To Pimp A Butterfly

I listened to most of this. It just didn’t grab me. I can appreciate the artistry to an extent but I didn’t connect with either the lyrics or the beats.

This seems like the same old West Coast rap story ... excellent beats, competent but unexceptional vocals, tiresome and unpleasant lyrical content. Not sure I'll finish this. The Gil Scott Heron (and others) pastiche (For Free) is grotesque. It is maddening when these artists show that they know their musical history, and then choose to do ... [insert example of misogynistic claptrap and lazy mosaic of cuss words]. Misdirected talents. Argh. Listening to the end was a tiresome slog. The guest vocalist with the gruff voice on Blacker the Berry is the best things on the album i is actually good. This comes as a great surprise, after what has preceded it

I went up and down and all around with this record. I was kind of dreading starting it because I didn't feel in the mood for a heavy hip hop album. As it turned out this album really drew me in and I got really intrigued with a lot of the tracks. It wasn't always pleasant but it was always interesting and sometimes shocking. There were times I thought it was ridiculous and other times I thought "oh I see why he won the Pulitzer." I can absolutely see going back to this record to get to know it better.

Wow. A multi-month hip hop drought and then two of my favorites back to back. This is an excellent album. It likely has all of the earmarks of hip hop that non lovers despise. And yet - it’s so smart. So well crafted. So interesting. A phenomenal listen.

Kendrick Lamar was already a pretty significant figure within hip hop circles, but this was really the album that caused him to explode into the mainstream. I really liked this album when it came out and listening to it again, its still easily my favorite of his albums. You can hear the heavy p funk influence at times that places this in the tradition of LA hip hop of the 90's, but he's doing something different with it than what you traditionally hear in that tradition, something more akin to what the early Native Tongues groups like De La Soul or A Tribe Called Quest did with their sound. It brings in jazz and spoken word elements as well, and is a wildly experimental album for one that was so commercially successful. It's a wildly ambitious album and it largely succeeds in those goals. Lamar is also fantastic and inventive MC. He is often tied to the LA traditions of the 90's but his approach varies wildly and there are moments where you can see him engaging with more avant garde and underground traditions, ranging from the Freestyle Fellowship, some of the stuff on Stones Throw and even someone like Dose One. I like this record a lot.

3.5.

I still think Damn is the best Kendrick album but this is solid.

The songs that are good are really really good but there does seem to be a bit too much filler. I wanted more Kendrick and less guest musicians. Still no denying this album is a must hear.

This album is one of my all time favourites. IMO It really highlights how rap can be one of the highest forms of storytelling in music. Partially due to the fact that so many words can be used in a short period of time. Which contrasts what the societal image is of rap and black culture. Kendrick brings attention on TPAB to how the US government and society have and continue to oppress black people. There is a reason that “we gon be alright” was used as an anthem for Black Lives Matter protests. Bringing attention to the caterpillar stages where America and the CIA literally armed gangs with firearms so that they would fight and kill each other. Redlining of black communities and various other tactics that were used to oppress black Americans. This endorsement of violence was used to manipulate and oppress the community further. Leading to the disproportionate incarceration of black Americans (the cocoon). Kendrick Lamar continues to show how systemic oppression impacts black Americans throughout their entire lives even when they become the butterfly. Capitalism and materialism drives frivolous spending to appear wealthy. Which continues to line the pockets of corporations predominantly owned by white people. Buying luxury cars and watches creates a facade so they can be respected among their own culture as having made it and by white culture so they do not appear poor. Which leads to issues with trust and security of trying to retain your wealth after coming out of the struggle. Especially when you are trying to live in the community that raised you. “Anybody can get it. The hard part is keeping it” The people who you used to call close friends asking for handouts and the wealthy people claiming to be your friend to “help” you make more money. Risk of robbery and theft when people know you have money. Overall TPAB highlights how many black Americans in their pathway to success are exploited and systematically oppressed throughout the journey. Continually trading one struggle for another. I’d highly recommend giving his album DAMN a listen too. Since it continues to highlight the duality of life and starts to flip this narrative into the internal reflection of the personal responsibility of the daily struggle. “Is it Wickedness? Is it Weakness? you decide”

Such a sick album

I don't know how this album doesn't hit 5 stars. Lyrically deep, rhyming about racism, discrimination, mental health, and much more. Very few artists rap about these topics, hell, very few artists in any genre go this deep, and the ones that do do not deliver it with the same cadence and skill as Kendrick (looking at you Bob Dylan). Lyrics aside, the instrumentation has so much variety and uniqueness to it, soul, jazz, hip-hop, with a long list of different producers that Kendrick taps into for all of their different strengths. No one else does it like him. 🐐 DAMN is still my favorite from Kendrick though..

My experience with this album (and good kid) is indescribable but I’ll do my best. Kendrick is one of if not the best storytellers of all time. The way he writes is not only clever and technically sound, but he creates such vivid imagery with his lyrics that can take truly anyone into the world he’s sharing. Just an absolute masterpiece of an album, one of my top 25 all time easily. The jazz elements of this album tend to give it that critic edge over good kid but really these two albums are identical to me. Some of the best music ever written.

Idk it’s fine; not bad but I feel like Kendrick is put on a pedestal/people act like he’s god

It’s surprisingly challenging sonically for such a popular album. No obvious radio friendly melodies or rhythms but certainly great song craft and lyrics.

Over 10 years on and I still love all the Jazz instrumentation! Still a classic, and always will be.

Ahhh I'm so excited to have finally experienced this!! A modern classic that I just haven't had the time and mental bandwidth to give it the undivided attention it needs. After finishing this absolute odyssey of an album, what could I even say that hasn't already been said a million times better before? Hip-hop may not be something I'm knowledgable about or listen to on a consistant basis, but "To Pimp a Butterfly" is one of those records that has fully transcended genre lines to reach culturally iconic status.

As far as Kendrick goes, I honestly find his fun stuff (like GNX) more enjoyable than his more intense work. I have always preferred gkmc to TPAB, but digging into this one for the project has put into perspective for me that it really is a 5. I love the infusion of jazz and soul and funk.

Not my music

Amazing mix of jazz and funk in the beats. Great storytelling too. So much to take in.

Amei demais esse álbum não tenho o que reclamar é um 10/10

Damn uno de los mejores albumes de kendrick, una obra lirical con historias buenas y ritmos atrapantes

Masterpiece

It's at times great, solid hooks, intelligent lyrics, and the rapping feels sincere. However, while the blend of sounds works, I feel like it's a bit all over the place on themes. While I respect the attempt at laying it all on the table, it's trying to touch on too many subjects at once, and the whole thing feels a bit bloated. I don't mind all that much, but some songs don't belong in my opinion, and it could have used a bit more focus. It's still great.

Already one of my favorite and most listened to albums.

Hard for me to rate. On one hand, it's an undeniable fact that Lamar is amazingly talented lyrically and with his rapping ability. But man, I didn't personally like it that much. Really long, and just not my style of hip-hop. I'd give it a 2.5/5 if I could but I think I'm leaning towards a 2. i was my fav song and first listen of the album. Alright and You Ain't Gonna Lie (Momma Said) were my other highlights

I was debating my score for this album. The production is flawless, there is clearly more going on in the lyrics than I'm picking up on a single listen. What really got me was how engaging it is. I put it on intending to do other things while listening and instead just sat and listened as track after track built the story. How did such a long album fly by? The latter half of the album had so much depth to it. That, or Kendrick had taught me how to listen to his own album along the way. Not being able to put my finger on why I found this connection with it is a perfect reason to come back to it again and again.

Pure Cinema

Pretty bad for something the kids love. Basic fart noises mixed in with boring beats.

A really innovative album. So many great collaborators (George Clinton, Thunder Cat, Robert Glasper) but the sound is really unique to Kendrick and this album.

