10 Perfect Music Albums That Defined The 2010's

After the success of Good Kid Maad City, Kendrick Lamar was in a pretty uncomfortable position as a rapper. You made one of the greatest hip hop concept albums in recent memory only on your second studio release, and now you're expected to do the whole thing over again. It's impossible to top that kind of perfection, except Kendrick totally did it on To Pimp A Butterfly.

Instead of the usual narrative focus of Good Kid, this whole album feels like Kendrick unpacking what his position is in the music industry, from his survivor's guilt at being able to escape the streets of Compton to dealing with business partners that are looking to bankrupt him at every chance they get. Combined with the jazzy stylings of people like Robert Glasper and Thundercat, this is an album with a lot of raw wounds.

Then again, Kendrick has one thing that not many other rappers have at this stage: optimism. Sure, there might be a lot of struggling that you have to do every day, but as long as K Dot has his head above water, it looks like things are going to be okay. When you listen to something like Alright and How Much A Dollar Cost, you know it's coming from a man who knows the shape of his soul. Even with all of the bangers on this record, this record has a genuine story to tell, and you can bet that Tupac would have been proud of something like this.