Music I've Been Listening To
Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly had me completely stunned the moment I started listening from the space funk grooves of the FlyLo produced opener Wesley's theory to the James Brown funkiness of King Kunta and "i", to even the beatnik poet free jazz thing going on in For Free. Kendrick's lyrics also bring out a certain anger and beauty in that anger following a narrative that is both rooted in himself, and at the same time distancing himself from his current position in society, more or less telling the viewpoint of a younger Kendrick angry at everything around him, but with the mind to say something important like the Kendrick we know. All in all, To Pimp Your Butterfly I'm my opinion comes as the finest crafted hip-hop album of this year and possibly of any album I've heard from this year narrowly beating out I, Love You Honeybear by Father John Misty for my AOTY as of this far in the year.
