Reacting to To Pimp a Butterfly (Full album, Uncut)

hey bob, for some reason it's saying "Video does not exist" Did something happen to this??

Jade

in 'u' he's drunk in a hotel room talking to himself in the mirror

Cantaloupe.

react to over dedicated its a great underrated album

Cantaloupe.

Not that I know of... it's kind of a PITA with Patreon since I have to upload through Vimeo first. I think some people have downloaded a Vimeo player to make it easier? Not certain though.

Bob_the_Poppop

Hey Bob, just joined the patreon and I was wondering if you had a way to view this video through another link or download it somehow. I want to watch the full thing but the patreon viewer is real glitchy especially on mobile and it eats my data, so let me know if you can toss me a link to download or something. keep up the videos, they're super fun to watch and engage with!

Laura Cunningham

I would’ve recommended that you listened to this with headphones on.

Shawn Smith

Can you send me a link? I can’t seem to find it?

Louee

1. It's funny that you said you liked Thundercat's bass lines and then referenced Suicidal Tendencies because Thundercat actually used to be the bass player for Suicidal Tendencies 2. TPAB was originally gonna be titled Tu Pimp a Caterpillar (TuPAC) in honor of 2Pac.

Rio Imasaki

I can’t wait to see you react to DAMN.

SuperFuego

Hi Bob, since you seem to really like Kendrick, I think you'd enjoy a podcast about this album and Kendrick. It's called Dissect and can be found anywhere you get your podcasts. The podcast goes really in-depth about every single track and really peels the layers back on the lyrics. I can't begin to comprehend how much I've learned from Dissect. Always looking forward to your reactions, it's fun following your journey! Stay safe Bob. EDIT: This is also a much better and more entertaining option than reading the annotations, the host goes way more into depth and his analysis is more accurate than the annotations in my opinion.

Laurits Frederik Lehmann

You mentioned in an earlier video that you have had many requests for "Kids See Ghosts" but I strongly recommend for you to listen to one of Kid Cudi's solo records before doing that. Also, do you have a calender or plan for what projects you are gonna react to? I

First of all, I loved watching and listening to you react to TPAB, which is in my top 3 albums of all time. But the reason it is one of them is because it was the start of a whole new window into a life and struggle that I've never and will never fully understand, and honestly helped me mentally, and politically a lot. I've discussed it a lot and am able to share new points of view with my brother because of this album as well. I always love seeing new people react to this album, and hear what they have to say about it. Side note: Highly recommend you react to Channel Orange and/or Endless by Frank Ocean, Man On The Moon I, II, and III as well as Divine Feminine, Swimming, and Circles at some point.

Shurikinney

If you’re gonna listen to one series, I recommend Yeezus. MBDTF & TPAB are two of my favorite albums but watching the yeezus podcasts made me appreciate that album so much more.

Ryan

These walls is about the person that killed the brother of Kendrick’s friend, Dave. Dave was killed in front of Kendrick( he was killed at the end of swimming pools). Dave’s brother tried to retaliate which led to him being killed (1st verse of sing about me is his perspective). These walls is Kendrick falling into the same cycle of retaliation by using his power as a famous rapper to have sex with the baby mama of the man that killed Daves brother. - also you should skip untitled unmastered. It’s just throwaway songs

Ryan

I'm still not good at going back 5-10 seconds after pausing to let the tracks drop in and out of choruses/verses. I need to get better at that 👍

Bob_the_Poppop

I'm still surprised when someone leaves a comment like this, but I'm also just as happy as ever to read it :)

Bob_the_Poppop

Thanks for joining, man. I appreciate. I have to say that so far, I think Kendrick is my favorite as well when it comes to putting a story together. He does so well with words and weaving layers upon layers.