What a masterpiece. I kinda forgot just how great this record is. So innovative and original. the production and instrumentation is awesome, and the jazz influence.

It’s completely perfect

I often consider the matrix of Good/Not good vs Liked it/didn't like it for an album like this. It's objectively good, but I don't like it, and how do you rate something like that? There's an appreciation, but I don't want to listen to the album again.

01 do kendrick. me amarro na produção do thundercat como ele usou o melhor do soul e do funk e fez um dos álbuns mais vivos instrumentalmente que eu ja ouvi. a história do album é muito foda e tem cpa a melhor música do kendrick (u). 5 estrelas sem skips.

not my type

TPAB es innegablemente el mejor album de hip hop de la historia, en absolutamente todos los aspectos posibles. Tiene la producción de las mejores personas del ámbito, con la LEYENDA que es Clinton y el talentosisimo Thundercat, tenes también lo que son los lyrics con mayor carga simbolica y consciencia racial escritos de una forma absolutamente POETICA (con el mejor flow rapeando que escuchaste en tu vida). Es un album largo pero cada parte tiene su sentido, no se cuantos videos de youtube me vi donde hacian distintos analisis con todos los significados que tiene. Combina la religión, la violencia, el racismo, el sexo y los sentimientos más personales de Kendrick dentro de un enorme homenaje a Tupac. Wesley’s Theory es la intro más espectacular de todo el género y Mortal Man es una outro perfecta. Logra ser divertidisimo y serio a la vez, se siente como una experiencia cinematográfica. Escuché este album por primera vez en 2022 y nunca paré de tenerlo alrededor, me se cada adlib y cada cambio de beat posible, es terriblemente adictivo. Esto viene además de una persona que su album favorito es GKMC por el replay value que tiene, pero este album es mucho más que algo que podes poner en un parlante. Mis canciones favoritas: Wesley’s Theory, King Kunta, i, Complexion, These Walls, The Blacker the Berry

Beat: A+ Flow: A+ Lyrics: A+ Such a fantastic album.

Kendrick’s best imo. And that’s a pretty high bar

Very good album. Honestly Kendrick has never been my favorite but I can appreciate the lyricism and the sampling was top notch. Ending with a 10 minutes of splicing himself into an old interview with Tupac was definitely a choice though.

In theory this should be right up my alley but I'm bored out of my mind. There's other artists on here that I like and Kendrick has many similarities to other rap artists I like but it just does nothing for me. Does he take himself too seriously? Is his voice just annoying? Are there long breaks in the music filled with something that doesn't connect with me? I don't exactly know, but it's a dud. Hiphop keeps being one of my bottom three categories, but I could probably name ten albums in the genre that I doubt made this list. After my second run through this album I switched to "innercity griots" instead, instantly enjoyed it more

Amazing. Funky, inventive, and way more fun than I expected from a 78-minute commitment. “King Kunta” may be my new hype song. Docking a star for testing my attention span and for the between-song talking, which distracts me in any genre.

Not my thing but I respect it, so ecclectic and avant-garde sounding at times, definitely interesting stuff

My favourite of all time. A masterpiece from an all-time great!

Massive.

I hear this is one of the most important hip-hop albums. But I think I'm missing something. I tried. I listened to a few tracks. I just don't see it.

Top 3 Favorite Albums

Not an album made for me, but there is no denying the layered genius here. Not every song is a made-for-radio bop, but they all add to the final product.

3.5+/5

THE GOAT

This hip hop album was released in 2015. A lot of well known people (George Clinton, Snoop Talk, Thundercat, Pharrell Williams) were involved with it. Most of the songs are Kendrick and others rapping over downtempo jazz funk music. I believe the awesome unique bass is Thundercat. Uptempo exceptions are "King Kunta" and "i" starts fast with "That Lady" sample. Lamar is a really good writer and rapper and the background music is cool as mentioned above. However, there is too much ghetto talk (nigga, nigga, nigga) with same topics. The repeated spoken words in between songs is also annoying. To summarize, the music is really good but the 78 minute barrage of rapping wore me out. King Kunta is the standout song.

Contender for greatest album of all time

Like the album title, this makes no sense. An electric mix of hip hop, rap, soul, funk r&b, and some jazz too. It shouldn't work but it does. Very clever lyrics and I really enjoyed this.

Very good album. I actually own this album and I've seen him live. So, even if hip-hop is not my favourite genre, I've always felt kendrick is pretty good. This album is really varied. It has very nice influences of funk, jazz, and even rock. Besides, except for some early songs, I find the lyrics and the overall theme is very interesting. Some songs I enjoyed: "King Kunta", "Institutionalized", "i", "u" (probably my favourite), "Alright", "Hood Politics", "The Blacker the Berry", or "How Much For a Dollar". I think this is between 4 and 5 stars. It would be 5 stars if it were a bit shorter. However, I think 4 stars is a fair score.

I was interested to read about this album’s significance and that made it more interesting to listen to.

Excellent listen

poetic genius, not that i could hear the words much anyway. good music. didn't expect to have the amount of fun with it that i ended up having.

Not my jam.

have listened to this album before know I like it a lot excited to listen again.

Nice beats

This was a really enjoyable album. The edited interview with Tupac was a unique idea aswell.

Whoooop couple great tracks on here

Listen it's a good album full of good songs but also this is dragging on at this point lmao. I just checked and am apparently currently 3 minutes into the 12-minute final track. I'm ready for it to be over tbh.

I love Kendrick but this album is not my favorite. It has great hits (king kunta, alright) and the storytelling is phenomenal but a lot of the album drags on.

The storytelling is still top tier, the beats are still excellent. It took me a little longer to latch onto this than gkmc but it’s still phenomenal.

Doesn’t really need an explanation. Incredible album

Overrated but still good

The prophet of corporate lame

hadn't listened to this in years but very good, sounds amazing, much prefer this to his newer stuff

Only album of its kind, still unmatched imo

Very well produced album, there are many songs with insanely good beats (J dilla inspired). His word placement within the beats can be really cool, but sometimes it gets a bit too flexible with timing and can sometimes sound muddy to me. Overall I enjoyed it a lot. 5 stars

He's angry isn't he

Gran álbum, aunque el tema social del que habla no va dedicado a mi, lo disfrute mucho

I don’t quite know where I stand with this one. Obviously it’s recognized as one of, if not the best album of all time. For me I’ve slowly started hearing the song so much that I just doesn’t have that same sound that it used to in the past. That’s not to discredit the genius of the project and say it isn’t outstanding in every sense, it’s just boring to me now. I still think it is an incredible and genre defining moment in hip hop and modern music, just not my favorite. Still, objectively speaking it does everything wonderfully.

meh. I just don't get why it gets so much praise.

Just don't love this kind of rap. Again, not made for me at all.

"It insists upon itself" Theater Kid Hip-Hop

So excited to listen to this one. Love gkmc and GNX. With butterfly I’ve tried to listen to it twice before but something always got in the way. The first time I checked it out from the library and it was the edited version. Then when I was in my “listen to music on free YouTube” phase the music videos would play for some of the songs and there would be skits and interruptions throughout. Hopefully that’s limited on this one. I didn’t mind the skits on gkmc so hopefully they are incorporated like that. LFG.

All time great hip hop record

This needs a relisten, but I am starting to get it.

My first foray into hip hop and I loved it. Thundercats influence is great. Kendrick is phenomenal. I just love it.

i appreciate the lyricism and musicality but it’s just not for me sorry

First time listening to this album In full. It’s phenomenal, both lyrically and musically.

K at the top of his game is the genre at the top of its game to me. I love this Album.

Fullkomin plata

I mean this album is critically acclaimed for good reason...I prefer GKMC but you know. A great album, high point for me being How Much A Dollar Cost

This has too much to say, and all of the music is like political, but whereas like public enemies, you can bump their music to listen to with a message. This has a message, but it’s not like something I would bump in the car or even at home.

