Kendrick Lamar has finally released the following to his extremely successful album “good kid, m.A.A.d city” with a week early release of “To Pimp A Butterfly.” Lamar has become a household name among the rap community as  a sort of strange kid on the block with his throwbacks to 50’s and 60’s beats and talk  about very relevant issues of today, and his childhood growing up in Compton.

“To Pimp A Butterfly” is not only Lamar delving deeper into what he experienced growing up, and accepting his roots in Compton, but also his response to much of what’s happened with racial tensions between the release of “good kid, m.A.A.d city” in 2012 and now. It’s also, in a way, Lamar’s apology for his fame to the people of Compton and the guilt he feels for being famous and successful.

It’s overwhelming, for lack of a better word. The lyrics are extremely raw and honest, and it’s a lesson about oppression for Lamar’s pretty wide white fan base. It’s also a call out for self-love and appreciation for those who are living a life that Lamar used to live when he was younger.

All of the songs on the album are extremely strong, showing that over the past three years, Lamar has put a lot of work and soul into his message. The two singles on the album, “i” and “The Blacker the Berry” obviously stand out, but beyond those, songs like “How Much a Dollar Cost,” “Hood Politics,” and “King Kunta” help to really add that extra punch that Lamar was attempting, and succeeded at, achieving, by picking controversial topics that possibly make listeners uncomfortable, but have a new level of understanding for things they may have not experienced before..

Overall, Lamar accomplished what is very hard for some artists, creating an album that is possibly better than their most successful release to date. “To Pimp a Butterfly” will be considered one of the most influential rap albums of 2015, and is sure to launch Lamar back onto the big stage of the rap world.

(Warning, this album is extremely not safe for work)