Bob_the_Poppop

You should check out this Kendrick interview where he watches and comments on old 2Pac interviews: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpoeDYNHEUw&ab_channel=KendrickvsPac

Couple things - U is Kendrick talking to himself in a hotel mirror the whole time When he talks about sitting down with Jay and it's funny how "one verse can fuck up the game" that verse is his verse on Big Seams Control, you should listen to it. In "these walls" the girl he is fucking is the baby mama of the guy that shot his friend on Good Kid Maad City. "Walls telling you to listen to Sing About Me Retaliation is strong, you even dream 'bout me Killed my homeboy and God spared your life Dumb criminal got indicted same night So when you play this song, rewind the first verse About me abusing my power so you can hurt About me and her in the shower whenever she horny About me and her in the after hours of the morning About her baby daddy currently serving life And how she think about you until we meet up at night About the only girl that cared about you when you asked her And how she fuckin' on a famous rapper" Please don't skip Untitled Unmastered in this Kendrick journey you are doing. It's mostly songs that didn't make TPAB, but it is still great, they just didn't fit the story.

fightnerd

LMAO, I was so mad you stopped the track right before the chorus on The Blacker The Berry. Love the video tho!

The implication is Kendrick is dead and in heaven that's why he said "now that I finally get to talk to you", and at the end he says "I'm no mortal man" because he's dead

Tyrone Ross

I really enjoyed this Bob reaction and re-listen to an album I personally misunderstood at the time being hip hop purist blown away with Kendrick's earlier raps up to 2015 culminating with the legendary hip hop "Control" verse I'm sure Bob might have heard about, for K-Dot then to take this weird left releasing an angry introspective funk experience called TPAB I had a harder time relating to, despite the convo with Pac at the end I'll never forget hearing the first time... I probably still prefer GKMC or DAMN for casual listens, but leave it to Bob's new perspective to make me go back and really appreciate certain nuances here with new ears with emotional impacts. Will be back with more thoughts

Stefan Borglycke

I joined your patreon for this album (but I’m gonna keep my membership) because this was the first rap album I ever listened to. I grew up in a rural farm town that was overwhelmingly white. I knew racism was a big problem but listening to this really put the black experience in context for me. Now rap is my favorite genre. Kendrick will always be my favorite.

disdainjames

Lucy is Lucifer

james moore

Holy shit, just now realized Wesley's Theory is named after Wesley Snipes.

FuzzyDunlop

Amazing video man, the wait was definetly worth it! If you wanna learn more about TPAB and Kendrick in general you can check out the Dissect Podcast. It really digs deep into the lyrics and meanings behind albums such as TPAB, Blonde and Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy for example.

Maurice Ruetz

https://dissectpodcast.com/2017/01/27/to-pimp-a-butterfly-album-map/

Ryan

lol, yeah, it's gonna be quite the transition going from TPAB to Die Lit. I think I'll be okay though. I went from Blonde to Money Store

Bob_the_Poppop

very nice reaction..nice man! supposedly your next reaction will be Die Lit? if so, just be informed it will be like going from a jacuzzi striaght to a cold lake, if you don't feel like wanting that, you could end Kendrick's run by listening to DAMN. thanks for the time of listening to this and the cool stories!

jimmyvinyl

Ha! I love this comment. I can picture you cheering me like a sports team as I get so close to getting it and then... nope! I actually sat my wife down later last night and played How Much a Dollar Cost for her, had her read the lyrics and so on. We talked about it. Great track, still my favorite on the album. And yes, I'd love to be a guest on whatever you're working on. Feel free to send me direct messages with details when you get things sorted out 👍

Bob_the_Poppop

I really couldn't talk at the end. I kept taking sips of water because my throat kept tightening up. And I was honestly relieved when it crossed my mind that I didn't need to say anything. It's fine to be speechless. It's okay that the music is so powerful that it can speak for itself entirely.

Bob_the_Poppop

I was just off the mark on that one. I couldn't decide if Lucy was a person or metaphor (or both), and when he got into the lines of "paperwork on top of paperwork" that's when I went with the assumption of the music industry.

Bob_the_Poppop

It's hard to listen to that song having the perspective. I don't know much about Kendrick, but I hope he's doing okay these days. He's ripping himself apart in that track.

Bob_the_Poppop

just a note: the yellow marked annotations on Genius are the verified ones, basically the ones verified/confirmed by the artist

jimmyvinyl

The Mortal Man concludes is like being hit with a load of bricks. The weight of the whole album just collapses in on you. It's incredible.

