Tracks I Love:
Wesley's Theory: 10/10, perfect start to the album, IMO. George Clinton comes through hard on his bit and Thundercat's bassline is the best it is anywhere on the album. Sets a perfect theme with the bookend of the caterpillar metaphor. It's great.
King Kunta: 10/10, so fuckin funky right here. The pops and the slaps of the bassline kickin are unreal here. Sonically, one of the more complicated songs on the album. It's so layered and cacophonous, but that cacophony gives way to euphony and everything blends so well. Blend is the perfect word. All of it blends together. And here we get our first connection between Kendrick's character's personal life, his stresses, his regrets, and his Depression, and relating that to the black community. The character is asked where he was during the come-up of his friends back in the hood, and the character asks them where they were during his come-up. But, at the same time, the black community might be asking the white community where they were during their come-up. Black culture is so emulated these days, in some circles seen as the height of cool, but it can be seen that the white community is benefiting from this emulation without having to have done any of the hard work to get there. This is one of the few places where he's perhaps directly (implicitly) critical of whites in particular, rather than the "system", as it were. It's a very nuanced song in both sound and lyrics.
Institutionalized: 8/10, he turns his attention to the world around him, the inanimate world this time, the system. He talks about King Kunta -- being a King and a Slave at the same time -- and now we get an examination of those shackles, how they work, how they shackle him, to what extent they shackle him, how strong those shackles are, how unbreakable those shackles are. He feels trapped by the world around him even when he's at home. Musically, Snoops bit works really well I think. Gives you the classic Cali vibe that it's meant to, reminds you that he's back home, and yet it's not quite Snoop Doggy Dogg California. It's not all weed and booty and happiness. It's eerier. It works really well, I think.
u: 10/10, this may be my favorite track on the album from a thematic standpoint. It's not super complicated sonically. The second half, the music is almost unimportant. The foly of the bottle and the swig is more important than the faint beat in the background. It almost could've been A Capella. Here, the character is close to suicide. He sees no solutions to his problems. He doesn't want to try anymore, he doesn't want to see more death, he doesn't want to see more violence and more racism and more discrimination and more mental or physical pain of himself or his people. He hates himself (he hates his community), he hates where he lives (he hates the system), and together it comes together to make for a supremely, supernally sad song. It's heavy. It's hard to listen to and it's supposed to be. It's not poorly put together, though. It's a masterpiece of uncomfort.
Hood Politics: 9/10, Kendrick connects the hood and the capital-s System directly. "Democribs and Rebloodicans". "Red State vs Blue State". "Obama say 'what it do'". It's all right there and it's explicit. He's examining whether or not he can change the System, and at the same time realizes the system is twofold. Gangbanging and Politics go hand-in-hand despite seeming exact antonyms. Both are the perennial staples of American society so long as "we" (his "we", his people) continue to be subjugated and discriminated against and as long as "we" continue to be ignorant of the reality of our lives and our environments. The beat is so odd. High pitched tubey synths and sinister drums highlight the uncomfortable nature of the truth he's revealing.
How Much A Dollar Cost: 10/10, just as good as Hood Politics, but gets pushed to a 10 because the storytelling is fucking superb. I didn't even understand that it was all an exclusive narrative at the beginning, but the whole thing is about that homeless man (not tryna preach an understanding, you guys probably understood that before I did). Once I got this and relistened to it, oh my god, this seemingly innocuous story about a homeless man asking for money perfectly reflects the economic realities of rich black people, poor black people, and everyone in between. It also shows the hopelessness of this situation as well. The beat is so perfectly somber and slow and defeated, like the homeless man, like Kendrick, like so many people are by their economic realities that they all must face.
Complexion: 8/10, this one is just really good lyrically. I don't necessarily remember the beat all that much, but the lyrics are on point. Kendrick goes in really well, and Rapsody fuckin kills it. Never heard of her before this track, but I really wish I would've. Her flow is so punchy, her lyrics are so tight, and her intonation is perfect for the feel of the track. I don't have a lot to say about this one, I think it's the weakest examination of Kendricks world and the least insightful, but even the least insightful of them is still really good on this album. Testament to its quality.
The Blacker the Berry: 10/10 this one almost speaks for itself at this point and it's been discussed to death. It bangs so fuckin hard. Assassin's hook is amazing. It's the most violent-sounding song about peace I've ever heard.
You Ain't Gotta Lie (Momma Said): 9/10, Kendrick's flow is the most unique and ear-catching on this song on the album, especially after the 2:25 beat switchup, and not just the triplet rapping either. The beat is a simple, smooth mix of soft drums, piano, and ride cymbal that just sort of carries you through the song. It's an end to a mean, the mean being you fully appreciating Kendricks flow and his message. He's not taking shots anymore. He's done being violent. He's done being cynical. He's being honest. He's saying that you don't have to be something you're not. Even if it seems hopeless, don't be something you're not. Change comes from within, and that's shown really well. This is also one of my favorite hooks on the album, if not my favorite. It's so smooth and classic Cali-style hooks. Almost like, if Snoop's voice wasn't so recognizable and associated with Snoop-type work, he could've sung it.
i: 10/10, delivers all the positivity of the single in the song part, and all the thematic weight of the album on the spoken word. The live feeling of the recording gives it a more community-centric feeling, it reemphasizes and highlights the "I love all my niggas, bro" message that he delivers. The N-E-G-U-S poem is real good too. It's just got such a feel-good message about it all.
Mortal Man: 10/10, I don't know what I can say about this track. Kendrick's rap over the beat in the beginning is good. Real good. But his interview with Pac was outstanding. The best fucking part of this album. It's just so... it's exactly what this album is about. Kendrick was inspired by people like Pac to bring messages like this to people he cares about, and in turn Kendrick hopes to inspire people to do the same, even if they're not rappers or people with the influence he has. This whole album is about starting a dialogue and accepting truths that maybe we're not comfortable with and Pac brings that home and so does Kendrick. "To Pimp A Butterfly" and the conclusion of "Just Another Nigga" are both great pieces of poetry, IMO. I'd have them on posters in my room.
Tracks I Liked:
Everything else I would give a 7/10 for the same reason: i like them, I like their beats and I like their place in the album thematically and they all do important jobs in it, but they just weren't as impactful to me as the ones above. The ones above were absolutely outstanding, and these ones were great. It's almost a silly distinction to make, but an important one. I don't feel I need to write this down for every one individually so I wont.