Why do a lot of y'all hate To Pimp A Butterfly?

[Jermio]

It's trash. Fake jazz. It's not really music.

 

[Sankofa Alwayz]

If it’s Kendrick, doesn’t sound Trap enough, “sounds like something Cacs listen to” (as if most rappers’ fanbases ain’t mostly Cac, both old school and new school), and/or sounds “too jazzy”, nikkas would throw every type of juelzing you can think of make their bizarre hatred of TPAB (and Kendrick in general) known and this album makes it known. Yet another reason why it’s such a blassic

 

[Cadillac]

To Pimp a Butterfly is a Great album, Good Kid mad city is the overrated project .

Good Kid is Kendrick at his best form

I don't think there is much objectivity in placing Section 80 or GKMC above TPAB. In most aspects you rate an album

The lyrics are more intricate and complex (without sounding rappety rap rap). The storytelling is better. He went into more concepts and themes. As a hit, Alright > Swimming Pools or Poetic Justice (yuck) or HiiPower. The production while more expansive is done at a high level. And find me a stretch of 3 songs on GKMC/Section 80 that match Momma > Hood Politics > How Much a Dollar Cost (personal metric of mine, don't take this too serious)

theres really no objectivity in any of this if you want to go that way. Infact your whole description and breakdown is subjective itself

You can say that you sense Kendrick trying too hard on TPAB... duh that's the pitfall of trying to evolve, and any classic left-of-center Hip-Hop album will have those moments (Mamacita on Aquemini comes to mind) but I was just glad someone, in this sterile music scene, was willing to take an artistic leap and push themselves beyond their comfort zone (shoutout to Da Baby and Drake). Wish more artists actually did this.

That said, there are legitimate reasons for liking Section 80 or GKMC more. Those are more conventionally produced, the concepts/themes are tighter, the storytelling is more linear, and of course Poetic Justice (yuck) appeals more to the casual crowd. There is little in TPAB for the casual.

i never get this artistic leap thing, besides the jazz elements. TPAB is just kendrick doing the introspective based rap style hes been doing for a while over Jazz. Theres really no huge artistic leap in terms of his content or his style of rap from what he was doing in GKMC (which is delievered much better and smoother,, etc).

some of the content is a bit different given this time he made it. But the approach and the introspective/self reflect style is still the relatively the same. Accept this time told from a perspective as a popular artist.

 

[Conan]

Good Kid is Kendrick at his best form
theres really no objectivity in any of this if you want to go that way. Infact your whole description and breakdown is subjective itself

i never get this artistic leap thing, besides the jazz elements. TPAB is just kendrick doing the introspective based rap style hes been doing for a while over Jazz. Theres really no huge artistic leap in terms of his content or his style of rap from what he was doing in GKMC (which is delievered much better and smoother,, etc).

some of the content is a bit different given this time he made it. But the approach and the introspective/self reflect style is still the relatively the same. Accept this time told from a perspective as a popular artist.

I agree with the poster you quoted. While GKMC is a great album, I do think it's overrated.

If you want to delve into this I'm more than happy to, I maintain my stance of it being the better album objectively, regardless of anyone's personal preference.

Artistic leap is about the whole package, not just "the jazz elements". Yes Kendrick has always done the introspective stuff but I think he turned the mirror on himself more (U, Momma). GKMC felt like an expose on his crew from his perspective. Ditto for Section 80 (Keisha's Song)

If anything, Section 80 is closer to TPAB in terms of ambition than GKMC. I count GKMC as another excellent album following the lineage of Doggysytle, Tha Streetz Iz a Mutha, and other classic West Coast albums. TPAB is so much different... Compare the reaction of critics to both albums. It's like night and day... Of course there was an artistic leap. And that's a reason why there's so much beef with this album, because nikkas was expecting a GKMC2.

 

[Majestic]

someone said OD > TPAB. that just confirms some of y'all on here are total clowns.

 

[WakandanPride]

My friends think its boring and they want to turn up all the time. Kendrick ain't what they want.

It's my favorite album of all time though. So many lessons and beautiful musicality.

 

[Professor K.]

TPAB was an amazing body of work in and of itself.

It's a weak as fukk claim to the "BEST RAPPER ALIVE" title that was the whole rollout behind it.

To my knowledge, Jay first claimed BEST RAPPER ALIVE on The Black Album(Dirt Off Your Shoulder), his alleged retirement album that he made a point to prove he deserved that spot.

Wayne flipped it on Go DJ and really went for BEST RAPPER ALIVE on The Carter II, where, again, he made a point to prove he deserved that spot.

TPAB's whole rollout was centered around Kendrick claiming BEST RAPPER ALIVE, and he proceeded to deliver a phenomenal album musically, but was individually an afterthought. He didn't dominate that record bar for bar like a nikka who was supposed to be the BEST RAPPER ALIVE.

I would enjoy this album a lot more if the Interscope machine didn't try to work the narrative so hard

 

[Cadillac]

Artistic leap is about the whole package, not just "the jazz elements". Yes Kendrick has always done the introspective stuff but I think he turned the mirror on himself more (U, Momma). GKMC felt like an expose on his crew from his perspective. Ditto for Section 80 (Keisha's Song)
.

this doesnt make sense, because there was no artistic leap as a whole. His style, content and so on didnt change. Only sonically it did.

and Kendrick mirrored in on himself in GKMC to with songs like "Good Kid" . But if you argue that this album is his most introspective and mirroring one I could understand.

