What do you have to do to get on a presidential playlist? In an interview with People magazine, President Barack Obama cited “How Much a Dollar Cost” as his favorite track of 2015. Let’s take a look at the album that the busiest man in America took the time to tout.
28-year-old Compton-born rapper Kendrick Lamar is certainly not a new name in music, but a year ago he burst out of his cocoon and redefined album culture. With three previous albums under his belt (one of which was Grammy-nominated), and more than a handful of years in the industry, he was far from a rookie breakout. But despite a good amount of cult and niche popularity, last year was the first year many mainstream music fans heard of Kendrick.
The newfound mainstream spotlight was due in large part to album To "Pimp a Butterfly (TPAB)." Upon its release nearly a year ago and since, the album has been received with an unprecedented amount of acclaim. It found itself on a startling 19 Best Album lists at the end of 2015. Fourteen of the lists put TPAB at number one, and on no list put the album outside of the top 10. As of this post, it has sold over 800,000 copies. But why? What makes "TPAB" a great album? The answer might be simpler than you may think. It is, in my opinion at least, because it is a true bonafide album.
This is something lost in music so much these days. Music today is very much a singles culture. We live in an era where top 40s radio rules. "To Pimp a Butterfly" is such a profound deviation from the musical culture into which it was released it must be in stellar form to survive. And as we have seen, it did more than survived; it thrived. So, what does it do that makes it a true album? I think first and foremost, it is coherent. It is a story. Kendrick is a master of this musical form. In his Grammy-nominated album "Good Kid, Maad City" put out in 2012, he took us out on a night in the life he escaped. It was a story about Compton, about gang life, about friendship, and about loss. And it was eye-opening. Many thought Kendrick couldn’t top it. That is, until he did.
I believe "TPAB" achieves greatness because Kendrick Lamar followed a time-tested rule about storytelling. Good stories are about things, people, and places. That was "GKMC." Great stories are about ideas. "TPAB" does not lead us through a night. It does not tell us about people; not directly anyway. It guides us through a thought process. Through raw ideas. It brings us into the mind of the man who went to the places and met the people. It accomplishes this truly difficult concept while following a familiar story structure. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. It maintains a theme throughout, and it conveys a feeling of presence. The album is truly aware of the time in which it is being released.
Throughout music history, a factor that has continually propelled great works is their cultural relevancy. How music speaks to the current issues of people has always had an effect on its success. The Cold War shaped The Beatles, the dust bowl created Woody Guthrie, and the Great Depression birthed an entire genre in the blues musicians that were affected. Similarly, the racial tensions in Southern California molded the man that would later give us this great work. It is pertinent to our time and a product of our recent past. It is for this reason that it takes great hold on our heart and soul. The empathy that is fueled by common struggle allows albums to become a part of us. This is the ultimate achievement of a musical work: the fusing of song into soul. I applaud Lamar in his ability to do this consistently and with great power.
I hope "To Pimp a Butterfly" inspires more artists to turn away from the popular trend of making singles and return to the art of making albums.
