Published in
6 min readMay 8, 2022
Introductory Note
“To Pimp A Butterfly” by Kendrick Lamar is an album that deals with materialism, racism, oppression, and self-love. The album’s title references “To Kill a Mockingbird”, while also being a metaphor for “pimping” something as beautiful and free as a butterfly. In this blog post, I will be analyzing important songs throughout the album, relating them to African American writers and artists who share similar or contrasting beliefs to those of Kendrick throughout the album. The album is 78 minutes long and full of powerful lyrics, beginning with the opening track titled “Wesley’s Theory”.
Wesley’s Theory
- The song is a reference to Wesley Snipes, an American actor, and film producer who has a net worth of $10 million dollars and was thrown in jail for tax evasion. Kendrick talks about how black males in the system are never taught how to manage money or “power”, so even when they do become successful, white people can take that power from them in an instant.
- This can be related to the essay “The Weight”, as Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah talks about how “black death” leads to “in the end, the inevitable, the erasing of memory.” In saying this, she believes that African Americans are mistreated, neglected, and have an overall much harder time in America than others do. She believes that throughout an African American’s life, you will be treated badly until you ultimately die, and after you die there will be an “erasing of memory”. This “erasing of memory” consists of your belongings, writings, and overall existence being removed from Earth, making it difficult for a legacy to be noticed or accomplishments to be praised in future generations. This can be seen in “Wesley’s Theory” as Kendrick raps as Uncle Sam who represents America. Uncle Sam talks charms Kendrick, telling him to spend all of his money and not save the receipts. Ultimately Uncle Sam ends the song repeating the lines “Tax man comin’, tax man comin”, knowing that all the money and power earned by the Black American can be taken away from them by White America in the blink of an eye.
King Kunta
- “King Kunta”, focuses on the history of negative stereotypes and events that all African-Americans have to acknowledge to successfully escape oppression in White America.
- In “Lonely In America” by Wendy Walters, the author walks through Newport Harbor realizing that every stone on the ground represented an African. Each stone was from the ballast of a slave ship and was carried by a slave as he or she debarked, and by the year 1813 houses were built over the “negro burial ground” to get rid of all evidence of the slave history in the area. In “King Kunta”, Kendrick acknowledges that instances like this are meant to be embraced, as it is what has made African Americans so strong. He views these hardships as powerful and necessary to remember for his people to succeed and keep fighting. In regards to the name “King Kunta”, the song is named after Kunta Kinte: an African slave. Kunta Kinte tried to escape slavery many times and the last time he was caught his “master” cut off his feet. Kendrick sees this history in America today, as White America is constantly trying to put Black Americans at a handicap. However, just like Kunta Kinte did, he believes they will continue to fight against oppression the same way they have in the past.
Alright
- This song is written to ensure optimism among Black Americans, telling them everything is going to get better no matter how bad it is now. He acknowledges that even though America is really messed up right now, God has their backs and they must believe in him.
- He talks about the especially prevalent topic of police brutality while still encouraging listeners that no matter how bad the system is, they need to stay strong and keep moving forward.
- This relates to “Lemonade” by Beyonce, as she portrays herself as a strong, independent African American woman who is worthy of much more than she is treated. She looks to inspire others like herself to fight against social norms and strive in America. Just like “Alright”, her work fights against Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah’ss concept of “black death” as she tells her audience that no matter the circumstance, you can always rise up and move confidently to succeed in what you believe in. She says “I break chains all by myself, won’t let my freedom rot in hell,” meaning that the curses of White Supremacy, imperialism, and class oppression will all be broken in time.
The Blacker the Berry
- Named after the 1929 book “The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life” by Wallace Thurman, this song highlights the rapper’s anger toward racist White America and its disgusting mistreatment of African Americans.
- The song opens with lyrics highlighting how American wants Black Americans to praise their country while completely ignoring the oppression they’ve suffered for hundreds of years.
- The lyrics “The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice. The blacker the berry, the bigger I shoot,” takes the seemingly positive lyrics and adds “The bigger I shoot” in reference to the racial profiling by cops.
- In Kendrick’s hook, he states “I’m the biggest hypocrite of 2015. When I’m finished this witnesses will convey just what I mean”. He says this because he was both mourning Trayvon Martin’s death at the time while contributing to the cycle of violence in the Black Community that he was institutionalized into and can’t seem to get out of.
- This relates to Carol Anderson’s concept of “White Rage” such as the North’s victory in the Civil War created a backlash in the South as state legislatures created the Black Codes, which severely restricted the rights and abilities of the newly freed black people. This is a prime example of how White Rage has always been a problem and why Kendrick felt obligated to write “The Blacker the Berry”. As Kendrick touches on in the song when he says “This plot is bigger than me, it’s generational hatred”, he expresses his feelings toward the loop of racism that exists and will continue to affect African Americans no matter how hard they try to break the cycle. With that being said, they both believe we need to fight back against the system in order to create a better America and equality for the Black Community.
Mortal Man
- This last song on the album is a 12-minute long lyrical journey where Kendrick talks about carrying Nelson Mandela’s legacy on to better the world and others around him. The song ends with an interview from Kendrick to Tupac, who is Kendricks biggest influence. Tupac tells Kendrick he has a responsibility to inspire other Black men and children to change the world so they too can be free and live the life they want.
- The song and album end when Kendrick speaks his mind on many social issues and finishes his speech by asking Tupac what his perspective is, in which he gets no response from Pac who was killed because of the same social issues Kendrick talked about throughout the album.
End Note
Overall, this album outlines many significant topics in today’s society while also being beautifully expressed by one of the best lyricists in the world, Kendrick Lamar. This blog post only touched on 5/16 tracks, so I would encourage you to listen to the record in its entirety to better understand the incredible impact “To Pimp a Butterfly” had on the music industry and world as a whole.
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