To Pimp a Butterfly
"Kendrick’s Revolutionary Metamorphosis"
"Kendrick’s Revolutionary Metamorphosis"
Released March 16, 2015, via Top Dawg Entertainment and Interscope Records, Kendrick Lamar’s third studio album To Pimp a Butterfly, with 16 tracks spanning 80 minutes, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 324,000 equivalent album units in its first week. As of April 27, 2025, it has amassed 4.5 billion Spotify streams and 2x Platinum certification from the RIAA.
Terrace Martin, Thundercat, Flying Lotus, and Sounwave shape To Pimp a Butterfly’s innovative sound, recorded at Chalice Studios and No Excuses. For Free? bursts with jazz improvisation, King Kunta pulses with funk, and These Walls swells with soul, though dense layers can challenge listeners, per Pitchfork.
Drawing from To Kill a Mockingbird, To Pimp a Butterfly portrays Kendrick as a caterpillar exploited by society, striving for liberation. The cover, showing Black youth storming the White House, signals rebellion. The Blacker the Berry rages against oppression, Alright uplifts with hope, and Mortal Man reflects on legacy.
To Pimp a Butterfly includes George Clinton on Wesley’s Theory, Thundercat and Bilal on These Walls, Rapsody on Complexion (A Zulu Love), Snoop Dogg on Institutionalized, and a Tupac Shakur sample on Mortal Man, with Kendrick’s vision tying the collaborations together.
King Kunta and Alright, with funky grooves and Pharrell’s vibrant production, showcase Kendrick’s swagger and uplifting defiance, perfect for new listeners.
The Blacker the Berry and u, driven by intense beats and searing sax, explore Kendrick’s raw anger and despair over systemic racism.
Complexion (A Zulu Love) and Mortal Man, with soulful layers, Rapsody’s verse, and Tupac’s sampled dialogue, reveal Kendrick’s introspective depth.
Alright, with its resilient message of hope, remains a top-streamed track in 2025, per Spotify data.
Section.80 (2011) and Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012), the latter reaching No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with Swimming Pools (Drank) at No. 17 on the Hot 100, built Kendrick’s narrative foundation. To Pimp a Butterfly embraced introspection, paving the way for DAMN. (2017, No. 1), per Billboard.
Pitchfork’s 9.3/10 hailed To Pimp a Butterfly as a cultural earthquake, and Rolling Stone called it genre-defining in 2015. By April 27, 2025, with 2x Platinum status and 4.5 billion Spotify streams, it remains a protest anthem shaping modern hip-hop, per industry reports.
To Pimp a Butterfly won Best Rap Album at the 2016 Grammys, earning 11 nominations, including Album of the Year and Best Rap Song for Alright, per Grammy records.
| Album | Highest Charting Song | Peak Position | Streams (2025) | Certification | Units Sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good Kid, M.A.A.D City | Swimming Pools (Drank) | 17 | 3.8B | 3x Platinum | 2.7M |
| To Pimp a Butterfly | Alright | 14 | 4.5B | 2x Platinum | 2.2M |
| DAMN. | HUMBLE. | 1 | 5.2B | 4x Platinum | 3.1M |
| Album | Certification | Units (Millions) |
|---|---|---|
| Good Kid, M.A.A.D City | 3x Platinum | 2.7 |
| To Pimp a Butterfly | 2x Platinum | 2.2 |
| DAMN. | 4x Platinum | 3.1 |
Data sourced from Billboard, RIAA, Spotify, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and Grammy records, verified as of April 27, 2025.