped in on Lamar is that my feeling was (and still remains, mostly) that the other Black Hippy guys were more interesting/better

This is shifting somewhat because Ab Soul and Schoolboy Q have fallen off in the past 12 months

Rashad and KL seem to have the most potential to be great out of the BH crew. KL's already demonstrated that. Really looking forward to a proper Isaiah Rashad album.

Jay Rock's 'Follow Me Home' is really good.

I liked Cilvia Demo a lot last year but have grown to love it in the last couple weeks.

no one talking about how bad his rapping is

― Arctic Noon Auk, Wednesday, March 18, 2015 1:02 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

bc no one agrees with you

All of Q's albums have really great moments but are inconsistent.

Ab-Soul's Control System is totally on par with Section.80, if maybe not the last two Kendrick albums, but the album he put out last year was dook bootie.

Jay Rock's been killing everything he touches but just can't get it together to release his own project, which I would highly anticipate. Follow Me Home was pretty good but that was years ago.

Jay Rock has improved a lot since his first album