You should really listen to the whole album (To Pimp a Butterfly), there are a lot more jazz, soul and funk influences and interesting instrumentation, all combined with consistenly great rapping (the style and flow vary, to complement the different parts of the story) and occasionally some spoken word. Also the lyrics are important, as mentioned, this is a concept album. Also also, it wasn't included in the music video, but at the end of each song, Kendrick reads a part of a poem, reading more and more as the album progresses. By the final track you hear the full poem plus another poem, both beautifully showing the meaning of the album. There is A LOT to read into here. Highly recommended. This is one of the best Hip-Hop records of all time.
Not sure if you guys cares but if you're bored like me during the covid times then you can watch all the latest movies and series on InstaFlixxer. Been streaming with my girlfriend for the last few months xD
I'm a prog metal nerd who got into hiphop because of this album, To Pimp a Butterfly. Lots of elements of prog metal show up in Kendrick's work, like fusion of multiple genres (jazz, funk, etc.), concept albums, and non-traditional song structures. So pleased to see you exposed to him. I second someone else's recommendation to listen to the whole album in your own time!
We had some Clipping and Death Grips in this weekend's livestream, which will be available by the end of the week. I wouldn't be surprised to see more of that genre popping up.
I'm gonna have this month's livestream available by the weekend and we had some Clipping and Death Grips in there. Hiphop is starting to pop up more and more in the community.
I'm quite fortunate to have such a diverse community. There's obviously a strong central factor of rock/metal but there's actually quite a bit of hiphop and pop and other non-rock stuff represented in the requests.
Great vid! Would love to hear your reaction/analysis to the whole album, especially after a few listens thru, and after you've had some time to digest the lyrics. The album itself is a complex story of a flawed man who is struggling with reconciling his newfound fame to his "hood" roots, namely an upbringing rooted in relative poverty, violence, and minimal guidance. Lots of poetry, storybuilding, historical/religious references, etc. as the album progresses, as other commenters have pointed out. And as you mentioned on the video, Kendrick deliberately uses the musicality/instrumentation to help tell the story, although sometimes at the expense of "enjoyability". Lots of layers to unpack in this onion, and I think adding your approach to deconstructing music would make for a fascinating video.
Lyrical digestion would certainly take the longest for me. I'd probably end up on Genius digging through all of the stuff before I felt confident on giving my opinion of it, especially if more songs are like this one.
@@CriticalReactions yeah tbh every song is this layered (some even more-so), especially if you consider why certain instruments and musical stylings are chosen. Lots of stuff rooted in Black/African American history. Either way, would highly recommend giving the album a good listen or two, even if it’s off camera and doesn’t make the UA-cam cut. Keep up the good work!
You need to do an album reaction to "To Pimp a Butterfly" by Kendrick. Honestly a masterpiece. The production is also incredible, with a lot of jazz, funk and prog elements. This was the track that made it to the charts, but the rest of the album is very different and varies drastically from track to track. King Kunta was necessary for the story of the album, but it's not the prominent style.
I've watched a number of you reactions tonight, this one, Jethro Tull, Primus and System of A Down, very enjoyable. I gained a subscriber. Keep it up, your reactions are well thought out and technical. I hope to learn some stuff from you.
I'm glad to see you doing hip-hop more! I got more into it after HS though readjusting took time. The genre is very vocal based, but then I also look at vocals like an instrument. In this case though it's less about things like range and more rhythm, timing/meter and word choice. Some interesting examples of the would be Myka 9 or El-P (Fantastic Damage or Company Flow era). The 2nd guy uses controlled bursts of words to set a mood of paranoia, with beats to draw the listener further into the theme (see Deep Space 9mm as an example). The 1st guy takes influence from jazz/free jazz musicians. In his own words: "My rhymes take the direction of a jazz trumpet or sax solo, like Miles or Trane, if I was to rhyme in the same meter as those notes... that’s my concept." There's a lot to appreciate, and it can feel academic at first. Once it clicks though, it's difficult to put down. :)
I dig some hiphop songs and have generally enjoyed rapping in other genres. I think my main issue is that I rarely click with the music so I don't give it enough listens to get into the lyrics; which, of course, is where the technical aspect is with the wordplay and all that. Scarlxrd is someone that I've found on my own and have generally enjoyed aside from the lyrical themes. Fortunately I've been pointed in the direction of Clipping, Watsky, and Aesop Rock so I've got a starting point for some hiphop that should work a bit more for me.
