How do you follow up an album that countless fans call a classic in hip-hop? This was a question Kendrick Lamar was forced to grapple with after releasing good kid, m.A.A.d city in 2012. The record is one of the rare few that could realistically be considered perfect in the canon of hip-hop. With that kind of pressure, it’s incredibly easy to overthink these things.
So it’s all the more surprising that Kendrick knocked To Pimp a Butterfly out of the park. You could argue it’s even better than the Compton MC’s formal debut album. So how did he pull it off? During a 2020 conversation with his cousin and fellow rapper Baby Keem, Kendrick Lamar spoke about the importance of experimentation.
For Keem, the success of his breakout project Die For My B***h gave him the confidence to try new sounds. Lamar echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the need to try something fresh. Ultimately, it’s about figuring out how to remain excited as an artist without alienating the audience. It was this tight rope that made Kendrick a little scared heading into his sophomore effort.
Why Kendrick Lamar Was Anxious About a Sophomore Slump
“It’s all about finding that balance. I remember the sophomore jinx of Good Kid M.A.A.D City. It was for that year and for that time. I was in a different space in my life. I already knew off the top I can’t make Good Kid M.A.A.D City Part Two,” Kendrick tells Keem. “The second I’m making that, it’s corny bro. That takes the feeling away from the first. I need that motherf***er to live in its own world. Then boom, To Pimp a Butterfly. Some people love it to death, some people hate it.”
Baby Keem follows up by asking if it’s all about surprising himself. Kendrick Lamar confirms, noting that the idea was already firmly planted in his head. The real exercise was working out the end result. “That was it. To Pimp a Butterfly did that for me. I had an idea in my head of how I wanted it to sound, built with jazz and blues and hip-hop. But it was more, ‘How am I gonna execute that?’” Kendrick Lamar says.
Evidently, it worked out in Lamar’s favor. To Pimp a Butterfly ended up selling 324,000 copies and raked in a ton of awards at the Grammys.
The post Kendrick Lamar Explains Why He Was Worried About ‘Sophomore Jinx’ When Making ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ appeared first on VICE.
