Sep 1, 2015

TPAB is an album that some people think highly of and some don't. Another thing that differs among people that hasn't really been brought to discussion compared to criticism is interpretation. I believe that part of TPAB's brilliance is it's ability to be interpreted in many different ways.

Here are some interpretations that I got from listening to the album at least 50 times and letting it digest:

To p---- A Butterfly, as mentioned in the outro poem, is taking something that is beautiful or pure and corrupting or taking advantage of it for personal benefit.

The Butterfly could be fame. Kendrick became one of the biggest rappers in the world after GKMC. After he got famous he struggled with how he should use his fame. He was conflicted. The options were him using his fame for good or "pimping" it for his personal gain. Him being a "caterpillar", he dabbled into using fame for his own desires. Long story short, he comes to the realization that he should use it for good and does that near the tail end of the album while foreshadowing the future. I don't want to get into the cocoon metaphor because I could write a 20000 paper about the complete metaphor of the butterfly, caterpillar, cocoon, p----, etc. So I'm not gonna delve extremely deep into the metaphor.

The butterfly could be his faith in God. After he gains his fame from GKMC, "Lucy" uses his vices among other things to "p----" his faith in God and him living right by God. His "caterpillar" mentality causes him to push morality to the side for earthly desire. He realizes what he is doing, has a breakdown and goes "running for answers" after deciding that he doesn't want to self-destruct. On his search for answers, he finds God and never turns back. He becomes a vessel for Christ and embraces his role.

The butterfly could also be his race. The p---- could be America, white America especially. The p---- pimps to cause Kendrick to hate his race and fall into an institutional racism trap. Long story short, Kendrick goes to South Africa for answers and gains principles of positivity, self-love, and respect for everyone, no matter what race. He shares these principles with his Compton brothers and sisters.

There are more interpretations I have thought about and I could be way more detailed in my descriptions but for the sake of this thread, I don't want to make the OP too overwhelming to read. I may have already did that but whatever.

Having this album in my rotation since it came out and allowing it to digest has made me grow to appreciate this album way more than I did after the initial listens (not that I didn't love and appreciate th= album then). Loving or hating this album aside, you can't deny that Kendrick put his heart into this project and was very meticulous in crafting it.


What are some of your interpretations?