To Pimp a Butterfly

Following 2012’s electrifying good kid, m.A.A.d city, the supremely gifted, Compton-bred rapper delivers another uncompromising and deeply affecting listening experience. Packed with jazzy, dreamlike production and staggering lyrical work, To Pimp a Butterfly finds Kendrick Lamar grappling with the weight of his newfound fame—as a representative of his community and as a young black man. Through the funky menace of “King Kunta,” Lamar makes blistering reference to the protagonist of Alex Haley’s Roots, while the feverish standout, “The Blacker the Berry,” sees him attack black-on-black crime with singular precision and ferocity.