This is a thread for short explanations of any concept albums. We can discuss if they make sense, our thoughts, theories and etc. A discussion thread about some of the most dense records in the genre's history
Past. Present. And Future.
I will post many albums in here. I'm just making this first post to set the stage. In the morning, I'll expand briefly on what I'm about to post below
This will be the only long-form post I make in here. This sets the stage for the rest of my posts in this thread
THIS IS THE ONLY LONGFORM POST. READ IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT. DONT LET THIS STOP YOU FROM POSITIVELY ADDING TO THE THREAD
We aren't doing that toxic forum stuff in here
Dont come in here with that "didnt read" energy. This is a serious thread. No trolling or arguing or none of that. Debating respectfully is cool.
It's chill but if this isn't your thing, don't feel pressured to read or be involved
Final warning
Everything is open for interpretation. Thats the beauty of music. It's subjective
Artists like Kendrick, Lupe, Masta Ace, Prince Paul, KRIT, The Roots and many more have given us excellent records meant to be listened to over time
I made this thread because I heard Kendrick's Wesley's Theory on my 3 Kings playlist
This is a Spotify playlist I made with most of the catalogs of Kendrick, KRIT, and Cole. My 3 GOATs of their era. Features, songs, albums, loosies, and even produced tracks (KRIT and Cole)
So I'm listening to Wesley's Theory while thinking about the "Pimp" concept in the shower (Im writing a book. The "philosophy of Pimping" is going to be briefly discussed in this book. Iceberg Slim type shyt)
This concept came to me when I first heard this album on the release date in 2015. Im pretty sure Kendrick cited Iceberg as an influence. I loosely remember in an interview he did
But brehs
Letting music sit and living with it. Mannnnnn
This is when you can tell what music lives for the time and what lives forever. This whole album aged beautifully
But back to this Wesley's Theory track. Basically the "girl" Kendrick is talking about is the "butterfly". The butterfly represents his talent, his potential, his skills
Lyrical ability, intelligence, Music making ability, good ear for beats, concept creating ability, potential to become famous because of these talents, potential to change the world with these talents etc. All of this is involved in this butterfly.
Kendrick himself is a "caterpillar". At first Kendrick loved and appreciated his butterfly. But now he just takes it for granted "now I just want to fukk".
The spoiler contains the rest of the explanation of the first 2 tracks. And the main reason why i made this thread
Hip Hop is beautiful brehs. This shyt is really art
This is why what Lupe is doing with his college course about the arts and principles of the genre is so important
shyt is modern day poetry that needs to be studied the exact same way, if not, more like it is in English classes. Thought-provoking shyt. ART.
And just to bring things full circle
I chose this username because of the Pimp in Kendrick's album as well as The Boondocks. Iceberg Slim. List goes on
This shyt is deep. And ill go more in depth about the dynamic between the Pimp and the prostitute as it relates to Wesley's Theory
You gotta listen to this album figuratively. I'm not gonna get too much deeper in the next post. Just had to get all this out before I forgot
I will briefly explain the TPAB concept from my perspective. I'm also thinking about doing brief summaries of Because The Internet and DAMN. Kendrick really has made every single studio album a concept album with the exception of untitled mastered
But it definitely won't stop there with me. We're going through every album. Feel free to post whatever is on your mind. Let's have some thoughtful discussion in here
Past. Present. And Future.
I will post many albums in here. I'm just making this first post to set the stage. In the morning, I'll expand briefly on what I'm about to post below
This will be the only long-form post I make in here. This sets the stage for the rest of my posts in this thread
THIS IS THE ONLY LONGFORM POST. READ IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT. DONT LET THIS STOP YOU FROM POSITIVELY ADDING TO THE THREAD
We aren't doing that toxic forum stuff in here
Dont come in here with that "didnt read" energy. This is a serious thread. No trolling or arguing or none of that. Debating respectfully is cool.
It's chill but if this isn't your thing, don't feel pressured to read or be involved
Final warning
Everything is open for interpretation. Thats the beauty of music. It's subjective
Artists like Kendrick, Lupe, Masta Ace, Prince Paul, KRIT, The Roots and many more have given us excellent records meant to be listened to over time
I made this thread because I heard Kendrick's Wesley's Theory on my 3 Kings playlist
This is a Spotify playlist I made with most of the catalogs of Kendrick, KRIT, and Cole. My 3 GOATs of their era. Features, songs, albums, loosies, and even produced tracks (KRIT and Cole)
So I'm listening to Wesley's Theory while thinking about the "Pimp" concept in the shower (Im writing a book. The "philosophy of Pimping" is going to be briefly discussed in this book. Iceberg Slim type shyt)
This concept came to me when I first heard this album on the release date in 2015. Im pretty sure Kendrick cited Iceberg as an influence. I loosely remember in an interview he did
But brehs
Letting music sit and living with it. Mannnnnn
This is when you can tell what music lives for the time and what lives forever. This whole album aged beautifully
But back to this Wesley's Theory track. Basically the "girl" Kendrick is talking about is the "butterfly". The butterfly represents his talent, his potential, his skills
Lyrical ability, intelligence, Music making ability, good ear for beats, concept creating ability, potential to become famous because of these talents, potential to change the world with these talents etc. All of this is involved in this butterfly.
Kendrick himself is a "caterpillar". At first Kendrick loved and appreciated his butterfly. But now he just takes it for granted "now I just want to fukk".
The spoiler contains the rest of the explanation of the first 2 tracks. And the main reason why i made this thread
Hip Hop is beautiful brehs. This shyt is really art
This is why what Lupe is doing with his college course about the arts and principles of the genre is so important
shyt is modern day poetry that needs to be studied the exact same way, if not, more like it is in English classes. Thought-provoking shyt. ART.
