A weekly sampling from our partners over at JP Lime Productions.
Professa
It’s been nearly two full weeks and most of us Hip Hop Heads have had a chance to at least ingest if not fully digest Kendrick Lamar’s newest output, an expansive, cinematic concept album of sorts entitled To Pimp a Butterfly. With its sonic influences and styles, its deep (yet accessible) subject matter, and a minimum of veritable “bangers” (though I’ve already been caught on repeat with i, King Kunta and Alright), there are those who are able to find disappointment with this as the follow-up to the Grammy-nominated debut good Kid, m.A.A.d City. For many of us, though, it’s sheer brilliance, an instant classic unlike anything that’s emerged in the last 15 years. So let’s take a look at just what makes it such an important Hip Hop album, work of art, and cultural statement in this review of To Pimp a Butterfly.
What exactly is …Butterfly?
Some have described it like a movie, others like a novel and while detractors decry its abundance of funk and jazz, it is most definitely Hip Hop.
It is unabashedly, explorationally and absolutely intentionally Black.
It is Big. As evidenced on GKMC K.Dot really knows how to craft a story arc and though the readings of TPAB are bound to be less literal, there is a depth in its abstraction that makes it larger in scope than his debut.
On that same note, it is a concept album, one that seems to grow from the inside out, though the concept is not entirely clear yet. He has composed a specific story, with motivation, character, and nuance but as he said in his RollingStone interview in reference to the title’s meaning, it’ll be up to students and professors in future college classes to determine what it really means.
There is also the question to be asked in terms of the two metaphors linked to the album’s title, what/who exactly is the Butterfly?
There is the metaphor in the final piece Kendrick reads on “Mortal Man”, describing the caterpillar and the butterfly. There is also the metaphor inherent in phrasing the album’s title to match Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. These two metaphors are certainly related but are they the same? What does each contribute to the narrative?
At a passing glance TPAB might appear to be denouncing the larger society be it government/police/record labels/white authority, seeking to pimp the young black American male for his beauty and talent, co-opting the urban black experience while simultaneously fearing and demonizing it. And while the album doesn’t shy away from this narrative, delving into it on the opening two tracks, it’s really just a precursor (or a bait-and-switch, as on “The Blacker the Berry”) to the lesson that the greatest enemy lies within. Before being able to take on larger, external enemies, the argument goes, America’s black community must first learn the Respect described on “Mortal Man” and the elimination of the hypocrisy that is the backbone of “The Blacker the Berry”. It is the cornerstone of Lamar’s controversial and over-blown twitter comments during the Ferguson, MO protests. It is what we learn in the final piece, that the caterpillar is the one blindly pimping the butterfly, not knowing that by tearing into the cocoon that is his community he destroys a piece of himself. In pimping the butterfly, symbolizing African-American beauty, strength and power (his antennas), the caterpillar misrepresents his own culture for short-term gain, a move he perceives as necessary for survival. It is where one metaphor meets the other, in the destruction of innocence and beauty by the overarching forces of greed and fear. TPAB adds to the conversation with statements about combatting this cycle, beginning from within. In the final part of the conversation with Tupac, Kendrick seems to be taking the next step forward for Pac’s work as well. With the final reading of the caterpillar/butterfly piece Pac disappears and it leaves me with the notion that Pac has nothing further to add at the moment because he can see that K.Dot is carrying on his work.
The album opens with a sample of Boris Gardner’s “Every ni**er is a star” that fades up and opens beautifully from we know not whence, gentle and off-putting at the same time. It breaks on a James Brown-esque “Hit me!” before switching to a sound reminiscent of Snoop circa 2000, complete with West Coast beat, high-pitched singing and George Clinton voice-over. It’s “Wesley’s Theory”, describing the elements that make many rapper’s rise to success so cliché and often foolhardy. The catch, of course, is that while Uncle Sam wants to see you pile that debt high he will always come to collect. It’s the start of a three-song opening Act, a prologue even, catching the listener up to the beginning of the journey about to be undertaken. As the song ends we get our first taste of what makes this feel like an Outkast record (a not uncommon comparison). As we hear “taxman coming!” from the two unreferenced female “background singers”, itself a stylistic impulse of Andre and Big Boi, the song stops on a dime to be contrasted by the squeaks of a saxophone. “For Free?”, technically labelled an interlude, sees Kendrick go full slam poet over the jazz piano of Robert Glasper. He returns to the refrain “this dick ain’t free” throughout the single verse in answer to “America, [the] bad bitch” with a quick pace and sharp tongue. It is sonically jarring and captivating, a proper preview of what lies ahead before we conclude the prologue with what might be the album’s best track. “King Kunta” is like an audio version of ‘Shaft’ starring James Brown where Kendrick asserts his rap royalty over an infectious swing beat. Nuanced with the unreferenced female background singers as well as male ones such as on “something’s in the water”, it’s a strutting song adorned with JB and P-Funk references both sonic and literal.
