Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly released

To Pimp a Butterfly Kendrick Lamar

Released: March 15, 2015 Peak: 12 US, 11 UK, 11 CN, 11 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.05 US, 0.30 UK, 2.08 world (includes US and UK), 8.05 EAS Genre: rap

Tracks: Click on a song title for more details. Wesley’s Theory [4:47] For Free? (Interlude) [2:10] King Kunta [3:54] Institutionalized [4:31] These Walls [5:00] U [4:28] Alright [3:39] For Sale? (Interlude) [4:51] Momma [4:43] Hood Politics [4:52] How Much a Dollar Cost [4:21] Complexion (A Zulu Love) [4:23] The Blacker the Berry [5:28] You Ain’t Gotta Lie (Momma Said) [4:01] i [5:36] Mortal Man [12:07] Total Running Time: 78:51

Rating: 4.569 out of 5.00 (average of 49 ratings) Quotable: Lamar is “expanding the boundaries of the hip-hop empire and daring other aspirants to the throne – yes, even Kanye, even Jay – to play catch-up.” – Kyle Anderson, Entertainment Weekly Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Expected Greatness Kendrick Lamar emerged with his debut album, Section 80, in 2011. While it only peaked at #113 on the Billboard album chart, his sophomore effort, Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City, exploded, peaking at #2 and was certified 3x platinum. It proved Lamar was “hip-hop’s boldest visionary” 500 so when it came time to release his third album “people expected greatness from him.” 500 He didn’t disappoint. To Pimp a Butterfly “arrived with the force of a sledgehammer.” RB It was a platinum-seller which debuted at 31 and gave him his fourth top-40 pop hit (i). The album “set him apart from his peers, and solidified him as a purveyor of strong and insightful concepts.” PM It “solidified him as a conscious rapper. Over smooth, jazz-inspired beats, Kendrick delivers thought-provoking bars and rhymes, detailing the issues that plagued the world, both then and still now.” PM The Producers “Every MC needs a strong production team to carry out their vision, and Lamar recruited the equivalent of an all-star band made up not only of generational musicians like Thundercat and Terrace Martin, but heavy-hitting producers like Pharrell, Boi-1da, and Sounwave,” CQ not to mention Dr. Dre. Producer Mark “Sounwave” Spears said, “It’s a unique sound…Every producer I’ve ever met was sending me stuff [for the album], but there was a one-in-a-million chance you could send a beat that actually fit what we were doing.’” 500 The album also featured guest spots from George Clinton, Ronald Isley, Snoop Dogg, and others. The album also sampled everyone from Michael Jackson to Sufjan Stevens. A Multi-Genre Cornucopia “To Pimp a Butterfly is a masterclass in musical innovation, where Kendrick Lamar melds jazz, funk, and hip-hop.” OH Lamar expands “the boundaries of the hip-hop empire and daring other aspirants to the throne – yes, even Kanye, even Jay – to play catch-up.” KA The album incorporates “throwback soul, churning jazz, Sly Stone-style riot funk, front-porch blues, and highly politicized spoken word.” KA It is “a collection that went beyond the confines of hip-hop to incorporate jazz, funk, and soul.” CQ Lamar incorporated the work of jazz musicians such as pianist Robert Glasper and bassist Stephen Bruner (known as Thundercat) throughout the album. The approach faced some resistance from the hip-hop world that “expected the hard-core, minimal aesthetic of drum machine ‘boom-bap’ patterns.” WF Terrace Martin, a producer who worked on the album, said “there wasn’t a conscious discussion of incorporating different genres while making the album, but an ongoing mediation of racial politics and black culture experience influenced the music.” WF Visiting Africa After a visit to historic sites in South Africa, including Nelson Mandela’s former jail cell, Lamar scrapped “two or three albums worth of material” CQ to focus instead on a variety of themes regarding African-American culture. He said, “I felt like I belonged in Africa. I saw all the things that I wasn’t taught Probably one of the hardest things to do it is put [together] a concept on how beautiful a place it can be, and tell a person this while they’re still in the ghettos of Compton. I wanted to put that experience in the music.” WK Themes Butterfly is “a vibrant, poetic exploration of race, fame, and personal struggle.” OH It “explores the experience of being Black in America by addressing topics like racial inequality, police brutality, and generational trauma. It’s best consumed as a cohesive body of work.” CQ It was “a sprawling, ambitious portrait of America and his dangerous place in it,” 500 serving “as a whistle-stop tour through the history of black music in America.” RB Lamar said, “I pride myself on writing now rather than rapping. My passion is bringing storylines around and constructing a full body of work, rather than just a 16-bar verse.’” 500 Lamar told MTV he “started the album already knowing what I wanted to talk about, just based off the idea of feeling like you’re being pimped and maneuvered in the industry.” RB Overall, the album is a “thematically rich project which surveyed a crumbling society and all of its grotesque, systematic ills” RB as Lamar explores depression, institutional discrimination, and racial inequality. WK Acclaim The album received widespread accaim, including 11 Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year. It won Rap Album of the Year. Rolling Stone, Spin, and Village Voice all ranked it the best album of the year. In retrospect, Lamar-collaborator Kamasi Washington said of the album, it “changed music…It meant that intellectually stimulating music doesn’t have to be underground.” RB The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Wesley’s Theory Kendrick Lamar with George Clinton & Thundercat

