When Kendrick Lamar dropped his critically acclaimed To Pimp a Butterfly earlier this year, he left the world shook. After appearing online a week prior to its release and in the wake of a Black Lives Matter movement, it was the album’s relevance in subject matter and timing in which it arrived that made it all the more powerful. During a recent interview with The Guardian, Lamar began to breakdown different aspects of the album and express some of his political frustrations which inspired the music. In particular, he recalls how ‘Blacker The Berry’ was drafted long before the new album and during a furious burst following the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was shot dead in 2012.
“It’s already in your blood because I am Trayvon Martin, you know. I’m all of these kids. It’s already implanted in your brain to come out your mouth as soon as you’ve seen it on the TV. I had that track way before that, from the beginning to the end, and the incident just snapped it for me.”
When questioned about voicing his views on political agendas through his music, as many rappers tend to shy away from such issues, Lamar acknowledged that while he enjoys rapping for the fun of it, there’s times were you have to address some shit.
“It’s really just about integrity. We all like to have fun. I like to have fun, too. But where do you stop and say, ‘You know what? There’s actually some real shit going on out there that people can relate to more than any singalong I can bring to the table.’”
K.Dot also addresses falling victim to depression and survivor’s guilt and how it haunted him throughout his life, made evident on TPAB and inspiring songs like ‘U’ and ‘These Walls’.
“You know when you get bad news after bad news after bad news? And you can’t express this to nobody but you got to relieve it in some type of way? I was able to bottle that moment and put it on record.”
One of the take-away notes from the interview however, is the fact the Lamar indicates that he already has plans for the next album and it will tie everything together.
“I know exactly what I want to say next…Everything is going to make sense – not only to myself but to anybody who wants to understand life and music. Everything will make a little more sense.”
You can read more of the interview over at The Guardian, where Kendrick delves a little deeper into the album’s themes, his addiction to music and how he’s preparing to perform TPAB live.
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