To Pimp a Butterfly

In my opinion, most of the music we (young people) listen to today has no lyrical meaning. I don’t think many 20/21 year olds today really care about the lyrics to a song, we mainly focus on a beat and it the lyrics are catchy we just go along with it. I would say that as long as people have fun to the beat of a song at a party or club the lyrics do not really matter. Personally I like to listen to a little bit of everything however; I have to say that most of the time I listen to rap music. Recently a rapper called Kendrick Lamar released a new album for which he was heavily criticized at first. When releasing a couple singles before the album, some people were disappointed to hear Kendricks’ lyrics but especially his beats. People did not considered his songs as being meant to play at the club, and they were right.

            Once his whole album “To Pimp a Butterfly” released most people where impressed. The album was not meant to be a hit at clubs but instead it was the work of an artist trying to send a message to his followers. After listening to the album you get to realize that each song is painting a bigger picture and the message is finally fully revealed on the last song of the album. I am sure that we will rarely hear any of the songs in this album on the radio but I think it was very smart of him to try to say his story in one whole album instead of just one song.

At the end of the album he recites this poem that ties all of the songs together.

"The caterpillar is a prisoner to the streets that conceived it

Its only job is to eat or consume everything around it, in order to protect itself from this mad city

While consuming its environment the caterpillar begins to notice ways to survive

One thing it noticed is how much the world shuns him, but praises the butterfly

The butterfly represents the talent, the thoughtfulness, and the beauty within the caterpillar

But having a harsh outlook on life the caterpillar sees the butterfly as weak and figures out a way to pimp it to his own benefits

Already surrounded by this mad city the caterpillar goes to work on the cocoon which institutionalizes him

He can no longer see past his own thoughts

He's trapped

When trapped inside these walls certain ideas start to take roots, such as going home, and bringing back new concepts to this mad city

The result?

Wings begin to emerge, breaking the cycle of feeling stagnant

Finally free, the butterfly sheds light on situations that the caterpillar never considered, ending the eternal struggle

Although the butterfly and caterpillar are completely different, they are one and the same."