Kendrick Lamar says that To Pimp A Butterfly “had a deeper impact than I expected” during an interview with Billboard.
“The album just had a deeper impact than I expected, because it touched so many homes, and not just in my own community,” the Compton, California rapper says. “I guess I’m just speaking words that need to be heard in these times.”
To Pimp A Butterfly is one of the most acclaimed albums of 2015 and is up for 11 Grammys this year. The ceremony is slated to take place February 15 in Los Angeles.
Lamar says that he was not deterred when his good kid, m.A.A.d city album was also nominated for several marquee Grammy awards but did not win any.
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“[The Grammy defeats] would have been upsetting to me if I’d known that was my best work, if I had nothing new to offer,” he says. “good kid, m.A.A.d city is great work, but it’s not my best work. To Pimp a Butterfly is great. I’m talking about the connection the record made. good kid, m.A.A.d city made a connection. But To Pimp a Butterfly made a bigger connection.”
There are several rappers with whose music Lamar connects. He tells Billboard he’s enjoys the material of Chance The Rapper, Joey Bada$$ and TDE labelmate Isaiah Rashad.
“When everybody looks at our generation of kids, they always call us the misfits – you know, like we just don’t give a damn,” Lamar says. “But these individuals, they show that we do have some sense. Our generation just needs the proper people to tell us about our problems, about our wrongs and our rights.”
As for a To Pimp A Butterfly follow-up, Lamar says it is in the early stages.
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“As far as content, what I want to get across, I have an idea,” he says. “But even that’s still premature. Once I get back in that studio, things evolve into other things.”
For additional coverage of Kendrick Lamar, who says that To Pimp A Butterfly “had a deeper impact than I expected,” watch the following DX Daily:
