The release of “i” opened a deep chasm within the hip-hop community last September. Augmenting his voice, Kendrick Lamar preached confidence and self-assurance over a groovy Isley Brothers sample. Around the same time, Lamar told Complex that he wasn’t focused on duplicating or topping his brilliant major label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city. With To Pimp a Butterfly, Lamar has given himself a dramatic musical makeover. It indicates that he’s realized what many other successful artists before him have picked up on: Reinvention is the key to longevity. Anyone who’s followed Kendrick Lamar since his breakthrough at the beginning of the decade should recognize that the Compton native embraces variation. Each of his releases are more than a new chapter; they’re an entirely different novel.
