He would make beats and it was one particular beat that he forgot to play. Lamar: I was on tour with Kanye and I had Flying Lotus with me because I wanted to work on the bus studio. He incorporated everything that was going on and in his life to complete a million-piece puzzle. I wanted to put that experience in the music.ĭerek "MixedByAli" Ali (co-engineer/mixer): a sponge. Probably one of the hardest things to do is put a concept on how beautiful a place can be, and tell a person this while they're still in the ghettos of Compton. I saw all the things that I wasn't taught. For me, that's when this album really started. Sounwave (co-producer): I remember he took a trip to Africa and something in his mind just clicked. break down the idea of being pimped in the industry, in the community and out of all the knowledge that you thought you had known, then discovering new life and wanting to share it.
Kendrick Lamar (artist): The title grasped the entire concept of the record. Following, Lamar and key collaborators tell the story of To Pimp A Butterfly. Lamar garnered 11 GRAMMY nominations, including Best Rap Album and Album Of The Year. "I wanted to do a record like this on my debut album but I wasn't confident enough," says Lamar. Eventually To Pimp A Butterfly took form, incorporating elements of jazz, funk, soul, spoken word, and hip-hop. He began to listen to the likes of Sly Stone, Donald Byrd and Miles Davis. Lamar wanted to make music that reflected the sounds of his upbringing in Compton, Calif. The trip led Lamar to scrap "two or three albums worth of material," according to engineer/mixer Derek "MixedByAli" Ali.
As he toured the country - visiting historic sites such as Nelson Mandela's jail cell on Robben Island - his worldview broadened, and so did his music. In between Good Kid, M.A.A.D City and To Pimp A Butterfly, a 2014 trip to South Africa changed Kendrick Lamar. 'To Pimp A Butterfly': Kendrick Lamar shares history