First time listening to the full album all the way through, thoroughly enjoyed

Just so good, gets better over time. Alright is all time banger, the Thundercat base combined with Kendrick’s lyrics, and that Robert Gasper piano on For Sale? So cohesive but wide ranging. Unreal stuff.

Every day I get a rap album on this list, I'm learning more and more that I've been missing out my entire life. Even the ones that I don't like as much still increase my appreciation of the genre. This does not fall into that category though. This album is absolute perfection. One of the best albums I've heard. When I finish this list, this is definitely going to be a contender for my favorite album. I can't believe it took me this long to actually check it out. It's just incredible.

Yikes, unlistenable

Amazing album. Defines the genre.

bad

Requires multiple listens to be truly appreciated. Still have yet to reach that number.

I can see why this might be a great album, but I have no in and am finding it a bit dull, notwithstanding some of the choons do peak your interest

I mean… anything less and you’re either racist or had no black role models

Hey, I guess I gotta defend myself before my group calls me a racist. This is one of the best albums of all time. Absolutely amazing and worthy of all the praise. THAT BEING SAID, for me a 5 means I’m gonna listen to the whole album again, front to back + no skips. Many of these songs are in my regular rotation and I know all the words by heart. But am I going to listen to this whole album again? It is rare that I listen to entire albums that are gonna kinda kill my mood. If I were just ranking based on how good the album was though, it’s an easy 6/5. (Also I want to make sure it’s on the record that I am MGM and black). Season: Late Spring Favorite Song: Hood Politics

10/10

okay SO. as a piece of art and media. I think this is definitely a 5. As a music album, as something I want to come back to in my day to day. this is not a 5. There's a lot of heaviness and intensity in the album that for me would only fit in hyper niche circumstances or specific moments in my life. this album has a lot of great music for me, and is from a pretty nostalgic time in my life. and I think the fact I'm not a black American means I can't fully appreciate it in its entirety. I'm going to give it a 5 because the heavy hitters for me ARE that heavy, but if this was my first time listening to the album, I would probably give it a 4.

everything gonna be alright

He is just not for me but I can get behind some of it

i already had basically whole album

Høydepunktene er høye.

No not again a rap album! Although I found out that a lot of the instrumentation was done by real musicians and includes soul/jazz which might be interesting and the theme of social/racial injustice also speaks to me. But I really don’t dig gangsta rap music , it is too far from music I can relate to and feel comfortable with. I could not complete the album as the torture to finish it was too high, very weird voice also. 1/5

Such an incredible album. The complexity of themes and lyrics. The musicality in a rap context. Definitely one of the best albums on the list.

Among the worst - can't escape the one-star.

Masterpiece. I highly recommend the Dissect podcast season that dug into this album. It gave me a great appreciation for the art that Kendrick created on this album.

I listened to this on repeat working an events job in San Francisco in 2015. Holds up!

I like rap, I liked a couple of the tracks on the album but overall it was a little lacking personality interest and variance for me.

If I've learned anything from this project, it's modern hip-hop is not my thing.

Really puts the poetry in Rhythm-Assisted Poetry. It was nice overall and has some of my favorite Kendrick songs on there, but the album as a whole feels more like a story/series of poems rather than just songs if that makes sense. This album did big things big for the culture and rap, but it's not going to be on constant rotation for me.

Seemed very intereting in the beggining, a lot of tunes I liked, but got kind of borring to listen to in a while

Overall: 9/10 This album just gets better the older I get. I believe I was 19 years old the first time I heard this album. I was just getting into rap music, enjoying stuff like Outkast and Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest. I just didn't get the appeal of this album at the time. Fast forward a few years, and I really started to understand why it was such a celebrated album, even if I still wasn't a huge fan of it. I grew to appreciate the political aspect of the album. Now, I think this is a borderline masterpiece. Not only is it great lyrically, but the actual songs are fun to listen to and make me think. If I have one problem with the album, it's that it's waaaaaaaay too long. I would have cut some stuff out, but for the most part, I think this is some seriously important music that everyone should try to enjoy at least once. Fav Song: These Walls

I am lead to understand that this is one of the all time greats. I can see how this is big-A-Art, but it's not particularly enjoyable to listen to. Although better than most other hip-hop albums I am being fed here. I'm feeling a 3 as a compromise. Clearly this should be on the list, but I also spent a lot of time want to shut it off.

Wesley’s Theory King Kunta These Walls Alright How Much a Dollar Costs i

King Kunta These Walls u Alright i

Contains multitudes - hip hop, jazz, funk, and soul in a dense, dazzling mind bending mix.

Never heard before. Never will again! I tried! It's really not my sort of thing but people talk about this album in such exhaulated terms...I was expecting something magnificent that would override my indifference to hip-hop. And when I was done (and I did stick to the end)..'was that it??'. What have I missed? What was so revolutionary? It was just another hip-hop album, fine if you like that sort of thing but nothing special. I quite liked The Blacker The Berry. I thought about 2 stars as I don't want to trash something just because it's not my genre but the ridiculously ott reputation this album has, combined with an 80 minute runtime, meant that I wasn't feeling generous! Favourite track. The Blacker The Berry

For no particular reason whatsoever, this was the only Kendrick album I never got around to listening to. Solid.

Been needing to listen to this

Quality Hip Hop

saw this as the highest rated on rym, lowkey no wonder, i dont really listen to hiphop as much but tbh kendrick lamar might convince me otherwise

I do like a handful of tracks on this one and musically it's pretty great. It's his voice that ruins it for me...boo boo.

I thought I liked this album. Don’t know what I was thinking. It’s so insanely long and less than half the songs are good. Loses half a star for the length. Still significantly better than Mariah Carey’s bullshit though.

What else can you say about this album that hasnt already been said - an artist at his creative apex.

Así sí. No todas las canciones en el rap tienes que sonar iguales. Me encanta la mezcla de géneros musicales.

No redeeming features. Prefer any of the gangster rap albums on the list to this shite

good album

This album came out right before I graduated high school. Of course there were some of the big hits that I had heard before graduation. But then, during that summer before starting going to college, I worked at a machine shop. I’ll never forget the span of weeks where I just had this album on repeat for 8 to 9 hours a day while just cutting metal. I still have no idea why it was so captivating to me. I didn’t listen to it for a while and thought it was a little overrated at some point because of how high the critical reception if it was. But I revisited it every year or so for the past few years, and this was a perfect revisit for me. I still think it’s a little overrated, but I can’t give it anything under five stars. It’s so incredibly interesting and intricate and leaves you thinking.

I love this album. No notes.

Maybe I'm just not in the mood for this today, but I'm not vibing with this album. It's odd because I got "good kid, M.A.A.D city" earlier this year and it blew me away; I gave it an easy 5 stars. 3 stars that I feel could be higher on a different day with me in a different mood.

I love an album that threads a common theme and narrative within it. The way all the songs weave into the next and visualize the subject of racial inequality and Black discrimination is so visceral. Complimented by the fantastic production that explored a wide-breathe of styles. Fav Tracks: "How Much A Dollar Cost", "The Blacker The Berry" and "i".

Кайф

Hit me! So good. I liked this when it came out, mostly because of a select few songs that became cornerstones of my teenage years and this particular era of rap. The rest of the album kind of passed over my head. Ten years later, and a much closer listener of music and Kendrick, I like it much more. Theres a lot of subtext and commentary in here that I’ll probably never fully grasp, but again, I can speak to feel. And again, this is full of feel. He rocks. Kenny is one of the few real ones left. One of my favorite things about him is that he makes albums that are meant to be listened to as albums. In Good Kid Maad City, it’s the series of voicemails that foreshadows the basis for the next song. In this, it’s the poem which gets one line longer at each song break. It doesn’t come together until the end, doesnt make sense unless you listen to the full work. Also, I didn’t pick up on the thunder cat appearances back in the day, and I’m all the way here for it. I would not have rated it as such in 2015, but after several listens today and some time to live with it, I believe this is a perfect album. So deserving to be one of the greatest albums of all time. This was a gift provided by this list — a chance to rediscover something thats been in my zeitgeist for so long I thought I knew it, but it turns out I wasn’t really listening.