@@CriticalReactions Hey, Bryan. Big fan of your channel here. I recommend checking out "Sleeping Fathers" by Jason McClain. (He's a pretty obscure artist.) That song, in particular, might suit your rap tastes while appealing to your metal side. Honestly, I'd check out his whole album, "Repairing the Heart". It's a loose concept album dealing with the death of his father. Not a single song sounds alike on it, but it flows with perfection. Anyway, keep doing what you do, I'll keep watching! Blessings!
I actually just listened to Story 2 as it was recommended on the Discord server. It was quite interesting and I'll have to give it another listen with the lyrics in front of me.
@@CriticalReactions That's awesome, definitely recommend the lyrics with it. Daveed Diggs' story telling is soooo good in Clipping, really adds to the stressful feeling the music is trying to induce in Story 2 haha. Their song Run for Your Life is pretty interesting from a production standpoint IMO...you can really feel the dude's outside running haha. Also, their live performances are amazing. They recently did one for the tiny desk series for NPR and they brought a whole new meaning to the tiny desk. Just discovered these guys and have become a huge fan. Big fan of yours too, thanks for the entertainment and insights! =D
1:31 that my friend is the almighty Thundercat. Highly recommend checking him out! He has a massive body of work ranging from playing for Suicide Tendencies to Kendrick and Erykah Badu as well as releasing a few solo albums of his own.
This album is one of the greatest pieces of art in the last several decades. You need to check out the album's second track ASAP. It's only a couple minutes, but you could probably get a half hour video from it, because it has jaaaazzzzzzzzzzz
Man, that hook is crazy catchy. I think I'd like the song just solely based on that. Bassline is nice and funky too. Only complaint is a similar one I have with most hip-hop in that the rest of the music is pretty repetitive and doesn't change.
Check out the rest of the album. This is the most repetitive song on it, others are extremely diverse. The song "For Free?" for instance is just 2 minutes but is full of fast tempo jazz band music with fast rapping on top.
I can’t recommend introvert by little simz enough. If you want hip hop that you can analyze from classical perspective you need to do a reaction to her. Also I’m sure you’ll pull in a lot of new viewers/subscribers considering the song just came out last week and is blowing up.
I ain't going to lie i love kendrick Lamar but this track is definitely one of his weaker tracks imo. I would've suggested Never catch me, Blacker the berry, Untitled 02, God is gangsta, or MAAD city for this channel.
Yo wassup wassup wasuuuuup,! Been watching your videos for a while... Can I make a request please? Could you react to group's The Roop new song "Disqoteque"? I think you will find it very interesting and strange (in a good way) please please pleeeeeeeease Best of luck, to you :)
You should really listen to the whole album (To Pimp a Butterfly), there are a lot more jazz, soul and funk influences and interesting instrumentation, all combined with consistenly great rapping (the style and flow vary, to complement the different parts of the story) and occasionally some spoken word. Also the lyrics are important, as mentioned, this is a concept album. Also also, it wasn't included in the music video, but at the end of each song, Kendrick reads a part of a poem, reading more and more as the album progresses. By the final track you hear the full poem plus another poem, both beautifully showing the meaning of the album. There is A LOT to read into here. Highly recommended. This is one of the best Hip-Hop records of all time.
I'll add it to my list. I got Watsky and Clipping so far. Death Grips has me intrigued as well but I'm not as sold on them yet.
Not sure if you guys cares but if you're bored like me during the covid times then you can watch all the latest movies and series on InstaFlixxer. Been streaming with my girlfriend for the last few months xD
@Danny Thiago yea, I have been using instaflixxer for since november myself =)
@steezydan8543 I listened to three DG albums, and I'm still to hear any jazz elements. What are you talking about ?