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, George Clinton, Steven Ellison, Ronald Colson, Stephen Bruner, Boris Gardiner Released: To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) First Charted: 4/4/2015 Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 269.33 streaming About the Song A

For Free? (Interlude) Kendrick Lamar

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, Terrace Martin, Rose McKinney Released: To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming About the Song For Free? and Mortal Man represented a merger of jazz and rap, blending “the fluidity of live jazz performance with Lamar’s stream-of-conscious lyrics.” WF

King Kunta Kendrick Lamar

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Spears, Johnny Burns, Michael Jackson, Ahmad Lewis, Stefan Gordy Released: 3/24/2015 (single), To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) First Charted: 4/4/2015 Peak: 58 BB, 20 RB, 56 UK, 52 CN, 32 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 763.36 streaming About the Song Lamar “exudes swagger on the bruising King Kunta.” CQ The song has “a lyrical narrative that references Kunta Kinte, a latter-18th century slave character from Alex Haley’s 1976 novel Roots.” WF Lamar “takes in the whole sweep of African American heartbreak, from the Middle Passage to the hood, from Richard Pryor to P-Funk. ‘You take a black kid out of Compton and put him in the limelight, and you find answers about yourself you never knew you were searching for.” 500

Institutionalized Kendrick Lamar with Bilal, Anna Wise, & Snoop Dogg

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, Columbus Smith, Fredrik Halldin, Sam Barsh Released: To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) First Charted: 4/4/2015 Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 120.17 streaming About the Song A

These Walls Kendrick Lamar with Bilal, Anna Wise, & Thundercat

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, Terrace Martin, Rose McKinney, Larrance Dopson, James Fauntleroy Released: 10/13/2015 (single), To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) First Charted: 4/4/2015 Peak: 94 BB, 34 RB Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 201.64 streaming About the Song However, “for every flag-planting fireball like the thumping ‘King Kunta’ or galvanizing The Blacker the Berry, there are pauses for affairs of both the heart (the dreamy Complexion (A Zulu Love)) and parts located somewhere south of it (see: cheeky sex jam These Walls).” JA

U Kendrick Lamar

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, Taz Arnold, Michael Brown Released: To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming About the Song A

Alright Kendrick Lamar

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Spears, Pharrell Williams Released: 6/30/2015 (single), To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) First Charted: 4/4/2015 Peak: 81 BB, 24 RB Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1087.81 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “A snapshot of [the album’s] brilliance is contained in a single song: Alright.” CQ Lamar told NPR, “four hundred years ago, as slaves, we prayed and sang joyful songs to stay level-headed with what was going on…We still need that music to heal. And I think that ‘Alright’ is definitely one of those records.” RB The song is “soundtracked by a swirling mix of marching band drums, saxophones, and vocal chants.” CQ It became a modern day “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” “a Black Lives Matter anthem” 500 that was “a “rallying cry at Black Lives Matter demonstrations.” RB Alright sampled Ernie Isley’s “psychedelic, phased and distorted guitar riff” WF from the Isley Brothers’ “That Lady.” Lamar visited the Isleys personally to get permission to use it. WK

