Ĭo-producer Sounwave spoke on Lamar's visit, saying, "I remember he took a trip to Africa and something in his mind just clicked. Touring the country and visiting historic sites such as Nelson Mandela's jail cell on Robben Island heavily influenced the direction of the record and led to Lamar scrapping "two or three albums worth of material". Between the releases of Good Kid, M.A.A.D City and To Pimp a Butterfly, Lamar traveled to South Africa. On February 28, 2014, Kendrick Lamar first revealed the plans to release a follow-up to his second studio album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012), during an interview with Billboard. In the years following its release, several publications named To Pimp a Butterfly one of the best albums of the 2010s in 2020, the album was ranked 19th on Rolling Stone 's updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The most critically acclaimed album of 2015 as well as one of the most critically acclaimed of its entire decade, it topped The Village Voice 's annual Pazz & Jop poll of American critics nationwide, and was also ranked as the best album of 2015 by many other publications. He received four additional nominations for other collaborations from that year, receiving a total of 11 Grammy nominations, which was the most nominations for any rapper in a single night. It earned Lamar seven nominations at the 2016 Grammy Awards, including a win for Best Rap Album and an Album of the Year nomination. The album has received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised its musical scope and the social relevance of Lamar's lyrics. Lamar also supported the album with the Kunta's Groove Sessions Tour from late 2015 to early 2016. Five singles were released in promotion of the album, including the top 40 hit " I". It was eventually certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and sold one million copies in the US by 2017. To Pimp a Butterfly sold 324,000 copies in the US in its first week of release, earning a chart debut at number one on the US Billboard 200, while also becoming Lamar's first number-one album in the UK. This thematic direction was inspired by Lamar's tour of historic sites during his visit to South Africa, such as Nelson Mandela's jail cell on Robben Island. Lyrically, it features political commentary and personal themes concerning African-American culture, racial inequality, depression, and institutional discrimination.
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Primarily a hip hop album, To Pimp a Butterfly incorporates numerous other musical styles spanning the history of African-American music, most prominently jazz, funk, and soul. Guest appearances include Thundercat, George Clinton, Bilal, Anna Wise, Snoop Dogg, James Fauntleroy, Ronald Isley, and Rapsody. The album was recorded in studios throughout the United States, with production from Sounwave, Terrace Martin, Taz "Tisa" Arnold, Thundercat, Rahki, LoveDragon, Flying Lotus, Pharrell Williams, Boi-1da, Knxwledge, and several other high-profile hip hop producers, as well as executive production from Dr. It was released on March 15, 2015, by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records.
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is visceral, spare, and straight to the point, whether he’s boasting about "royalty inside my DNA” on the trunk-rattling "DNA." or lamenting an anonymous, violent death on the soul-infused “FEAR.” No topic is too big to tackle, and the songs are as bold as their all-caps names: “PRIDE.” “LOYALTY.” “LOVE.” "LUST.” “GOD.” When he repeats the opening line to close the album, that simple walk has become a profound journey-further proof that no one commands the conversation like Kendrick Lamar.To Pimp a Butterfly is the third studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. If Butterfly was jazz-inflected, soul-funk vibrance, DAMN. is a grab-you-by-the-throat declaration that’s as blunt, complex, and unflinching as the name suggests. The gunshot that abruptly ends the track is a signal: DAMN. opens with a seemingly innocuous line-"So I was taking a walk the other day…”-we're all ears. In the two years since To Pimp a Butterfly, we’ve hung on Kendrick Lamar's every word-whether he’s destroying rivals on a cameo, performing the #blacklivesmatter anthem on top of a police car at the BET Awards, or hanging out with Obama.