I remember you were conflicted,
Misusing your influence…
A weekly sampling from our partners over at JP Lime Productions.
A weekly sampling from our partners over at JP Lime Productions.
This past week has been full of a myriad of reactions to Tomi Lahren’s interactions with both The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah and The Breakfast Club’s Charlamagne Tha God. Too many of these opinions have been largely one-sided, leaning heavily towards either Lahren or Noah/Charlamagne. Here are mine.
As a matter of background, Tomi Lahren is a 24 year old conservative media personality. She currently hosts her own show, Tomi , on TheBlaze TV, and previously hosted On Point with Tomi Lahren on One America News Network. Described on TheBlaze’s website as a “liberal agitator… taking on the left,” she’s received quite a bit of backlash from said “left” over the past year for her thoughts on Colin Kaepernick’s protest, Beyoncé’s Black Panther themed Super Bowl performance, Jesse William’s powerful BET Award speech, and perhaps most controversially, the entire Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Trevor Noah, of course, is the host of The Daily Show, having taken over for Jon Stewart back in September of 2015, and Charlamagne Tha God is the popular co-host of Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club. To say that The Daily Show and The Breakfast Club lean towards “liberal/left” viewpoints and content, while Tomi leans “conservative/right,” is admittedly an oversimplification, and one that bothers. But for the purpose of this entry, we’ll work within those parameters.
Lahren Debates Charlamagne on Beyoncé’s Super Bowl Performance
That said, for better (unlikely) or worse (more likely), the aforementioned myriad of opinions about Tomi, Trevor, and Charlamagne have (seemingly) largely been constrained to picking a side, or more accurately, defending the side with which one identifies and represents. I say seemingly because I don’t want to rule out the possibility that this is just what I personally have come across in my own experiences. I recognize, despite supreme confidence and self-worth that I am, alas, but one man. One man’s experiences and opinions cannot fully capture the larger scope of what’s really going on these streets, err, sociopolitical environment. And at day’s end, the sentiment behind that last statement, ill-fated attempt at humor notwithstanding, is exactly what what troubles me about Tomi-Trevor-Charlamagne-gate. Whether it’s folks on the “right” asserting Tomi destroyed Noah, or folks on the “left” proclaiming the opposite, there doesn’t appear to be enough willingness to listen, understand, and bridge gaps. And I get it.
I get that likening BLM to the KKK (as Tomi’s done) can for many people, many reasonable, intelligent people I might add, disqualify anything and everything else that comes out of that person’s mouth. I understand the same can occur when cries of racism and unyielding ignorance are tossed around like a beach ball at the ballpark. People get pissed. People become frustrated for and exhausted from having to defend their position all the time. Sadly, folks naturally pick a side and vehemently stick to it. What I wish more people would do is listen. I wish more people would engage in meaningful discourse and attempt to understand each other, however difficult that may be. If nothing else, I wish that people would stop criticizing those who are actively listening and trying to engage in meaningful conversations with the other side.
Not everyone is going to want to try to listen, understand, educate, and bridge gaps. I can understand that, and won’t subscribe to the notion of “if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem” in that regard. Some people want/need their privacy and just want to be left alone. That’s fine. However, if you openly shit on the efforts of those that are trying to actively listen, understand, educate, and bridge gaps, then you are absolutely part of the problem. As reported and shown below, both Noah and Charlamagne Tha God amicably met with Lahren in the wake of her appearance on The Daily Show. Too many were critical of these interactions.