For Sale? (Interlude) Kendrick Lamar

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, Taz Arnold Released: To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming About the Song A

Momma Kendrick Lamar

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, Taz Arnold, Glen Boothe, Sylvester Stewart, Lalah Hathaway, Rahsaan Patterson, Rex Rideout Released: To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming About the Song “Kendrick puts himself under intense scrutiny on The Blacker the Berry and Momma.” CQ

Hood Politics Kendrick Lamar

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Spears, Stephen Bruner, Donte Perkins, Sufjan Stevens Released: To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming About the Song A

How Much a Dollar Cost Kendrick Lamar with James Fauntleroy & Ronald Isley

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, Rose McKinney, James Fauntleroy, Terrace Martin, Josef Leimberg, Ronald Isley Released: To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming About the Song Another serious-minded song is How Much a Dollar Cost, “a haunting meditation on mortality, set to a Radiohead piano loop.” 500

Complexion (A Zulu Love) Kendrick Lamar with Rapsody

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, Stephen Bruner, Mark Spears, Marlanna Evans Released: To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming About the Song However, “for every flag-planting fireball like the thumping ‘King Kunta’ or galvanizing The Blacker the Berry, there are pauses for affairs of both the heart (the dreamy Complexion (A Zulu Love)) and parts located somewhere south of it (see: cheeky sex jam These Walls).” JA

The Blacker the Berry Kendrick Lamar

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, Matthew Samuels, Stephen Kozmeniuk, Ken Lewis, Brent Kozmeniuk, Ken Lewis, Brent Kolatalo, Jefferey Campbell, Alexander Izquierdo, Zale Epstein Released: 2/9/2015 (single), To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) First Charted: 4/4/2015 Peak: 66 BB, 25 RB, 83 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.50 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 157.69 streaming About the Song “Kendrick puts himself under intense scrutiny on The Blacker the Berry and Momma.” CQ The “searing ‘The Blacker the Berry’” OH and “Alright”are " bold anthems for a generation.” OH

You Ain’t Gotta Lie (Momma Said) Kendrick Lamar

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, Terrace Martin, Rose McKinney, Josef Leimberg, Mark Spears Released: To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming About the Song A

i Kendrick Lamar

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, Columbus Smith, Ronald Isley, O’Kelly Isley Jr., Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, Rudolph Isley, Christopher Jasper Released: 9/16/2014 (single), To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) First Charted: 10/5/2014 Peak: 39 BB, 11 RB, 20 UK, 61 CN, 48 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 131.47 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Lamar “strives to become a better person on i.” CQ The song “highlight the mental health struggles in low-income neighborhoods, serving, too, as dedications to fans who have shown up at Kendrick’s shows telling him how his music saved their lives.” PM

Mortal Man Kendrick Lamar with 2pac

Writer(s): Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Spears, Stephen Bruner, Fela Anikulapo Kuti Released: To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming About the Song On Mortal Man, Lamar used parts of an interview with late rapper Tupac Shakur to create an imagined dialogue. That song and For Free? represented a merger of jazz and rap, blending “the fluidity of live jazz performance with Lamar’s stream-of-conscious lyrics.” WF

Resources/References: CQ Consequence.net (9/12/2022). “The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time” KA Kyle Anderson (3/26/2015). Entertainment Weekly album review WF Will Fulton (Spring 2015). Brooklyn College. “The Performer As Historian: Black Messiah, To Pimp a Butterfly and the Matter of Albums” RB Robert Blair (3/24/2020). HighSnobietycom: “The (To Pimp a) Butterfly Effect – How Kendrick’s Masterpiece Changed Culture, Lives and Careers” SM Sequoia Maner (2022). 33 1/3: To Pimp a Butterfly Bloomsbury: New York. OH One Hit Thunder (2/10/2026). “The Thundred: The Top 100 Albums of All Time” PM PasteMagazine.com (6/3/2024). “The 300 Greatest Albums of All Time” 500 Rolling Stone (9/22/2020). “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Pages: First posted 8/17/2020; last updated 11/9/2026.