I hear it's really controversial to have this opinion but I don't care. I absolutely love "MAAD City" but think this is a jumbled mess without a clear direction and a lot of disparate elements incorporated in comparison to that masterpiece. I get it, this is his maximalist, experimental hip-hop response to that album- I just don't think he works in this aesthetic. Kanye has him beat in that department with MBDTF, Yeezus, hell, even TLOP. The album is just not cohesive. Kendrick also never sounded great doing that voice crack flow, and some of the hooks here are just annoying see "Hood Politics" or "King Kunta" "Alright" and "i" are the only tracks that sniff the heights of GKMC

Oh boy… ok. TPAB is a really good album; is it the best album of all time? No. BUT… It’s a record that is very enjoyable, and honestly, I think it’s Kendrick’s best work. So, I give it the thumbs up.

Rap and Hip Hop are really not the genres of music that I listen to on a daily basis. So, I really can’t judge this album. Apart from a couple of one liners, the album just didn’t resonate with me.

Pleasantly surprised!

Great lyrics and a bit of yelling but good overall

I really like Kendrick Lamar and I've been wanting to listen to more of his stuff for a while, but just never got around to it. Damn is an absolute all timer of an album. This doesn't quite get to that level for me. It's really well produced. He manages to be aggressively poetic with his flow. The different styles of musicality used throughout are amazing. The final track is an odd one, and it's kind of my problem with the album overall. It's too long. I can easily see how this made it to the list. It's a pretty stellar album overall.

Great album, dynamic with great ideas and sounds

I’m not the biggest hip hop guy, but I adore this album. Amazing lyrics that feel relevant a decade later. Kendrick is one of the few artists where no matter what he puts out I will be listening. TPAB is a masterpiece. 5/5

It seems like this is universally loved, but wow--it is not for me.

No doubting Lamar’s ability to rap and I get that he offers something different while also leaning on typical tropes at times. I couldn’t help but find this tedious though. Too much going on, weird genre sampling, strange breathy sections, odd backing music, not the one for me.

Lyrically, the album treads a well-worn hip-hop path, focusing heavily on race, gang culture, and personal hardship.  Viewing life so exclusively through the lens of race can feel a bit thin. Musically, the album pushes me away as I struggle with the genre at the best of times and limited hook-driven hip-hop ditties don't much exist here. It strips away the infectious melodies or musicality that make the genre palatable. Instead, it relies on the more chaotic and dense, sometimes monotone spoken delivery. It's like a theatrical monologue.  A really good one but not what I personally like sadly.  Bloody long too. Almost enjoyed the darker angry monologue of "The Blacker the Berry" - Could not save it for me though

When I started this project, I thought I quite liked hip-hop... Its so rare to an album of this genre that is good all the way through. They always seem to adhere to all the same hip-hop album tropes that don't lend them to an full listen-through. This one has lots of jazz elements which adds a level of rare musical interest, but its overlaid with so much talk about nigga this, nigga that, wash your ass (?), suck a dick etc etc... It doesn't offend me, it just gets boring and repetitive after eighty minutes and makes it difficult to take it seriously. What I've learned, is that I like some hip-hop in small doses. I like hip-hop that is fun and in your face and doesn't take itself so seriously. I don't like long albums and this more artsy stuff doesn't do it for me.

Sorry, I don’t get it. I suppose a lot of the hype is around the lyrics and message but it’s a little lost on me. Musically, it’s pretty meh. Boo boo! (2)

I already listened to this one, and it changed my perspective on rap AND on music as a whole. Showed me that there’s a lot more to this music shit than words and sounds.

I don't know that it deserved the Pulitzer for its "journalism" (but what is "deserve," how many Pulitzer winners deserved it more than their putative competition) but I do love the pure sound of this and the way it has a jazz sensibility, like the way whole tracks swerve in new ways like chord changes (as distinct from the jazz-rap of groups like Gang Starr where it's just individual little noodly riffs adorning a backing track). It has a rap sensibility too, of course. It's fun to listen to!

Heard before. I mean, it's a masterpiece. What else is there to say?

The rare long album I wish was longer. It is pure Art.

So much amazing music and lyric, I can't put it together to have it make sense. I studied his work on the Super Bowl, but I don't think I'm ready to analyze the whole album like Dante. Top notch art, but not my deal. 3/5

Ambitious sprawling - great long album with only a few weaker cuts

I say it again: I don’t like hip hop, but…

3.5 - this is a complicated one for me. I love Kendrick, and I appreciate the scope and effort of what he did here. But as an actual listening experience, it just never clicked for me. The bangers are amazing, but that’s like 5 songs. All the jazz and spoken word stuff just makes the project so bloated to me. Loving you is complicated, loving you is complicated. Sorry K Dot.

You know... it's not unlistenable. But after awhile the foulness of it all just wears on me. That's saying a lot considering I can listen Cannibal Corpse for hours on end. I'm calling this 2.5/5 for a round up to 3.

Liked it better than I thought I would. In general I liked the music better than the rapping. Strong messages but not my bag.

I dig the production, and I enjoyed DAMN, but something about his voice and the effects on it just… doesn’t work for me. Especially over a whole hour+ album.

Have I listened to this album before No How familiar am I with this album Unfamiliar, I remember when it came out though and Twitter (RIP) was all over it. How do I feel about this artist? I don't really listen to rap but I know that Kendrick is one of the best at it. Pre-Listen Thoughts: This is one of those things that I started this project for—certain artists that are very highly regarded in genres I ave never really paid attention to. Favorite track(s): Alright, How Much a Dollar Cost Post-Listen Thoughts: This was very engaging. I feel like rap can be very boring to me at times, and other times it's impossible not to bop along with it. I bopped all throughout this album. I can't say I personally connect much with the lyrics but that did not stop me from enjoying it.

I just love this album. For me, it released when I was finishing up my college schooling and it was like a well I could draw on to learn more and take in the cultural moment. I felt like the whole country was listening to this album right along with me. The feelings of paranoia, serving your home, resisting the temptations of success. There are so many earworm hooks that still intrude into my daily thoughts, songs like alright, I, and king kunta are some of my favorites of all time. The jazzy backing tracks are masterful. Every word and beat seems to be surgically precisely placed. I could say more but I already knew it was gonna be a 5 star album before I even pulled it up for a relisten.

I know this one is considered to be iconic. Still, it sound good, but I found only a couple of songs amazing

This is a really well constructed album. The way it slowly reveals more in the “I remember you was conflicted” monologue and that the tracks move with the story. There were a handful of songs I did find instrumentally or lyrically not my speed. But those were also countered by some really innovative instruments vocals and sounds. This album goes on and doesn’t feel like it would end any time soon. It makes it hard to want to revisit. This is the second time I’ve listened, and this time I enjoyed it more, but really don’t want to listen to it another time. This album is definitely a 3.5, but since we can’t do half stars here, we’ll round up

Definitely i am not the target market.

Usually this style of music would be unlistenable for me. But there was something unique about this. He had a unique singing style, unique sound, and the music had a lot of interesting instruments / electronics in it. I liked what he did with the vocals, I liked the George Clinton type influence. It wasn't the typical boring repetitive tapeloop backbeat with someone complaining over top of it. Really good for a usually intolerable genre.

Offensive. Don't understand "lyrics". Don't like the "music". A strong number 1 on my scale.