If anything, Section 80 is closer to TPAB in terms of ambition than GKMC. I count GKMC as another excellent album following the lineage of Doggysytle, Tha Streetz Iz a Mutha, and other classic West Coast albums. TPAB is so much different... Compare the reaction of critics to both albums. It's like night and day... Of course there was an artistic leap. And that's a reason why there's so much beef with this album, because nikkas was expecting a GKMC2.

idk about that, all the albums are closer to each other because in reality. They all follow the same formula. Its all the same kendrick talking about himself, his partnas/people on his block or neighborhood, brag on how he is the shyt/best rapper etc. Only difference is the production.

you have the right to your views fam, but i highly disagree
being "so much different" doesnt mean its better by deault than something that follows a "lineage" or tradition.
Plus
TPAB is just another in the lineage of west coast albums(not saying classic, because i disagree. but thats for a diff thread. So ill just say album for overall and to include classics). its just a jazz influence one. So if you saying GKMC is of a lineage same can be said for TPAB. In the grand scheme of things theres not much of a difference from how i see it, its just Kendrick on Jazz

theres beef with it because from what I seen some people just didnt care for the jazz feel, and the structure of the songs/album imo. Plus some people i talked to felt the same way I did where he was to overwordy. and I repeat he wasnt in some complex/super lyrical way. But in a he was just overdescribing type of way if you feel what I am saying.

 

[CAVEMAN]

Terrace Martin's jazzy production sounds too much like smooth jazz, so even though I actually do fukk with jazz & the album got hyped that way, I couldnt really enjoy much off it. Also the fake interviewing Tupac thing kinda feels off in a strange way, and was a overly long annoying way to end the album. Also his pretentious ass spoken word bout his dikk not being free was hella annoying. Also his "concept" track of the homeless guy begging for a dollar being Jesus was not that clever and kinda disappointing. And then his other "concept" song 'Blacker The Berry' is actually even kinda offensive with his apologist respectability politics. I chopped the ending off that too and I can kinda pretend its not what it actually is

Also his repetitive ass interludes bout waking up in the hotel screaming and crying annoyed the hell out of me after like the 4th one and then they just kept happening. I edited them all down to one interlude and its cool or whatever, just annoying that I had to or else it drains hella tracks otherwise. Also "I Love Myself" coulda been a real crossover classic on some OutKast shyt but was just too corny... Honestly it just needed the beat to be a lil harder and it woulda worked. but it's too corny how it is.


So, thats the reasons. Its a surprising amount of them to be honest. I still do love 'Be Alright'. That song is classic and so is the video, and it saves the album for me. and 'King Kunta' is cool, appreciated the homage to Suga Free plus it goes hard. There might be more worth exploring on the album but as a whole was kinda too weighed down to enjoy. I've loved every other Kendrick album, for whatever thats worth.

 

[Mike the Executioner]

Thank you. It always made me laugh how people on here had the gall to say only white people like Wu. Their music encapsulates every NYC pissy hallway filled with 5 percenters selling crack, fukking nikkas up, drinking 40s, holding guns and smoking blunts perfectly. Their music was a major part of the soundscape of impoverished Blacks from the Eastcoast in the early and mid 90s. To even entertain the thought that their music was cac music is fukking dumb as fukk. If white people started fukking with it, then it is what is. Same thing goes for TPAB. Ain't a damn thing cac about it. That's music that every person calling themselves pro-Black should be proud of. If white people fukk with it, then it is what it is.

Glad you and @FunkDoc1112 pointed out how stupid this criticism is. Like Kendrick made songs like "Alright," "King Kunta," "Hood Politics," and "The Blacker the Berry" so he could get praise from white critics. The majority of music critics are white. If they support an album, that automatically means it's "CAC shyt?"

Guess RZA's verse on "4th Chamber" was written for the sole purpose of getting Liquid Swords a five-star review in Rolling Stone, huh?

 

[ISO]

TPAB's whole rollout was centered around Kendrick claiming BEST RAPPER ALIVE, and he proceeded to deliver a phenomenal album musically, but was individually an afterthought. He didn't dominate that record bar for bar like a nikka who was supposed to be the BEST RAPPER ALIVE.

I would enjoy this album a lot more if the Interscope machine didn't try to work the narrative so hard

Facts the musicality of the album overshadowed the MC’ing. For as great as the beats were on Illmatic, Nas words came first. Not the case on this album and Kendrick’s voice got worse from his prior work.

 

[ISO]

The Wu-Tang analogy is weak. Wu didn’t get that large white fanbase until around their second album and when they toured with the white rock bands.

Young brehs never really fukked with this album but cacs loved it from day one. It’s funny because I liked the album but I gotta keep it a buck it didn’t connect.

 

[Piff Perkins]

It’s pretentious and not really exciting

What's pretentious about it musically.

 

[Conan]

What's pretentious about it musically.

It's a bullshyt critique.

 

[5n0man]

Album was classic.

Still K.dots best album imo.