And just to bring things full circle
I chose this username because of the Pimp in Kendrick's album as well as The Boondocks. Iceberg Slim. List goes on
This shyt is deep. And ill go more in depth about the dynamic between the Pimp and the prostitute as it relates to Wesley's Theory
He used to think about the butterfly late at night. Until he "took advantage" of it (until I got my nut)
Toss and turn, lesson learned
You were my first girlfriend
Bridges burned, all across the board
Destroyed, but what for?????
Once the butterfly gets "fukked" by Kendrick, he soon learns that it was the wrong decision. This was his first "girlfriend" (the girlfriend that will be pimped later in the album)
The butterfly is the first love he met. When he was a kid. This was his dream. Fulfilling his dreams through his potential and his God-given gifts (which is why God and Lucy are integral to this album)
Long story short, first verse is about him foregoing the cherishing of his butterfly. Instead, he gets caught up in the glamorous lifestyle of his dream to be famous. His fame eventually comes because of this butterfly
He wants to "pimp" his butterfly to go crazy with the women, money, jewelery, and rebellion against the racist establishment in this country. You can listen back to this track and get the jist yourself
But then
Dre comes in and warns him about the "game" and how his butterfly can be pimped
The first explicitly revealed pimp (one of the many pimps. Kendrick is the lowest level pimp. The caterpillar pimps the butterfly)
The pimp comes in and seduces the butterfly in the 2nd verse. Convinces it to give in to his "trap" (bruh listen to that poem in full at the middle of Mortal Man. This is why this nikka is one of the GOATs)
Uncle Sam basically wants to pimp the caterpillars butterfly for profit
Pimping it. For his own benefits. Giving into capitalism benefits this country, and therefore Uncle Sam (the representation of America). The "trap" or what keeps this butterfly in this cycle of prostitution is taxes
In the black community, financial literacy is one of the many things that isn't taught to us in comparison to the whites, Asians, etc
They pimped Wesley Snipes' butterfly. Then they got him with the tax game. This is why he went through what he went through
Uncle Sam wants to do the same thing to Kendrick
You can listen to the rest of the song and take what im saying here into consideration
But this is why I made this thread
"Tax man coming
tax man coming
tax man coming
Tax man COMING"
Who does this sound like? Who is the "tax man"
This is a prostitute. Worried about her pimp. Uncle Sam.
If you watched The Boondocks
(You better have. If not
)
Remember Cristal? Remember how she would run and hide whenever she saw a pimp looking for her????????? The pimp "coming"?????
When this shyt was processing in my mind..... I literally hit the
face in the shower
Then it goes into the next track For Free?
"Oh America, you bad bytch
I picked cotton and made you rich
Now my dikk ain't free"
America is Uncle Sam's "bottom bytch". That's why she says she's gonna get Sam to "fukk you up"
Toss and turn, lesson learned
You were my first girlfriend
Bridges burned, all across the board
Destroyed, but what for?????
Once the butterfly gets "fukked" by Kendrick, he soon learns that it was the wrong decision. This was his first "girlfriend" (the girlfriend that will be pimped later in the album)
The butterfly is the first love he met. When he was a kid. This was his dream. Fulfilling his dreams through his potential and his God-given gifts (which is why God and Lucy are integral to this album)
Long story short, first verse is about him foregoing the cherishing of his butterfly. Instead, he gets caught up in the glamorous lifestyle of his dream to be famous. His fame eventually comes because of this butterfly
He wants to "pimp" his butterfly to go crazy with the women, money, jewelery, and rebellion against the racist establishment in this country. You can listen back to this track and get the jist yourself
But then
Dre comes in and warns him about the "game" and how his butterfly can be pimped
The first explicitly revealed pimp (one of the many pimps. Kendrick is the lowest level pimp. The caterpillar pimps the butterfly)
The pimp comes in and seduces the butterfly in the 2nd verse. Convinces it to give in to his "trap" (bruh listen to that poem in full at the middle of Mortal Man. This is why this nikka is one of the GOATs)
Uncle Sam basically wants to pimp the caterpillars butterfly for profit
Pimping it. For his own benefits. Giving into capitalism benefits this country, and therefore Uncle Sam (the representation of America). The "trap" or what keeps this butterfly in this cycle of prostitution is taxes
In the black community, financial literacy is one of the many things that isn't taught to us in comparison to the whites, Asians, etc
They pimped Wesley Snipes' butterfly. Then they got him with the tax game. This is why he went through what he went through
Uncle Sam wants to do the same thing to Kendrick
You can listen to the rest of the song and take what im saying here into consideration
But this is why I made this thread
"Tax man coming
tax man coming
tax man coming
Tax man COMING"
Who does this sound like? Who is the "tax man"
This is a prostitute. Worried about her pimp. Uncle Sam.
If you watched The Boondocks
(You better have. If not
)Remember Cristal? Remember how she would run and hide whenever she saw a pimp looking for her????????? The pimp "coming"?????
When this shyt was processing in my mind..... I literally hit the
face in the shower
Then it goes into the next track For Free?
"Oh America, you bad bytch
I picked cotton and made you rich
Now my dikk ain't free"
America is Uncle Sam's "bottom bytch". That's why she says she's gonna get Sam to "fukk you up"
You gotta listen to this album figuratively. I'm not gonna get too much deeper in the next post. Just had to get all this out before I forgot
I will briefly explain the TPAB concept from my perspective. I'm also thinking about doing brief summaries of Because The Internet and DAMN. Kendrick really has made every single studio album a concept album with the exception of untitled mastered
But it definitely won't stop there with me. We're going through every album. Feel free to post whatever is on your mind. Let's have some thoughtful discussion in here
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