Best Ever Albums

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 07:10:09 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 03/30/2015 11:10

RepoMan wrote:

Just listened to this for the first time. and it's amazing. Stunning, really. But, it doesn't make me sweat. GKMC made me sweat. It felt real. It was intense & vivid & personal. This is a bit too artificial. Sounds sick, but the scene feels just a bit sterile. We'll see. i don't put too much stock in first listens, but I feel pretty strongly about this. Still ambitious & impressive as fuck, but perhaps that's it's downfall.

All of this. GKMC is just a little (lot) better

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 00:41:01 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 03/30/2015 04:41

Just listened to this for the first time. and it's amazing. Stunning, really. But, it doesn't make me sweat. GKMC made me sweat. It felt real. It was intense & vivid & personal. This is a bit too artificial. Sounds sick, but the scene feels just a bit sterile. We'll see. i don't put too much stock in first listens, but I feel pretty strongly about this. Still ambitious & impressive as fuck, but perhaps that's it's downfall.

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

Mercury — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 00:03:30 GMT

Author: Mercury

Posted: 03/30/2015 04:03

It'd better because that opinion is wrong. It's a pretty much perfect album so stop fucking vacillating on that fact.

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 22:57:48 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 03/30/2015 02:57

x days later and i am back to thinking that this is just "good"

i appreciate it/what it's going for, but it's nothing super spectacular for me

maybe that'll change again? who knows

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 14:44:21 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 03/24/2015 18:44

Currently the fourth best reviewed album in metacritic's history http://www.metacritic.com/browse/albums/score/metascore/all?sort=desc 😎

Equal to the 2 above it and with more than triple the reviews of what's in first place.

and #1 on anydecentmusic's (admittedly brief) all time list

http://www.anydecentmusic.com/chart/AllTime.aspx

It's unlikely to go down (though certainly possible) on either since it's got about the amount of reviews most albums tend to have at their peak.

Despite talking to a couple of users on here about why I think quantifying music is dumb 🤣 this is quite an achievement.

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

newbands1 — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 07:27:14 GMT

Author: newbands1

Posted: 03/23/2015 11:27

Link

Hilarious review

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 07:22:35 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 03/23/2015 11:22

It clicked

Kendrick for president

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

reDEFinition — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 16:40:16 GMT

Author: reDEFinition

Posted: 03/22/2015 20:40

I think I understood this album on an emotional level FAR better than I did on an analytical level. And I can't get enough of it. In my case it might be better to give it more listens before trying to break down the messages/themes of this album.
But in my opinion, Kendrick has managed to create his best and most cohesive album yet, even after setting the bar high with good kid, m.a.a.d. city.

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

Norman Bates — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 15:29:30 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 03/22/2015 19:29

If I have the time and if I'm not too drunk later tonight, I might throw my 2 cents this way. To sum up, very good but no masterpiece from where I stand.

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

Patman360 — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 14:55:53 GMT

Author: Patman360

Posted: 03/22/2015 18:55

Listened to it at last, tis good alright.

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 07:56:01 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 03/22/2015 11:56

eyezayzay wrote:

I think you need to keep something in mind with this album and Kendrick's goal in general.
I spent the greater half of yesterday analyzing this album as well as his whole discography.

He never really wanted to be considered a rapper but rather a poet/writer shedding light on the pains of the what society paints as the "intimidating black male"

This album is masterful at that. He takes accountability for our own behavior (wash yo ass, stop killing ourselves, vanity) while emphasizing that our current state was orchestrated by the Reagan era and the system needs to be fixed or things will only escalate. They (we) have nothing else to lose. (Jim Crow, Willie Lynch, Cocaine Smuggling) On top of that he delves into the mental/emotional state of a "survivor" of said system. (Schizo, Self Hate, Addiction) But most importantly he wants us all to know that there is hope and you don't have to be a christian to believe in a higher power (Faith).

His journey from Overly Dedicated to To Pimp A Butterfly is the transformation of a cocky immature teen whose habits were formed by his environment to eventually leaving said environment, entering the real world, and then eventually going back to share a message of hope. He doesn't even know if the album will be the spark to change the world for the better, but he just hopes it sparks the next generation to grab his torch (which was taken from 2Pac!)

Very moving.

Great explanation!

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

benpaco — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 02:23:20 GMT

Author: benpaco

Posted: 03/22/2015 06:23

TannerVHalv wrote:

It's funny, I love "For Free?," just not as much as the others which is a testament to the strength of this album. Part of me rating it so low could be that I see it as one of the most rap oriented tracks on the album, and I generally like the soul/r&b/jazz parts better than the rap parts. I am really impressed by this flow on it though. There's a point near the end where I am shocked every time by how long it seems he goes without taking a breath. The only part of the track I didn't enjoy was the ranting woman at the beginning.

