It isn’t a straight narrative, instead leaving the listener to fill in some of the gaps for herself.
To Pimp a Butterfly is a concept album with many themes, which interlock and overlap. And hopefully urge you to experience it for yourself and decode/unlock its manifold wonders. So all I really want to do, here, is share with you a few of the reasons why I think this is a beautiful and very important release. It's the sort of album that deserves – no, demands – to be really listened to, worked out for oneself, and - in case this is all making it sound like homework or duty, god forbid - relished and delighted in, in all its jazzed up, funked out, soulful, loud, proud, angry, sad and beautiful glory. It's one of those pieces of art that comes along something like once a decade, so layered with meaning, so knotted up with intent and resonance, so of-its-time yet treating issues and themes that can span eras, that I am still discovering and uncovering different meanings, references, and picking my way to an imperfect understanding of it, despite having had it - literally - on repeat, daily, since its release last month (was it just last month? It already feels like music I've lived with for years). There is a strong sense in which even attempting to write 'a review' of an album like Kendrick Lamar's second album, and masterpiece, To Pimp a Butterfly, is foolhardy.