Incredible piece of work

Jazz doesn't impress me much

Couldn’t relate to it at all

I really liked this album. I find it weird because it’s not my genre and all the collaboration makes it hard to tell who’s doing and creating what but also makes it quite eclectic. Really loving the tribute to 90s rap, some funk, soul and jazz parts with really easy listening grooves behind some great lyrics. I think there’s something to like about each song and a really interesting project. Maybe a new Kendrick fan has been born, only over a decade behind the trend.

Quite boring

music is love

Its position at the top of Rate Your Music’s all-time chart suggests that many consider 𝘛𝘰 𝘗𝘪𝘮𝘱 𝘢 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘭𝘺 one of the greatest albums ever made. I would not go quite that far, but its ambition is undeniable. The dense mixture of hip-hop, jazz, funk, and spoken word constantly offers something new to discover, and the unusually large cast of guest musicians and vocalists adds even more colour without making the album feel like a compilation. More importantly, it gives me insight into experiences and cultural realities far removed from my own without ever feeling like a history lesson. I may not connect with every moment equally, but this is challenging, imaginative hip-hop that rewards close attention.

Banger.

Not for me

Well it looks like I'm black now

An undeniably brilliant album. Front to back it is such a rewarding listen, the interludes just smoothing out the album. The tracks are consistently fantastic, Kendrick sounds great. Probably a masterpiece. Favourites: Wesley's Theory Institutionalized Alright

(6 estrellas)

Yes yes yes

Really tackles so many themes and sociopolitical issues across so many different audio/musical mediums, and in a really interesting way. Some bangers, some poignant interludes, some hard-hitting spoken word segments, but held together by Kendrick’s thesis statement on what it means to be a black man in 2015 America. I also really loved how segments of previous songs ebbed and flowed and returned in new contexts. As a cohesive project, this deserves a five, so that’s what I’m giving it. STAND-OUT SONG: “Wesley’s Theory” HONORABLE MENTIONS: “Alright”, “The Blacker The Berry”, “You Ain’t Gotta Lie”

First time I knowingly listened to Kendrick Lamar is when the famous Drake diss track first came out (had a neighbour give me all the tea so I was curious)... I thought it was a joke song. I thought the delivery was silly and the song in general very amateurish and had no hook. Now it's one of the biggest rap hits ever released so just goes to show what I know about rap music. After that I decided to investigate further and I listened to this album and was pleasantly surprised it's got some funk! And some real musicians! Still totally not my thing but I respect it.

King Kunta is the best hip hop tune of the last 25 years at least. The beat is great and his rhymes are fantastic but his flow swings in a way you only very rarely hear. So good! When you got the yams... I don't know exactly why but I'm not the hugest West Coast rap guy. I love p-funk - I think it's more their stupid G shit they ramble on and on about that bores the shit outta me. But this album breaks through. However, I have heard the post King Kunta parts of the album only a few times, because when I hear King Kunta I have to replay it 7-8 times and then I realize I'm late for something else.

What a strange album, but in a refreshingly good way. I'll admit that as I listened to the opening track "Wesley's theory" (and misunderstood what it was about), my kneejerk reaction was that at album #932 I've kind of lost patience with listening to the interchangeable hour-plus hip-hop albums by artists who seem more interested in feuding with anyone and everyone rather than making a genuinely musical album. But even the next track made me realize that this wasn't that kind of album; "For free?" is perhaps the highlight of the album, and encapsulates so much of what makes this a surprisingly complex album, with a crazy video and crazy "Birdman"-style free-jazz riffing and insane lyrics. The tracks that have impressively cinematic videos to accompany them are probably the best of the album ("King Kunta", "God is gangsta" (a mashup of "U" and "For sale?), "Alright" and "I"), although I'm not sure how I feel about "These walls" (despite a great cameo by Terry Crews), and "How much a dollar cost" is a great video-less song. Interesting to read that a big inspiration for this album's contents was a trip to South Africa not long before the album was recorded. Especially with the musical experimentation, I was reminded of Janelle Monáe's "The ArchAndroid" album, although Lamar's relentless focus on social and political commentary definitely takes this album in a very different direction ("The blacker the berry" a great case in point). After hearing his previous album in this collection, I didn't have much sense for Kendrick Lamar; this album completely changed my sense and respect for him as an artist (even if his voice never quite matches the power of his lyrics). This was easily a five-star masterpiece if he hadn't ended on the weak (and too-long) "Mortal man" faux interview with Tupac Shakur.

so happy to have finally gotten this album, what a masterpiece. Feels like the "Apocalypse Now" of albums.

It was really great. Some chill rap music with kendricks crazy flow.

Amazing Album. I wanted to point out the overall shift in tone with the song "Alight". That being the most popular song of this album being more of a hip hop focused compared to its other jazz heavy songs is good. Overall great album.

SUCH A GOOD ALBUM timeless asfff

Here it is… and I am lost for words. I spent a lot in the past pushing this album among my friends, insisting on themes of systemic racism and oppression, underlining the beautiful production, and adoring Thundercat's bass lines on Wesley's Theory and King Kunta. Kendrick seems to always know how to reinvent himself in each new record, but nothing compares with TPAB in my opinion. Only GKMC, but I've always felt this one is one step better in every way. I've seen lots of reviews stopping at the swears, and the N-words: "it is an other hip-hop album about hoes, guns, and drugs" You guys are missing out on so much. From Mortal Man: "The caterpillar is a prisoner to the streets that conceived it Its only job is to eat or consume everything around it In order to protect itself from this mad city While consumin' its environment, the caterpillar begins to notice ways to survive One thing it noticed is how much the world shuns him, but praises the butterfly The butterfly represents the talent, the thoughtfulness and the beauty within the caterpillar But having a harsh outlook on life, the caterpillar sees the butterfly as weak And figures out a way to pimp it to his own benefits Already surrounded by this mad city, the caterpillar goes to work on the cocoon which institutionalizes him He can no longer see past his own thoughts, he's trapped When trapped inside these walls certain ideas take root, such as going home, and bringin' back new concepts to this mad city The result? Wings begin to emerge, breakin' the cycle of feelin' stagnant Finally free, the butterfly sheds light on situations that the caterpillar never considered Endin' the internal struggle Although the butterfly and caterpillar are completely different They are one and the same"

oh fuck yeah

banging! my one big complaint is i couldn't at all focus on my reading, there was so much going on in my ears. that's on me though!

Yknow, if you're gonna sell me on an album, it doesnt hurt to get Thundercat and George Clinton on the first track. That said, I think I would like Kendrick more if I didn't feel like I was missing something. This has a lot of really solid beat making, but it's the dichotomy of Pulitzer Prize vs. “This Dick Ain't Free” and “Shit don't change until you get up and wash your ass”. I really want to hear the former. I'm so so bored of the latter. But again. Smart production across the board, lusher than his other work, smart features (anyone bringing Rapsody on board knows something about something). And like, I do get some of the storytelling aspects here, the repeated refrain (Matana Roberts’ Coin Coin series does similar, repeated motifs evoking oral traditions). But yeah. This, as an album, isn't made for me. Which is fine. But I wish this connected more. It's not something I particularly want to feel on the outside of. The best thing here is “The Blacker the Berry,” which feels like a cinematic hip-hop epic. I could absolutely get behind an album that sounds like that, that has lyrics like that, that tells that story across two platters. That's what the k.dot hype makes me crave, and to be fair that final side continues strong, even despite Lamar's whooping every few syllables during “I”. Imagine this album with more “Mortal Man” and less calling everything “boo boo”. That's an album that makes sense for the praise it gets, and I think that there's a 1-LP version of this that gets there, though I'm not sure how I'd structure it. I think a 2-LP album that feels like those last tracks would be the opus it arguably deserves to be. But the hype makes me want more, and I think too much of this doesnt get there. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3,4 Highlights: King Kunta, Alright

GKMC is one of my favorite rap albums but I don't go back to this one as much. This album has some absolute classics - These Walls, King Kunta, Alright - but sometimes it gets a little too into the weeds and into some jazzy loops. And the single version of "i" is much better than the album version. Man I know this is considered his magnum opus and maybe I'll change the rating to a 5 one day but I just like Kendrick's more straightforward stuff more, sorry if that makes me a simpleton.

