Hip-Hop/Rap: To Pimp A Butterfly (2015) / Kendrick Lamar
While Good Kid M.A.A.D. city was an excellent release recounting a young Kendrick Lamar and his experience growing up in the unforgiving city of Compton, To Pimp A Butterfly is almost too good for it’s own good. By surrounding himself with a cohort of forward-thinking collaborators (Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Pharrell Williams, Snoop Dog, Popcaan, etc…) To Pimp A Butterfly’s musical horizons are expanded indefinitely. Critics have been quick to point out that it may be too soon to state this album as being a classic record, but I disagree. There are so many highlights on this album that you might as well soak the whole damn thing in yellow ink. If hip-hop has the power to change the world this is the album that’s going to do it.
FAV TRACK: HOOD POLITICS