I'm a prog metal nerd who got into hiphop because of this album, To Pimp a Butterfly. Lots of elements of prog metal show up in Kendrick's work, like fusion of multiple genres (jazz, funk, etc.), concept albums, and non-traditional song structures. So pleased to see you exposed to him. I second someone else's recommendation to listen to the whole album in your own time!
Same.
To pimp a butterfly is my favorite album of all time, such a wonderful fusion of so many genres. I hope you do more hip hop
We had some Clipping and Death Grips in this weekend's livestream, which will be available by the end of the week. I wouldn't be surprised to see more of that genre popping up.
Nice to see some hip-hop on the channel. Love this track, the beat is so funky. This whole album is great
I'm gonna have this month's livestream available by the weekend and we had some Clipping and Death Grips in there. Hiphop is starting to pop up more and more in the community.
Hip hop and metal fans have a huge crossover nowadays
o shit, i never expected my hip-hop tastes to be represented here in addition to prog-metal 🤣🤣 dope
I'm quite fortunate to have such a diverse community. There's obviously a strong central factor of rock/metal but there's actually quite a bit of hiphop and pop and other non-rock stuff represented in the requests.
Dope reaction bro! Musical reactions and analysis are dope too. Kendrick puts attention in his music and lyrics
One of the best albums of our generation, the fusion of jazz and rap is masterful
Great vid! Would love to hear your reaction/analysis to the whole album, especially after a few listens thru, and after you've had some time to digest the lyrics. The album itself is a complex story of a flawed man who is struggling with reconciling his newfound fame to his "hood" roots, namely an upbringing rooted in relative poverty, violence, and minimal guidance. Lots of poetry, storybuilding, historical/religious references, etc. as the album progresses, as other commenters have pointed out. And as you mentioned on the video, Kendrick deliberately uses the musicality/instrumentation to help tell the story, although sometimes at the expense of "enjoyability". Lots of layers to unpack in this onion, and I think adding your approach to deconstructing music would make for a fascinating video.
Lyrical digestion would certainly take the longest for me. I'd probably end up on Genius digging through all of the stuff before I felt confident on giving my opinion of it, especially if more songs are like this one.
@@CriticalReactions yeah tbh every song is this layered (some even more-so), especially if you consider why certain instruments and musical stylings are chosen. Lots of stuff rooted in Black/African American history. Either way, would highly recommend giving the album a good listen or two, even if it’s off camera and doesn’t make the UA-cam cut. Keep up the good work!
You need to do an album reaction to "To Pimp a Butterfly" by Kendrick. Honestly a masterpiece. The production is also incredible, with a lot of jazz, funk and prog elements. This was the track that made it to the charts, but the rest of the album is very different and varies drastically from track to track. King Kunta was necessary for the story of the album, but it's not the prominent style.
I've watched a number of you reactions tonight, this one, Jethro Tull, Primus and System of A Down, very enjoyable. I gained a subscriber. Keep it up, your reactions are well thought out and technical. I hope to learn some stuff from you.
I'm glad to see you doing hip-hop more! I got more into it after HS though readjusting took time. The genre is very vocal based, but then I also look at vocals like an instrument. In this case though it's less about things like range and more rhythm, timing/meter and word choice. Some interesting examples of the would be Myka 9 or El-P (Fantastic Damage or Company Flow era). The 2nd guy uses controlled bursts of words to set a mood of paranoia, with beats to draw the listener further into the theme (see Deep Space 9mm as an example). The 1st guy takes influence from jazz/free jazz musicians. In his own words: "My rhymes take the direction of a jazz trumpet or sax solo, like Miles or Trane, if I was to rhyme in the same meter as those notes... that’s my concept."
There's a lot to appreciate, and it can feel academic at first. Once it clicks though, it's difficult to put down. :)
I dig some hiphop songs and have generally enjoyed rapping in other genres. I think my main issue is that I rarely click with the music so I don't give it enough listens to get into the lyrics; which, of course, is where the technical aspect is with the wordplay and all that. Scarlxrd is someone that I've found on my own and have generally enjoyed aside from the lyrical themes. Fortunately I've been pointed in the direction of Clipping, Watsky, and Aesop Rock so I've got a starting point for some hiphop that should work a bit more for me.