Obama say what it do

I tried, I really did. I'm just too old, straight, white, boring, unimaginative and dull to get it.

You can find other more detailed reviews elsewhere, but I generally concur. Shit slaps, somehow the poetry bits is always interesting and engrossing even when I've heard them so many times. It's fantastic.

Pues es muy kendrick, pero no está tan raper, tiene mucho sonido experimental, no me gustó casi, solo como 3 canciones.

First time carefully listening to Kendrick Lamar. I get the hype now.

This album is phenomenal. It will go down in history as an incredible work of art. The poetry, jazz, flows, and messages are entangled so well.

Obviously a great album. I can't relate to it as much, which is understandable, but because of that, it's one I don't revisit often.

I was looking forward to this but I didn’t love it as much as I expected. I liked it more in the second half though, and I LOVED ‘i’ and thoroughly enjoyed ‘Mortal Man’. I hope more Kendrick comes up as I suspect there’s probably more of his discography that I’ll get on better with.

An objectively pretty great album that has, for whatever reason, never hooked me quite as much as GKMC or DAMN. BOO BOO!

not even his best album!

Я поняла что это культовый альбом, ознакомилась. Очень понравилось сочетание джаза и репа, такие прикольные мелодии и поверх них хороший реп, со словами, имеющими смысл, чтоит вслушаться. Понравилось отражение американской культуры 🇺🇸Однако не было прям песни, которую ты услышал и у тебя аж мурашки по коже, а я ищу именно это. Сохранила: 5/16, 31%

OOOO Kendrick Lamar >:D, I think I remember watching a video explaining the album but it’s been a long time. I heard you was conflicted, well I heard that to many times. That scream from the song u at the start been seeing it in many online content.

Pimpin

Great album, it's super dense lyrically, sonically and message wise. It's not the most replayable or relistenable album but it deserves its place in the music canon

I heard you was conflicted

Very good record. 3,5

the beats are smooth and jazzy with so much harmony that i couldn't help bopping along. The longer I listened, the more I liked it.

Standouts Alright

Too long for my liking.

So many times over the last 20 some-odd years, I’ve tried to listen and receive new hip hop with the freshest ears I can imagine, but for the most part, I can’t connect. It’s not that I’m too old because I’m in tune with culture, even though I don’t personally like much of it. I’m pleased to declare that I connect to this record. Lamar pays attention to details like my favorite hip hop artists do and, most importantly, it’s soulful and musical in composition. This a really good record. There’s a couple of dead spots, but it’s got a good flow and I never got bored. 4.6

kendrick lagoat

I’ve got a lot of respect for this album, and I know how well-regarded it is but I still think I need more time for it because it just doesn’t hit for me. I don’t think many of the songs are meant to be enjoyed as much as they are to be experienced, and maybe that’s what trips me up. I struggled listened through during my first listen and for this listen now. There parts here and there that are great, but on a personal level, it doesn’t connect to me compared to most other people.

This is very much not for me. Too angry, too violent, too much of a foreign experience. I enjoyed the parts that were almost like spoken poetry. But it's not an album for me.

Oof this was awful.

I’ve listened to this many times and it still has not stuck. I think I can hear the goodness in there but as of yet not for me.

It’s alright.

Many beautiful reflections and insights by Kendrick on here. This feels like an album I will keep returning to throughout my life and will learn new lessons from on every listen. Glad to revisit it now when it remains incredibly relevant. Favorites: Wesley's Theory, For Free? - Interlude, King Kunta, u, How Much A Dollar Cost, Complexion (A Zulu Love), i, Mortal Man

Pretty monumental, about as good as "conscious rap" can get. I slightly prefer Good Kid for its relative focus, but this is still fantastic. Sad to see Kendrick rest on his laurels a bit and retreat to tired hip hop feuds, but he'll always have his first 3 records.

Re-listen i think?

Могу ли я поставить 3? Могу.

Muito bom. Forte. Letras potentes.

There’s a great podcast called Dissect that goes into detail about every song on this album and the wider themes of it. Anyway I love this album, it’s a work of art. The songs, the themes of dealing with fame, the interview with Tupac woven through the album are all awesome. Not many recent albums go to the effort of treating an album like a story, more like 1-2 singles and shitty filler, so when an album like this comes along it almost feels revolutionary

Never listened to this before, or really much Kendrick at all. It's long, it's epic, and it is so damn well-produced and detailed. Feels like a magnum opus, exploring all kinds of themes related to poverty, oppression, and exploitation. As a BROCKHAMPTON enjoyer, it's really cool to hear the parallels. If it's not a direct influence, this album is definitely cut from the same cloth. Will definitely listen to it again because I'm sure there's plenty I missed. My only critique is that the lyrics get a little cheesy sometimes. But that's rap for you.

have listened before. unique, artsy fartsy, a real creative flourish. it's got a density to it: when it's not spending its time on a sick track it's still building towards ideas in a sick way. i think damn is technically better, this one has less individual songs i want to listen to a hundred times, but really i just love when an album stays on theme and turns its parts into a greater whole. favorite song is Alright or How Much A Dollar Cost

Rating: 10/10 A monumental effort, GOAT statement and phenomenal landmark in modern recorded music. TPAB in a way feels like everything the history of west coast hip hop has ever built up to, and it's hard to claim that even a single hip hop record since has stood up to this one even a decade after its release. Kendrick throws everything at the wall here, is ambitious to a degree that any lesser rapper would likely fold under, and yet fully sticks the landing in this giant 80 minute of a concept album. It goes so many different places, merges so many different styles, but it flows seamlessly in its sequencing. The collective songs, with a couple of radio friendly exceptions, is no doubt the least accessible of Kendrick's work, and yet it captures your attention entirely and there's really not a weak moment to be found. It's produced and performed wonderfully by its huge list of collaborators. The blending of jazz, soul, and funk is a total success from both a sonic and thematic view. Near-perfect album. The best of the 2010's I think and it's not close.

Pretty good, songs were interesting and varied, beats were fine, many of the songs felt like they were made out of a thousand different little pieces which was interesting, and the instrumental direction/design was great. I ain't reading the Genius overviews so I'm confident I'm missing plenty there, but as sounds in my ears it was nice 7.4/10

One of the best if not the best rap album ever. Dynamic Kendrick’s flow is great. Needs no endorsement from me one of the definitions of what a 5 is.

The first 5-6 tracks are heavenly, the rest were pretty forgettable. Overall, an album i get but its not for me. 3/5

wtf

uno de los mejores album de rap de la historia, y indiscutiblemente el mejor de Kendrick en su carrera, destacó canciones como i mortal human y Wesley teory, tranquilamente el mejor álbum de este siglo

I am so removed from popular culture. I went for a day trip to Cardiff last year and the place was heaving with young people in American football shirts. Eventually, I worked out that someone called Kendrick Lamar was playing at the rugby stadium. I didn't know who he was. I've still never heard any of his music. Ah well, here goes... Blimey, is this what normal people listen to? What a silly voice this man has. Should be a voice actor for a gopher in a cheaply produced children's cartoon. Perhaps he would then stop talking about his dick for a few seconds. I'll stick to my own parallel, Kendrick-free world, thanks!

Hell yea. Great album.

It’s great. Sociology!

This is excellent. Kendrick Lamar is one of the best in the genre.

My rating 4.0 I enjoyed this much more then I thought I would.

Obviously a great album from a great artist.

👨🏻‍🍳💋

I mean you gotta give this a 5. A perfect and impactful album. Kung fu kenny nails it.

