Kendrick Lamar Opens Up About His Magnum Opus South African Trip

Kendrick Lamar is widely considered as the rap world’s G.O.A.T. In 2021, Lamar dominated the rap game chart. Kendrick Lamar recently talked about his Magnum Opus’s South African Trip to his fans.

Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 album To Pimp A Butterfly is a definite classic at this point in music history. The graphics of the music videos, the project’s unified thematic aspects, and Kendrick’s lyrical genius have all contributed to TPAB’s proper position in history. As a result, it should come as no surprise that a number of podcasts discuss the magnum opus to this day. Higher Ground and the Spotify podcast The Big Hit Show have released their latest episode, which focuses solely on the 2015 album by the Compton native.

Many of Kendrick’s close collaborators and contemporaries provide new insight into the creation of the body of work in the current episode. The hosts of the show tried to figure out what were Lamar’s aims when he created the work, as well as what inspired him and why. In an interview with the Spotify podcast, Kendrick revealed some answers to these concerns, detailing his thought process behind the legendary album.

Lamar felt compelled to give back to the beauty he saw after visiting South Africa and learning about his common history with the continent.

“You know [Mandela] was fighting for equality, served 27 years, 18 years in that small little cell, but still kept his mental capacity and still kept his integrity and his enthusiasm to motivate not only himself but the people around him. It inspired me a hundred percent.”

“I took that experience and looked within myself for my own experiences. Okay, I come from a background of a neighborhood that wasn’t so much perceived to be great, but I can’t let these four corners define who I am or define who my homeboys are. I took that experience, and the whole concept about To Pimp A Butterfly was to share that experience with them. To go back to Compton and to tell them what I’ve learned. … It was me explaining my experiences and what emotions it brought up from that experience. And tell them, ‘Yo it’s something bigger than Compton and where we from.’” 

Kendrick’s South Africa trip seems successful for him. For those who hadn’t already figured it out from the album’s content, Lamar confirmed it in the most recent episode of The Big Show. For further updates stay tuned to Thirsty.

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