@@CriticalReactions Hey, Bryan. Big fan of your channel here. I recommend checking out "Sleeping Fathers" by Jason McClain. (He's a pretty obscure artist.) That song, in particular, might suit your rap tastes while appealing to your metal side. Honestly, I'd check out his whole album, "Repairing the Heart". It's a loose concept album dealing with the death of his father. Not a single song sounds alike on it, but it flows with perfection. Anyway, keep doing what you do, I'll keep watching! Blessings!
Great choice, glad to see some hip hop on the channel! Highly recommend Story 2 by Clipping :)
I actually just listened to Story 2 as it was recommended on the Discord server. It was quite interesting and I'll have to give it another listen with the lyrics in front of me.
@@CriticalReactions That's awesome, definitely recommend the lyrics with it. Daveed Diggs' story telling is soooo good in Clipping, really adds to the stressful feeling the music is trying to induce in Story 2 haha. Their song Run for Your Life is pretty interesting from a production standpoint IMO...you can really feel the dude's outside running haha. Also, their live performances are amazing. They recently did one for the tiny desk series for NPR and they brought a whole new meaning to the tiny desk. Just discovered these guys and have become a huge fan. Big fan of yours too, thanks for the entertainment and insights! =D
1:31 that my friend is the almighty Thundercat. Highly recommend checking him out!
He has a massive body of work ranging from playing for Suicide Tendencies to Kendrick and Erykah Badu as well as releasing a few solo albums of his own.
I think Thundercats solo stuff it’s pretty boring, but man he’s such a value add to other projects
Yes!
This album is one of the greatest pieces of art in the last several decades. You need to check out the album's second track ASAP. It's only a couple minutes, but you could probably get a half hour video from it, because it has jaaaazzzzzzzzzzz
Well this was a surprise. Do love me some kendrick though so it's welcome.
Awesome to see K.dot on a channel consisting of a lot of prog--basically my music taste haha
Check out Everything That Is You by Thrailkill
There are 2 modulations in the song! That's not too special of a thing but you didn't even mention it, which kinda makes me think you didn't get it.
Sebastien Tellier - La ritournelle
could u plz add the auto-caption? I'm trying to learn everything and wanna make sure that I understood everything u said
There ya go!
@@CriticalReactions thx🙏
Man, that hook is crazy catchy. I think I'd like the song just solely based on that. Bassline is nice and funky too. Only complaint is a similar one I have with most hip-hop in that the rest of the music is pretty repetitive and doesn't change.
Check out the rest of the album. This is the most repetitive song on it, others are extremely diverse. The song "For Free?" for instance is just 2 minutes but is full of fast tempo jazz band music with fast rapping on top.
Hip Hop? HELL YEAH. Great open-mindedness mi hermano
I can’t recommend introvert by little simz enough. If you want hip hop that you can analyze from classical perspective you need to do a reaction to her. Also I’m sure you’ll pull in a lot of new viewers/subscribers considering the song just came out last week and is blowing up.
Kendrick lamar is great and this album is great though I'd say there are way more interesting compositions on this album then king kunta
Man, everything Kendrick does is as good or bettet than this song. His album "Damn" won a Pulitzer prize
react to angel duster by run the jewels
Not for me really, but love the diversity of the channel community! 👏
Exactly. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better community. 😁😍
@@CriticalReactions 😍 (You sometimes get what you deserve...)
Thx for sharing. If you have a minute come watch my music videos - I'm a rap artist and think you might dig my sound. Hit me up!
I ain't going to lie i love kendrick Lamar but this track is definitely one of his weaker tracks imo. I would've suggested Never catch me, Blacker the berry, Untitled 02, God is gangsta, or MAAD city for this channel.
Agreed. Never Catch Me is very interesting, very progressive.
Yo wassup wassup wasuuuuup,! Been watching your videos for a while... Can I make a request please? Could you react to group's The Roop new song "Disqoteque"? I think you will find it very interesting and strange (in a good way) please please pleeeeeeeease
Best of luck, to you :)
I'll see what I can do. I think you're the only person requesting them so I'm already intrigued.
Do Olivia Rodrigo - Driver's License. Epic pop stuff.