I missed a ton of cultural context, but I did enjoy the sonic experience.

So incredibly much to unpack. This man is one of the greatest artists alive right now, and certainly (IMO) the greatest in hip-hop. It's a long album and definitely a commitment, and not every song is my favorite but -- can I really care? Can I really give this less than a five? It's so. Damn. Smart. And so poignant and important too. Oh, and a lot of the music legitimately goes so hard. I could probably listen to this every day and still find something new. 5/5. It has to be. It just has to.

Enjoyed the album. Some of the lyrics where kind of bizarre, but I liked that other critical side. Although it's not the best I've ever heard (and also not really my style), it's different from most of the things I listen to, and that's something I appreciate too. Totally worth a listening.

I don't think I'm ever going to get Lamar, just not for me.

Really enjoyed the first half. Lots of cool atmospheric music. He talks a lot towards the end

Sublime.

This is one of, if not, the best rap album of all time. The production is crazy, the lyrics are insane, and overall is just so entrancing as a project. Easy 10/10.

whenever it's been a while since i've listened to this i'll start to think "sure it's good, but is it really THAT good??" and then i'll listen to it again and it really is

Yes is great, but the album is big and they're not all 5s

Love the jazzy experimentation. Very Big and Important yes yes. "King Kunta" of course is a banger.

exactamente lo que estaba buscando cuando entre a esta pagina

Absolutely incredible, really puts Kendrick's writing and rapping capabilities on display. Tight, dense, impactful lyrics that communicate deep song-level and album-level ideas. And the instrumentals are top notch as well (love Thundercat bass!), funky/jazzy/hard-hitting. A touch self-indulgent at times, but in an endearing way.

Definitely a work of art. I love Kendrick’s poetic style and exploration of deeper themes. Also his ability to say things the way they are.

-ooo yay phenomenal album! another one that totally deserves the praise it gets. i’d only heard it once before and actually ended up liking it more this time around, such an incredible work of art with some very hard-hitting themes -probably his best album and one i think everyone should hear -Favorites: King Kunta, u, The Blacker The Berry, i

one of my fav hip hop albums this is an easy recommend , music is great rapping on point its a near perfect album

Very bad

Can’t beat GKMC but also can’t not give it a 5

Still the best rap album of the modern era.

Second Kendrick album I've reviewed of his in as many weeks. I'm simply not a fan, maybe it's his voice or the fact that I don't relate to his message but I'm more about the beat & the groove than the words when it comes to hip-hop. The listener counts are impressive. The opening track, "Wesley's Theory", has such an unpleasant opening & is unbelievably annoying, but still has 262M listens. "King Kunta" has 750M, "Alright" has over 1B and nearly every other tune averages around 100M. He's got fans and he's got talent. It just doesn't speak to me, too much "bitch" & N Word for me, therefore I don't really enjoy it. Highlight: the 30 seconds he gave Snoop on the atrocious "Institutionalized". He sounds unhinged, has a shit voice, it's like a stream of thought from a homeless guy on a street corner half the time (see "U" or the start of "Alright"), the beats are garbage and the delivery is BORING. I have NO concept of how this guy became popular, this was practically unbearable. This album made me feel old, I don't get any of it. 2 stars.

I never read the reviews people leave on here. I just kinda throw my 2 cents into the void and move on to hearing new music. But for this one I peeked for whatever reason. And some of yall just cant fathom music thay isn't specifically made for you. It blows my mind. Maybe im too easy on things but I rarely give put even 2 stars, let alone 1. I can see the value in things that might not work for me generally. I understand there are always going to be some people who have thier reasons to not like things but this should have pretty few haters. So many 5 stars and just as many 1 star where the blurb says simply "no". Its kinda disheartening. Art isnt a thing that you should be able to dismiss with such a callus response. Im not saying any of you cant hold your opinions but damn bro put in the effort and tell me or even listen to the whole damn thing. Ive heard a few records here that ive felt that way but I give every thing my due diligence. I haven't quit early once. Even if I hate it right off the bat. Maybe im not the same as you but damn it just sucks to assume people try and they dont. Welcome to the world i guess. But now that ive written for an hour about not the music time to get to it for real. This is an incredible record. I have very very very little bad to say about it. The production and sample choice are top notch. The blending of genres and styles is seamless. How does he mix soul with g funk with jazz at once? The lyrics and flows and rapping styles are unmatched. There is nothing I want more. It gives me its all from the start to the finish. I've not always been a Kendrick guy, but since mr moral ive been very into his art. It doesnt get much better from an established industry artist. Sure you can probably find something better that no one knows about but it will 1 take alot of searching and 2 won't have nearly the reach. Sure Kenny does still have thos savior complex and probably still does but no one can see it as the dude not trying his damnedest. Its just a great record. I just wish people would see the forest through the trees a bit. Oh well. Their loss honestly. Like what you like but give things a try even if they aren't made for you and you alone. Thats all I want outta this world.

I like king kunta and these walls a bit

7/10

Isley Bro collab was a highlight.

Kendrick’s magnum opus. Sonically incredible and politically relevant. I can’t imagine the amount of talent and creativity needed to pull this off. The end convo is the cherry on top.

Aja, Deacon Blues

vinyl day! a masterpiece

I cannot understand how this is popular - it just isn't very good.

beautiful

You could take the two zeros out of this book/website's title and To Pimp A Butterfly would still be on the list. 11 Albums to listen to before you die? Absolutely. It's right up there with Sgt. Peppers, Nevermind, Thriller and Rumours when it comes to artistic vision, musical and lyrical breadth, recording and packaging, historical magnitude, and social significance. My only wish is that it had the same impact on its peers as those records all did. Rap has largely stagnated in the past decade, while only Kendrick and a few others continue to push themselves and the boundaries of their craft.

Now I understand

Beautiful, no notes. Literally none. Kendrick is just Him

Старый стильный дед. При прослушивании постоянно сравниваешь этот альбом с предшественником - m.a.a.d city (MC), что может и не совсем объективно, но довольно сразу даёт определенность - этот альбом слабее. Он слабее в целом как альбом, а не в каких-то отдельных моментах. Каждый почти трек только местами вызывает то ощущение от прослушивания которое почти ни разу не покидало при прослушивании MC. Что же не так ? Все составляющие остались на месте прекрасный флоу, приглашенные гости, одни из самых лучших битов в рэпе впринципе, но чего-то не хватает. Скорее всего я скажу что излишняя абсолютно в этот раз неоправданная затянутость почти каждого трека. Очень много разговорных вставок (что никак например не мешало предшественнику) клонят в скуку. В целом я взял пару реально изумительных треков из этого альбома, но не сказал бы что он как-то откликнулся у меня. Это просто хороший альбом. 5,5/10.

legendary

An insane album to make at 28. Drawing on so many genres and artists but still sounding like your own pinnacle. Just a masterful album, complete, full, rich, and intense. The themes, the lyricism, the beats, it all comes together into one of the best modern rap albums. To use his own words “fuck the big three, it’s just big me”.

An album I have listened to more than 50 times. Lines and messages you never heard before. 10/10 album and will always be one of the greats.

KING KUNTA!. How much a dollar really cost. Complexion y i. Q locura de album. Un verdadero viaje.

Automatic 5 star album. This is an insane bop. The only thing is that I don't relate as much obviously cause of the culture and someof the monologues can't be listened to as such but I love this album. It's amazing and I can listen to it again and again. Songs I like: For free King kunta Alright For sale I Review - 9.5/10

Bro nobody will understand what it was like to get your first taste of play to Wesley’s Theory right when this shit came out. What an interesting record to directly follow up my favorite Kendrick record. I remember being so mad when it wasn’t another record of all bangers, little did I know the impact it would have for what it actually was. It’s obvious Kendrick put in the time to connect with African culture in this one, which in turn made for some amazingly fresh and interesting production. We get Jazz, funk, soul, rap, spoken word, and shit that I’d never heard to this point. I genuinely bumped the shit out of Wesley’s theory all of high school thinking it was a love song 💀 going back and listening to this album with adult ears made me realize this set the stage for the entire album. Bro is literally a young black man in America who’s suddenly famous and loaded, and battling everything that comes with it. There’s even a dialogue with the devil in this shit. Definitely not the first time this kinda shit has been done before, but idk it just slaps so much harder coming from Kendrick knowing where he’s from and how the dynamic is here in America vs say an Eminem who simply had to prove himself in a black dominated genre.