All fair, though I felt it kept the jazziness of it. The woman seemed almost like "eh, yeah, other people are gonna try and do their own thing, but look how much better I can do it", almost

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

FlorianJones — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 02:15:42 GMT

Author: FlorianJones

Posted: 03/22/2015 06:15

benpaco wrote:

As this was one of my favorites, just curious why you don't like this? It's interesting cuz Hood Politics might be my least favorite, too, and yet we differ a lot on our opinion of that

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

benpaco — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 01:51:24 GMT

Author: benpaco

Posted: 03/22/2015 05:51

TannerVHalv wrote:

15 For Free?

As this was one of my favorites, just curious why you don't like this? It's interesting cuz Hood Politics might be my least favorite, too, and yet we differ a lot on our opinion of that

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

FlorianJones — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 01:26:15 GMT

Author: FlorianJones

Posted: 03/22/2015 05:26

Tracks in order of preference:

01 These Walls
02 i
03 Momma
04 You Ain't Gotta Lie
05 For Sale?
06 The Blacker The Berry
07 How Much A Dollar Cost
08 Institutionalized
09 u
10 Wesley's Theory
11 Alright
12 King Kunta
13 Complexion
14 Mortal Man
15 For Free?
16 Hood Politics

For any one wondering why Mortal Man is so low, I love the Tupac interview, but rated each song based on the song part, not the spoken word samples attached to them and the song just isn't my favorite. Also, this whole album is absolutely stellar, ordering the tracks in order of preference made me realize how much I love every single one.

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

Anti — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 18:29:05 GMT

Author: Anti

Posted: 03/21/2015 22:29

Necharsian wrote:

bye I am right

Ahhhhh gotta love that.

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

eyezayzay — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 18:29:00 GMT

Author: eyezayzay

Posted: 03/21/2015 22:29

I think you need to keep something in mind with this album and Kendrick's goal in general.
I spent the greater half of yesterday analyzing this album as well as his whole discography.

He never really wanted to be considered a rapper but rather a poet/writer shedding light on the pains of the what society paints as the "intimidating black male"

This album is masterful at that. He takes accountability for our own behavior (wash yo ass, stop killing ourselves, vanity) while emphasizing that our current state was orchestrated by the Reagan era and the system needs to be fixed or things will only escalate. They (we) have nothing else to lose. (Jim Crow, Willie Lynch, Cocaine Smuggling) On top of that he delves into the mental/emotional state of a "survivor" of said system. (Schizo, Self Hate, Addiction) But most importantly he wants us all to know that there is hope and you don't have to be a christian to believe in a higher power (Faith).

His journey from Overly Dedicated to To Pimp A Butterfly is the transformation of a cocky immature teen whose habits were formed by his environment to eventually leaving said environment, entering the real world, and then eventually going back to share a message of hope. He doesn't even know if the album will be the spark to change the world for the better, but he just hopes it sparks the next generation to grab his torch (which was taken from 2Pac!)

Very moving.

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

Mercury — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 18:11:46 GMT

Author: Mercury

Posted: 03/21/2015 22:11

I quite agree with Tim the Toolman here. 😄 when I heard "i" I was thinking it was gonna be lupe esque pop inspirationfest album, when I heard "blacker the berry" I was thinking it was gonna maybe be a very intense hardcore hip hop old school political rap album, when I heard "King Kunta" I thought it may be very straight forward 70s James Brown funk style shit all the way. Then the album dropped, and it was none of that and all of that. I didn't foresee so much jazz influence. And, yes, in the end all the songs were made to fit in the flow of the album splashingly.

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

Gigantic — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 17:44:49 GMT

Author: Gigantic

Posted: 03/21/2015 21:44

andyw110183 wrote:

I would say the opposite. I only really "got" the singles once hearing the album in its entirety. They fit in perfectly.

*out of place with the more jazz rap oriented feel of the album. They work in context but they're still particularly different tracks to the rest of the work.

Re: To Pimp A Butterfly

andyw110183 — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 16:38:56 GMT

Author: andyw110183

Posted: 03/21/2015 20:38

Gigantic wrote:

luv how Kendrick lead up to the album by releasing nothing but singles which themselves were so out of place on the album, making the actual album's sound a total surprise upon first listen. super chill.

dick is not free.

I would say the opposite. I only really "got" the singles after hearing the album in its entirety. They fit in perfectly.