Bob_the_Poppop

I did a full listen with headphones this morning, and I totally agree with what you said about 'u'

Bob_the_Poppop

Yessir :)

Bob_the_Poppop

welcome aboard :)

Bob_the_Poppop

Yeah, first listens are more about an experience than anything else. Now I can really dive in and swim around inside the album

Bob_the_Poppop

I didn't quite catch that on the first pass, but having listened to it after with that perspective, it makes it a very intense song. Poor Kendrick has been having a hard time.

Bob_the_Poppop

That sounds pretty awesome

Bob_the_Poppop

the homeless person in how much a dollar cost is god, pretty prominently displayed because he basically says „i am god“ he’s testing kendrick, because he wants to see if he gives the man a simple dollar, something kendrick can afford easily. the questions answers is - also a line at the end - a place in heaven. kendrick loses his place in heaven because he didn’t gave god, disguised as the homeless person, a dollar, and started to judge him without knowing him. kendrick said this is a story based on something he experienced while traveling south africa. the producer who was in the studio with kendrick while he was recording U also told a story about that song. as he got in the studio, no lights were on and kendrick was walking around the booth just mumbling aggressively. after that they proceeded to record the song, the crying in the second part is real crying from kendrick. the producer said he was really worried and scared about kendrick while recording, which i think is the perfect example of how much of kendrick’s emotions and soul is in his music

EserStöff

Can’t wait for additional thoughts and then DAMN.

SuperFuego

What hits me the most at the end of Mortal Man is the realisation that this conversation never got to happen. Kendrick never got to sit down with the man who inspired him to become the butterfly. As Kendrick asks Pac what he thinks of the story that describes his come up and gets no response, it hits that Pac is gone and Kendrick will never get to know what Pac would think of him or his story. Without Pac, Kendrick may have just ended up another caterpillar, but because of him and his legacy, Kendrick was able to make it out of Compton and tell his story to the world.

HELLCAT

nice!!

daredevil777

"Lucy" is Lucifer and represents the music industry, (which you correctly pointed out) as well as the Devil himself luring Kendrick away from God with temptations and promises of wealth. The comparison between the music industry and the Devil is a common one, with people often referring to the act of signing to a record label as "selling your soul to the Devil".

HELLCAT

In "U", we are entering Kendrick's mind in the middle of a mental breakdown he is having within a hotel room, as mentioned in the poem. The negative thoughts aren't those of another person aimed at Kendrick, but those of his own conscience directed at himself, fuelling the self destruction we witness and experience throughout the song.

HELLCAT

respectfully i disagree. rap critics in general are no better than critics of anything else. they can speak their minds freely on their opinions, but that's all they'll ever be, just their opinions. deadendhiphop in particular sometimes have interesting discussions, but again their just opinions. people often say that tpab is kendricks best work and although i love this album, you really cant say its his best. so many people were disappointed with damn as the following release and in some ways i understand. at a surface level it doesn't seem as complex or layered. In contrast its more to the point and refined. its strange to me when people put down the art someone releases just because it wasn't what they wanted or were expecting. i love the projects kendrick has released so far and i look forward to what he puts out next. kendrick said himself that damn was his best work...personally i still enjoy good kid the most. its all relative to the individual

Henry

I'm surprised no one else has noticed how emotional you were turning off the camera. I wanted to be surprised but I wasn't. I'm glad you really felt the album, and pointed out specific parts. This is arguably my favorite Kendrick album, but I really don't revisit it that often (other than a few songs) because of how heavy the content is. Not that it isn't appreciated, as a black man in America it's just hard to listen to these themes sometimes. It's regarded as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time, and rightfully so. It just can be a tough listen at times for me, but alright, these walls and a couple others are automatic listens for sure! Great reaction and it's been great watching your journey bro 🙏🏾