Kendrick Lamar’s magnum opus. This album has been combed through for years it’s in the official library of congress, one of the most impactful and important albums ever released in my lifetime. At the forefront of the BLM Kendrick questions the history and context of being a black man in America. Why him? What makes him so special when the devil and America act as a temptress. The poem is one I quote so often. I love this album it was the first album where I realized music could be art yeah I heard Kanye and queen but playing TPAB in math class and singing king Kunta in the hallways meant something. A battle cry, a signal that I am a revolutionary and Kendrick invoked that. Tupac is all over this record. A man so inspired by poetry and storytelling that taught us to love harder and be who you are. Kendrick takes that lesson and explores his own blackness and the collective blackness and what it means for us all. The blacker the berry, be your blackest self. An album made to understand your place in America as a POC. A true call to action this is a perfect album every moment was well thought out. “i” is the true collective feeling we want. Black people don’t want to have to fight all the time we have to love ourselves and dance. The singer in the song is asking for mic “turn the mic up” “come to the front” celebrate with Kendrick love the message and the lessons you have been given from. Thank you Kendrick for showing us that division comes from being misunderstanding. “The judge make time so it ain’t shit” Mortal man: the greatest ending track to an a album ever. “When shit is you still a fan” the answer is no Kendrick is just the martyr giving the message. A parasocial exploration. Just as he has with Pac. What keeps the bond between artist and audience. Musically the jazz infusions throughout and the drums are so unique it’s a true letter to the love of music

To Pimp A Butterfly was not that long ago, but it still feels like a relic of a long-ago era. Firmly embedded in the Obama admin at the height of BLM, some of its lyrics are questionable (the end of The Blacker The Berry springs to mind.) It's an important record, but I don't know how frequently I wanna listen to it all the way through.

Smooth on the ear, incredible record from a production point of view. Great funky bass in some songs, and loads of lyrics. Easier on the ear than some similar artists.

very versatile, loved the instrumentals and the storytelling, however i've never been a fan of kendrick's flow

One of my favorite albums ever, maybe because the bass god himself, Thundercat, plays a huge role in it!! Besides him, you can hear Snoop Dogg, George Clinton, and Kamasi Washington on the record, and from what I remember, Flying Lotus also helped out with the whole thing, just an absolute powerhouse of a lineup (I highly recommend checking these musicians out if you don't know them, except for Snoop Dogg, obviously... everyone knows Snoop Dogg). Fun fact: Apparently, David Bowie was so fascinated by the album that he listened to it on repeat while preparing for his final record, Blackstar, and drew heavy inspiration from it. Another fun fact: Prince was supposed to be a guest on one of the tracks. Kendrick actually met up with him in the studio, but they got so caught up talking about Black history that they ran out of studio time and never got around to recording anything together.

1/5. Wanted to rate it higher as he calls out Drake for being a pedophile, but most of the songs were just crappy repetative vocals of nothingness, mindless swearing. First album I couldn't finish.

There's not enough I can say about this album. It's practically flawless. How Much A Dollar Cost, Wesley's Theory, King Kunta, Hood Politics, i, and u all rock. And Alright. The story telling on this album is spectacular.

Incredibly socially relevant - hard hitting, such talented rap and rightfully deserves its critical acclaim. It isn't the most digestible nor is it my favourite Kendrick LP for the reason it's just not that enjoyable for some parts - despite how good the music actually is. i, King Kunta, and The Blacker The Berry are three of my top rap songs. You really need to be in the mood for this to listen

Doesn’t really need an explanation. Incredible album

The first half of the songs had some interesting elements to them, the rest is just nigga nigga big dick.... 1,5/5

This is a beautiful album. First listen and was already hooked when "For Free?" came on. I love the poem that gets longer as time progresses. The poems stop at the point that the next track is that subject. Mortal Man is a great emotional track snd when the poem ends, it's just talking. Amazing talking. Great album, I see why it's on of the greatest ever.

Fav song: King Kunta

This isn’t an album that gives you everything on the first listen. If you get hung up on the skits, spoken-word transitions or unconventional structure, it’s easy to miss what Kendrick is actually doing. Dig a little deeper and the real craft starts to reveal itself. The lyricism is exceptional, but it’s Kendrick’s delivery that really brings the words to life. Every voice, flow and inflection serves the story, making the album feel more like a complete work of art than just a collection of songs. The jazz, funk and soul influences only add to its depth. I don’t love every track equally, which keeps it from being a five-star album for me, but I have a ton of respect for what Kendrick accomplished here. This is an album that rewards repeat listens, and the more attention you give it, the more it gives back. Standouts for me are “Wesley’s Theory,” “King Kunta,” “Alright,” and “The Blacker the Berry.”

Dit is mijn favoriete album van kendrick. Misschien wel het beste hip hop album ooit. Easy 5 stars.

I know this is supposed to be amazing, but not to my taste. I do like the cover, though.

never would’ve thought to see this album appear, thought it was just really old music. kendrick arguably the best lyricist in the rap industry and the instrumentals and story told in this album are beautiful

There are some great highs, but also some track I don’t particularly care for. i is an absolute banger.

Horrível

This is the modern-day rap bible. There's so much verve and life on this record, but it tells such a sobering story of the ways the world is stacked against African-Americans, the hardships of trying to make it in a world that actively is punching back, expecting and demanding more of you than others, and then undervaluing you, your achievements, for your entire life, and then the only way you ever get respect is when "accidents happen", and everyone mourns for someone who was mourning the whole time. Then, at the same time, it celebrates Black culture, with so much colour and style, recontextualising sex, success, family, in a fresh and empowering way. This is must listen, for everyone, not just rap fans.

I hadn't heard a full Kendrick album before but I enjoyed this even with that limited context. It's overlong and kind of lost me in the middle, but it's eclectic, clever, and dense with detail. My favourites were King Kunta, The Blacker the Berry, and i. Not really my scene but I'm glad I heard it!

If hell exists and I end up there no doubt this will be played on a loop. If I could give 0 stars I would. I won't pretend I heard this through. Half the first track and dipping into 3 or 4 more was enough. It just saddens me that people do actually enjoy this offensive noise.

I don’t think it’s one I’ll be doing karaoke to, however I actually enjoyed this much more than I expected. The jazz/funk music was great with some top level collaborations (Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Flying Lotus, George Clinton the list is endless!). I also liked the smooth grooves vibes of some of the other songs (Insutitutionionalized and These Walls) Highlights for me were King Kunta, How much a Dollar Cost, The Blacker the Berry & i Too much swearing for me but really interesting and creative record and I think I would listen to some of the tracks again.

Absolutely bursting with ideas, this record is a long, intense listen. The vocals are toooo much but the instrumentation is so interesting throughout. It gets better as it goes on, ‘How Much a Dollar Cost’ and ‘The Blacker the Berry’ are my favourites. Also, I don’t think any album should be longer than 60 minutes!

Rap isn't really my thing but this album is fantastic. The groove, lyricism and instrumentation are all crazy. I think this is pretty unquestionably the best rap album i've ever heard. What I especially like is it retains a sense of fun without ever sounding naff, which is an incredibly difficult line to tread, and in my opinion only really talented artists can do that well. It loses pace just slightly in the middle for me, but is bookended by a run of great songs