25 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums Of The Last Decade

Every successful artist who has managed to bring out a sophomore album has spoken about the difficulties that come with that. What else is there left to say when everything is laid to bare on a debut? It's a conundrum that many rappers have suffered through, but after releasing To Pimp A Butterfly, it became apparent that Kendrick Lamar wouldn't have to deal with the same issues.

With the incredible success that came with Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, it would've been easier for Lamar to follow a similar path and do his best to recreate the magic that came with that album. Instead, he went in a completely new direction that probably alienated a bunch of his fans. It's a bold move to make for any artist and is usually reserved for later albums. Yet he managed to produce an album that dealt with a number of heavy topics, including mental health, police brutality, and racism.

These aren't new subjects, especially in hip-hop. However, Lamar manages to put his own spin on things that give these talking points a sense of freshness that others haven't been able to surface. It also helps that the jazz-influenced beats used feel very different to anything we expect a rapper to rhyme over these days.

At 79 minutes long, To Pimp A Butterfly is a dense piece of work that challenges its listeners and can make them feel uncomfortable. However, without this, it wouldn't have the same impact that it did and Lamar should be commended for that.