He stands alone in the spotlight, dressed in a vintage ’90s L.A. On The Tonight Show his accompanists are pushed into the background. But as a work of 21st century hip-hop, TPAB stands in a league all its own. To Pimp a Butterfly also dabbled in old styles, notably the R&B of the Isley Brothers, the funk of Sly Stone and George Clinton, and the acid jazz of Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. City was simultaneously a revival of an old form (West Coast gangsta rap) and the introduction of a powerful new voice.
The Radiohead of Pablo Honey represented the end of grunge and the beginning of what would come to be called indie, and Kendrick is pushing hip-hop in similarly startling new directions. In doing so, he joined the ranks of other landmark late night pairings-such as The Beatles and Ed Sullivan, or Radiohead and Conan O’Brien.Īs a work of 21st century hip-hop, To Pimp A Butterfly stands in a league all its own.Īnd just as Radiohead defined the shape of music to come in 1993, Kendrick Lamar may well be forecasting the future of hip-hop. He started the shift at the end of 2014, first on Saturday Night Live, then as part of a power couple: Kendrick was the last musical guest on the Colbert Report, and the first on Stephen’s Late Show on CBS. His recent appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show was yet another demonstration-when it comes to a command of the spoken word, Kendrick is in a class all his own. Though our coverage of Kendrick Lamar is dominated by his albums, his live performances have become just as important, pushing hip-hop forward into exciting new territory.