Season 5 dissects Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize winning album, DAMN.
A direct continuation of To Pimp a Butterfly, DAMN. tells the story of conflicted prophet Kung Fu Kenny who rejects God’s call to prophesy in order to pursue sex, money, and murder. We follow Kenny as he attempts to reverse his curses into blessings.
Listen to Episode 1 on Spotify now (and a week later everywhere else).
Our season long analysis of To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar continues with the album’s thirteenth track “The Blacker the Berry.”
Listen now: iPhone, Stitcher, Google Play, iTunes
The song was the album’s second single and released amidst the height of the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s incredibly potent, packed with references to the historic oppression of the black community, race relations in contemporary American society, police brutality, the US penitentiary system, and the complexities of black identity, among many others. Continue reading “S1E15/16 – The Blacker the Berry by Kendrick Lamar”
Our season long examination of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly continues with the album’s seventh song “Alright.”
Listen now: iPhone, Stitcher, Google Play, iTunes
In the context of the album’s narrative, “Alright” takes place the morning after the drunken confession heard on the previous song “u.” After a therapeutic confrontation of his demons, it seems Kendrick has awoken with a more optimistic outlook and seems determined to overcome his anxieties.
Continue reading “S1E9 – “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar from To Pimp a Butterfly”
Our season long examination of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly continues with the album’s sixth song “u.”
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Our season long examination of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly continues with the album’s fifth song “These Walls.”
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iTunes: http://itunes.com/dissect
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2ciY7x6
Our season long examination of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly continues with the album’s fourth song “Institutionalized.”
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iTunes: http://itunes.com/dissect
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2ciY7x6
Our season long examination of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly continues with the album’s second track, For Free?.
Listen:
iOS: http://apple.co/2bxXWgV
iTunes: http://itunes.com/dissect
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2ciY7x6
We begin our season long examination of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly with the album’s opening track, Wesley’s Theory.
Listen to Episode 3 on iTunes: iTunes.com/dissect
To Pimp a Butterfly is a concept album that documents Lamar’s journey from caterpillar to butterfly (metaphorically, of course). Wesley’s Theory introduces the album’s protagonist, Kendrick himself, a young, naive rapper that has achieved stardom and escaped from the cocoon of Compton. We also meet the album’s antagonist, Uncle Sam, who looks to exploit young Kendrick for profit.
Through the lens of this song, we’ll cover topics like the American Dream in modern society, the origins of the phrase “40 Acres and a mule”, Dave Chapelle’s exit from his hit TV show, and Wesley Snipes’ tax evasion conviction.
We’ll also examine how Wesley’s Theory is written cinematically and sets the stage for the narrative that unfolds throughout To Pimp a Butterfly.
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We begin our season long examination of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly with the history of Compton, California and Lamar’s transformation from K Dot, a young mixtape rapper, to Kendrick Lamar, a true artist.
If you enjoy what you hear, please consider rating and reviewing on iTunes. It really helps.
Listen now: iTunes.com/dissect
Dissect podcast Season 1 offers arguably the most in-depth analysis of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly.