Bob, for a first listen you were scratching the surface of so many heavy, complex, themes and ideas! I found myself screaming at you on my screen because you were so close to figuring some things out that were just barely flying over your head lol! Like, at this point you have probably connected "lucy" to "lucifer" and I was at the edge of my seat when you said "the devil wants to put me in a bow tie- I think Lucy might be the devil" I was like COME ON!!! lol. Don't fret, this album takes time, for so many -even years- to fully peel back layers to hidden meanings and connections and perspectives! With a first listen you were never gonna fully grasp it all, hence the many comments warning you how dense and heavy the album was. Super good call listening to some other legendary rappers and classic albums to give you somewhat of a foundation to build so many of Kendricks ideas on to. A lot of the songs that seemed like a departure or a "contradiction" actually represent duality and directly play off other tracks ( "U" and "i", or "complexion" and "Blacker the Berry", "For Free"/ "For sale" and so on, for example!) Hence the idea of a "Mortal Man"- a human being who makes mistakes. Fun side notes on my already lengthy comment: -Tupac being on the end of the album was a complete surprise to everyone (that was spoiled to you by his name being listed on genius lol) and wasn't listed as a feature for that reason- kendrick actually was able to get that unreleased Tupac speech/ interview and created that whole "conversation" as the final piece to this masterful album! Tupac as a figure represents so much of what this album is about! When you said you were going to cut the album off midway through mortal man (when the music ended and the poem picked back up) so many people sighed with relief that you let it play out because you would have started a riot on your YouTube lol. -Regarding "How Much a Dollar Cost" I don't think it fully hit you that the homeless man Kendrick was denying a dollar too was actually god (in the song)- and the dollar cost him a spot in heaven- that's how much a dollar cost!! -Also, musically this album is highly regarded for its incredible sonics. Kendrick pulled together some of the most talented musicians in the world to create these sounds that stand up to his phenomenal writing. -Also, there's a short album of B-Sides called "Untitled Unmastered" that didnt make this album that he released shortly after this project dropped that you don't want to skip! -Lastly- I'm @Matt Negron from your pinned "hater Bob confirmed": YouTube comment on your "me against the world album reaction"- you thanked me for my comment about showing you gratitude for your transparency on outdated ideas. I'm working on/about to launch a show that will be essentially a visual podcast that will have lots of themes around music and pop culture- would love to chat with you as a guest on the show if you ever have sometime and your interested! Cheers Bob! 🍻

Matt Negron

This poetic ass album literally left the man at a lost for words unable to express what he was feeling and the next album he’s diving into is Die Lit by Playboi Carti 💀💀💀 I love Die Lit to death but man that’s like eating a plate full of candy and sugar right after eating a steak at Ruth Chris

Justin

i vs. u the single version of i it will give you more appreciation of the album version https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jltN3fLFmTQ since it was released before the album people were very caught off guard by the darker tone of the album and casual/mainstream fans didn’t like the album at first His music is very much influenced by jay z, so the reasonable doubt references are most likely accurate

neff118

It’s a powerful album. Regardless of what you take away, it’s hard to deny the voice Kendrick brings. A voice like that is heard once a generation.

Great way to put it

eich

Wow. Just finished the interview. So good

Isaiah Piedra

Was out tonight, gonna stay up to watch this. Super excited

eich

Dissects dissection blew my mind

Isaiah Piedra

“Look to your right and left and ask your friends” basically asking your friends are you really friends. Loyalty. And he goes on asking questions to someone in the street life. “How tough is your skin if they [your friends] turn you in”. It’s dope how it feels like he’s directly talking to these guys currently in Compton or anywhere similar. I’m sure he gets a lot of ppl to recognize the institutionalization

Isaiah Piedra

It feels like there’s multiple themes, but overarching over every thing: it’s a so called ‘street-bible’ where every song has its own meaning about life. Like just advice, experience, and woke talk. I find TPAB very inspiring in a way, especially with how it ends

Isaiah Piedra

It took me so many listens for this album to really sink in. Mortal man makes me v emotional to this day everytime I listen to it. As well with U. Loved your reaction. Raw stuff

blitzman08

Speaking on what you said about "I" at the end, I personally do appreciate your perspectives and the nuance you approach it with.

“To pimp a butterfly” was originally supposed to be called “2 pimp a Caterpillar” or “2paC”. This was an Amazing amazing video and reaction/breakdown, I really really encourage and urge you to listen to this Tupac interview https://youtu.be/HWNwvBrUUGQ whether it’s for a reaction or just on your own time, it’s the greatest interview of all time in my opinion. It’s the 1994 Tupac interview on BET with Ed Gordon. I can watch it a million’s times over and it and it’s ideas never gets old. Keep it up Bob. I’m loving being a patreon. This is the best albums of the 2010s

Louee

HERE WE GO

Elijah Jagne

So Lucy is short for Lucifer, U is a song to himself about himself and it sounds better with headphones because when housekeeping comes to the door the audio switches from left to right with the knocking giving you a nauseated feeling. In these walls, he is explaining how he fucked the girlfriend of the guy who shot his friend. And that's where the "abusing my power full of resentment" comes in. 1st verse is the walls of a vagina, 2nd is the walls other artists put up keeping them from moving forward, and 3rd verse is the prison walls his friends killer is in.

