venenatis non.
He receives assistance from Pharrell’s two-step invoking productions, Flying Lotus’ driving beats, Thundercat’s synthesized bass, Ron Isley’s signature tenor harmonies, the sweet melodies of James Fauntleroy, Bilal and Anna Wise and Snoop Dogg’s smooth imprint, to name a few. Lamar’s sophomore effort is more of a progressive jazz album than it is hardcore hip-hop. While his high-pitched flow and image-heavy metaphors remain as strong as ever, his lyricism lacks the typical street chronicles average rap fans desire or would expect of him. As opposed to allowing the sound of the album to fall in line with his dark storylines, the rapper cloaks 16 tracks of honest and harsh truths in feel-good music such as funk, with hints of jazz and blues. He reminds fans that while a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, there’s nothing sweet about this tale.
At times, To Pimp a Butterfly sounds as if it were derived from the diary excerpts of an angry schizophrenic. While Lamar is on a personalized, yet familiar dilapidated road to mental clarity, he’s creating one of the most prolific examples of black pride and empowerment to date.
Daring to delve further into the cerebral chambers of this talented introvert, we take a deeper look at Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly album with a track-by-track breakdown.
“Wesley’s Theory”
Feat. George Clinton & Thundercat
If previously released singles “The Blacker the Berry” and “King Kunta” didn’t provide a glimpse of the tone this album, then the album opener "Wesley’s Theory" immediately puts it into perspective -- this is a salute to all things black. The track takes off with a sample of Jamaican soul singer Boris Gardiner's number "Every N----- Is a Star" before delving deep into the funkadelic architecture of George Clinton. Clinton’s commanding voice prefaces Kendrick’s sing-song rhetoric about stereotypical things he could have, should have and would have done once he got signed. The most notable reference on the track is possibly K. Dot addressing Wesley Snipe’s jail stint for tax invasion.