Apr 14, 2016

Kamasi Washington's playing is all over Kendrick Lamar's groundbreaking 2015 album To p---- A Butterfly. But being so intrinsic to the sound of the album has not affected his appreciation for the music and the power of the messages contained within.

"I think it's changed things for everybody. I think Kendrick made a genre defining album. It's one of those things that, you'll look back in history and it's a movement changer.

"I think what he did is dispel this myth that people of this generation aren't smart enough to be able to enjoy high calibre music. If you look at To p---- A Butterfly, it's one of the most lush albums I've ever heard from any genre, from any era, from any person. Melodically, rhymically, structurally, let alone lyrically what he's doing on top of it. There's so much to chew on through that album.


"The notion that people need something that's simple, something that doesn't require a lot of thought, he completely destroyed that idea."

He believes that the success of Lamar's record is proof that young music lovers are far more musically mature than older generations give them credit for.

"Their capacity for understanding is higher than it's ever been," he says. "To comprehend a record like Kendrick Lamar's record you have to have a pretty vast knowledge of music. There are probably more music heads now than there have ever been, because it's easier now.

"When I was coming up, if you had 1,000 records that meant music was your thing. Nowadays every kid has access to hundreds of thousands of records. Millions of records. That changes the scope of what society is.

"What Kendrick did is shine a light on that. It opened the doors for me and eventually it's going to open the doors for music in general."

http://doublej.net.au/news/features...rick-ryan-adams-and-the-best-year-of-his-life

 

Apr 14, 2016

not the first time I see this thread?

But yeah, I consider myself as a knowledgeable person when it comes to music and its history

 

Apr 14, 2016

 

Apr 14, 2016

yeah but then again I'm almost 40, so of course I have an appreciation for this sound.

 

Apr 14, 2016

He's right when he says there's a lot more music heads now than there have ever been but most of them are just like me, old heads.

 

Apr 14, 2016

I don't think you need a vast musical knowledge to appreciate it, but there's no way you gonna say its not an amazing album when you're familiar with the last 50 years of black music.

It almost made me cringe when my friend told me it was experimental...no, it's cultural. From the rhythms to the melodies, nothing on this album is experimental. He's also right when he says it's one of the most lush albums I've ever heard from any genre. You can literally compare its musical composition to any jazz or funk album from any era and it will stand strong. Musically, this album incoporates all the ideas black musicians tried to pioneer these last decades.

 

Apr 14, 2016

That's also why you can't credit kendrick for everything. I mean props to him for the final product, but the actual music isn't from him, right?

You gotta admit the music was the sum of all of it's parts. Everyone shined, causing Kendrick to shine just that much brighter. Kendrick alone wouldn't have been able to make this album

 

Apr 14, 2016

I love it despite having the most limited knowledge on the entire forum but I'll graciously accept the compliment.

 

Apr 14, 2016

"jazz savior" lol

 

Apr 15, 2016

 

Apr 15, 2016

omg the responses in this thread

 

Apr 15, 2016

its musical complexity is actually the reason why you catch new things with each listen, that s--- actually reminds me of a lot of layered albums that used to drop in the early 80s

 

Apr 15, 2016

nobody said it wasn't a team effort.

 

Apr 15, 2016

Lol

 

Apr 15, 2016

hes widely considered as the best jazz artost of the last few years

 

Apr 15, 2016

He's not lying, more and more people definitely enjoy high calibre and very dense music again

s--- was time though, almost took us 20-30 years to see it back again in the mainstream

 

Apr 15, 2016

there havent been "dense" mainstream releases since 1986-1996?

 

Apr 15, 2016

good read.

 

Apr 15, 2016

Lol, no he isn't. The jazz community calls him a meme. He's not even the best guy on TPAB. Ambrose Akinmusire is a Blue Note artist and he's on Immortal Man.

In 2007, Akinmusire was the winner of both the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition, two of the most prestigious jazz competitions in the world.

Jazz as a genre doesn't care about how popular somebody is. Kamasi is a hot topic artist and probably the only jazz artist most people who love his stuff have ever heard.

 

Apr 15, 2016