Tyrone Ross

Had to pay the $2 just for this reaction!

giorgio santelli

It took me a few years of casually listening to this album until I got it. It’s so layered and complex, but when you finally figure it out it’s amazing. And not even just lyrically, sonically it sounds better and better the more you listen. The instruments aren’t always referencing something, but what’s cool is how the instruments are so unique yet it still feels like hip hop. This is prob what hip hop sounds like in 20 years

Isaiah Piedra

Joined Patreon to say I strongly recommend listening to the Dissect Podcast on TPAB. In Season One they go very in-depth into every lyric on the album. I thought I knew everything there was to know about the album and that podcast proved me wrong.

Beautiful album, will for sure stand the test of time

Litty Again

Great reaction. You caught a lot more than most do first listen. It just gets better and better after listens. There’s stuff I’m just now catching even after listening for over 5 years.

Ryan Severson

Institutionalized is a story. The first verse is Kendrick perspective about his friend, the 2nd verse is from the friend’s perspective (who is the institutionalized one) Also there’s a lot of verses from different perspectives not necessarily Kendricks

Isaiah Piedra

I don’t know if its in this video but in the live broadcast you could barely hear some lady say “this is racist”

Brendan B

This album came out when I was a senior in high school, I listen to this album multiple times a year and it always means something different. Especially after getting older the song i does contradict a lot of the album but to me that it a big theme of the album. After more listenes many thoughts and lines in songs will contradict each other. That’s why mortal man is the last song and it’s mainly rhetorical questions that provoke the audience to think. That is at least my biggest takeaway every time is how thought provoking it is. Don’t put too much stock into your first listen though. Keep up the great work man

neff118

About an hour into the reaction right now, U is a song where it’s kendrick in a hotel lambasting himself. The perspective is kendrick as if he were speaking to himself in a mirror. He feels like even though he’s been successful he hasn’t been able to help the people who were closest to him. It’s one of the most heartbreaking songs I’ve ever heard

Teddy Andrew

oh yeah and for die lit its better to just close your eyes and listen to the sound cause carti isnt really saying anything to deep lol

Alright is such a powerful song that people chant the chorus at protests. You should check out Kendrick's live performance of Alright on top of a destroyed cop car. Fox News was not a fan of that lol

Brendan B

Going from this to Die Lit is like experiencing two different extremes of hip hop. Both great albums but in extremely different ways. Just shows how diverse the genre as a whole is!

Isaac Backer

good video! die lit finally next, can't wait

Dissect Podcast season one, it's a MUST listen for you now

Kayen

Now that you've listened I highly recommend you watch his Grammy's performance from 2016, it's iconic and a quick watch. https://streamable.com/2mos

Cory

I will wait untill watching the rest to comment further, but it was really fun to see this release simultaneously as I was writing a message to you proclaiming my hype for it. Grabbing popcorn for this one :)

there’s a lot of historical references that have to do with racism that can go over your head easily. I recommend reading the annotations for those lines if you don’t understand them. I totally get wanting to come up with your own interpretations though.

lucas misclevitz

This album is a masterpiece and I don’t toss that word around too loosely

Lex

mmmmaaaaaan I was about to go to sleep here its like 2 am already, welp, it is what it is haha

jimmyvinyl

If you want you should check out the DeadEndHipHop review of this to listen to some high quality discussion and debate over this album from 4-5 of the greatest YT rap critics ever. There are only a couple of hip-hop albums that reach this quality of work for me personally like Enter the 36 Chambers, Honor Killed the Samurai, God loves ugly and The Black Album are the few that come to mind. Its basically Kendricks Magnum Opus he can never top as shown by the way inferior DAMN

Boyan Konov

My favorite album ever, can't wait!

Sam Shroyer

LETS GOOOOO

lucas misclevitz