Compton Emcee Kendrick Lamar came into the spotlight not to long ago with his fourth mixtape “Overly Dedicated” (2010). A year later he gained even more acclaim with the release of his debut album “Section 80;” Lamar then skyrocketed to stardom with his second album “good kid m.A.A.d city” (2012), an album considered a future classic.

“To Pimp a Butterfly” was supposed to have been released on the Mar. 23, but it popped up on Mar. 16.

The first track, “Wesley’s Theory,” featuring George Clinton and Thundercat, gently introduces itself with a sample from the Boris Gardiner record “Every N*gger is A Star” using the hook of the same title.

After that, the mother ship drops down and lures you in with fluent funk instrumentation. The base lives in this purple riptide of groove, and this groove is enveloped in a medley of synthesizers and a steady drum beat.

The most visible jazz-oriented track “For Free? (Interlude),” the song uses a fast tempo with Lama is reciting this scatting/jazz poem inspired rap about how the women on the song mistreats him.

Messages on this album are tremendously well hidden with metaphor and song presentation. The themes involve black pride, the pitfalls of fame, and racism.

One of the more surprising tracks is “How Much a Dollar Cost,” Lamar has a bad exchange with a homeless man, and he refused to give him a dollar at a gas station, even though he is a rich man. The end of the record sent a chill down my spine when the retch reveals,

“You’re lookin’ at the Messiah, the son of Jehovah, the higher power,
The choir that spoke the word, the Holy Spirit, the nerve,
Of Nazareth, and I’ll tell you just how much a dollar cost,
The price of having a spot in Heaven, embrace your loss, I am God.”

The feature list on this record is pretty impressive; it includes the likes of George Clinton, Ronald Isley, and Snoop Dogg.

The most interesting aspect of the album is the poem called “Another N*gga,” which is used as a device to drive the album forward and give theme to specific songs with each continuation of the poem. Lamar reads the whole poem toward the end of the last track “Mortal Man” and we find out that he’s been reading it to 2Pac. Lamar then interviews 2Pac, this interview is scary, it feels like 2Pac is sitting there speaking to him and the answers that he gives are apply to recent events, even though he’s been dead for 19 years.

To Pimp a Butterfly gets 9 quotes from the Massey lectures(Martin Luther King) out of 10 Ballot or the Bullet audio clips (Malcolm X), Powerful.