Dissect - S1E21 – Mortal Man (Part 2) by Kendrick Lamar

Episode Date: January 31, 2017

We continue our serialized analysis of Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly by dissecting "Mortal Man." Follow Dissect on social media @dissectpodcast. Purchase Dissect merch at dissectpodcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to Dissect, long-form musical analysis broken into short digestible episodes. I'm your host, Cole Kushner. Today, we continue our serialized examination of Tipinpa Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar, with part two of our analysis of the album's epilogue, Mortal Man. If you haven't heard part one, I'd suggest stopping now and listening to that episode first. There, we dissected the song Mortal Man and heard Kendrick question the leadership role he chose to embrace. He also asked his listeners to question their loyalty. to him, as he's acutely aware of the tragic fate of many black leaders before him.

How many leaders you said you need it, then left him for death. Is it Moses? Is it U.E. Newton or Detroit Red? Is it Martin Luther, JFK. Shooter, you assassin is a Jackie? Is it Jesse? Oh, I know it's Michael Jackson. Oh, when shit hit the fan, is you still a fan?

When shit hit the fan, is you still a fan? At the conclusion of the song, Mortal Man, the narrative poem returns for the first time since the transition from Hood politics to how much a dollar cost six songs back. Since the poem is read in full, I'd like to take this opportunity to recap the narrative function of the poem and how the mysterious and slow reveal throughout the album adds to the dramatic impact of the final recitation. But before we dig in, I'd like to share with you something I'm extremely excited about. I recently collaborated with the tremendously talented Hannah Sellers on a Tipinpa Butterfly visual album map, which you can view now at

dissectpodcast.com. The album map visually visually displays how each song on Tipa Butterfly corresponds with lines of the narrative poem, as well as the longer dramatic poem recited at the end of the album. It's got all the themes and descriptions of each act, and it really helps to see the album and get a sense of its narrative structure. Plus, it looks really cool. If you're able, you might consider pulling it up now so you can follow along as we break down the poem. If not, definitely check it out when you get a chance. Again, find that at dissectpodcast.com. The narrative poem is first introduced at the end of the album's third track, King Kunta,

the conclusion of Act 1. I remember you was conflicted. Misusing your influence. If you'll remember, Act 1 displayed Kendrick's rise to rap stardom, getting signed and meeting Uncle Sam on Wesley's theory, the selfish materialistic demands on For Free, and the ego-driven invincibility of King Kunta. The introduction of the narrative poem signals the beginning of Act 2, Coquoned,

where Kendrick begins to realize all the ways he's still imprisoned in his new world. In retrospect, the line, I Remember You Was Conflicted, Misusing Your Influence, is a commentary on Kendrick's use of his newfound influence and stardom for selfish gains displayed throughout Act 1. After the song institutionalized, a new line is revealed. I remember you was conflicted, misusing your influence. Sometimes I did the same. This line introduces and comments on the song These Walls,

in which Kendrick abuses his power and influence to exact revenge on a Compton rival by having sex with his baby's mama while the man was incarcerated. At the end of these walls, the narrative poem continues. Sometimes I did the same. Abusing my power full of resentment. Resentment that turned into a deep depression. Found myself screaming in a hotel room. This, of course, leads to the song You,

where Kendrick has a drunken meltdown in a hotel room, revealing his depression, survival's guilt, sadness and anger about his friends being killed in Compton, and his suicidal thoughts. It's Kendrick at rock bottom, realizing his new world of fame and success hasn't solved the inner turmoil or institutionalized mindset he developed being raised in Compton. Yu signals the conclusion of Act 2. Act 3, titled Emerging Wings, begins with the song All Right, which takes place the day after the hotel meltdown. Kendrick has awoken with a new determination, ready to battle his demons. At the end of All Right, the narrative poem returns, revealing three new lines.

Found myself screaming in the hotel room. I didn't want to self-destruct. The evils of Lucy was all around me. So I went running for answers. I didn't want to self-destruct refers to All Right. The latter two lines introduced For Sale, where Kendrick speaks to Lucy, short for Lucifer, representative of sin and temptation. At the conclusion of For Sale, a new line is revealed.

This line is self-destruct. The evils of Lucy was all around me. So I went running for answers until I came home. This line introduces the song Mama, where Kendrick returns home to Compton in verse 1, and visits his motherland Africa in verses 2 and 3. Mama leads directly into the song Hood Politics. Triggered by a voicemail he receives from an old Compton homie, Kendrick attempts to convince himself that he's remained true to his Compton roots

and hasn't been changed by his new status of rap star. The narrative poem returns at the end of Hood Politics, revealing four new lines. Until I came home, but that didn't stop Survivor's guilt. Going back and forth trying to convince myself the stripes I heard. Or maybe how 8-1 my foundation was. But while my loved ones was fighting a continuous war back in the same, city, I was entering a new one. These lines retroactively comment on the sentiments of hood politics.

The last line introduces the album's next song, How Much a Dollar Cost. The new city Kendrick speaks of is Johannesburg South Africa, where God speaks to Kendrick through a homeless man at a gas station. The event sets Kendrick on his new path and signals the beginning of Act 4, The Butterfly Sheds Light. The narrative poem isn't heard until the conclusion of mortal man, where it's red and full, revealing the final eight lines. you, we unify and stop the enemy from killing us. But I don't know.

I'm no mortal man. Maybe I'm just another nigger. The majority of the new material comments on the sentiments of Act 4. Through his travels and experiences outside of Compton, specifically in South Africa, Kendrick expresses his desire to, quote, go back to the city and tell the homies what I learned. The word was respect. In Act 4, Kendrick does just.

that. On complexion, Kendrick reconnects with his African heritage with a song that denounces colorism and preaches self-acceptance and beauty in all shades of black skin. The black of the berry, a think piece on black on black violence, correlates with the line just because you wore a different gang color than minds, doesn't mean I can't respect you as a black man. When you ain't got a lie and I, Kendrick again preaches realness, individuality, and self-acceptance, which correlate with the lines forgetting all the pain we cause each other in these streets. If I respect you, we unify and stop the enemy from killing us. Finally on mortal man, Kendrick turns introspective about his new leadership role, which is expressed in the last line of the narrative poem,

but I don't know, I'm no mortal man, maybe I'm just another N-word. Knowing what we know now, let's go ahead and listen to the narrative poem in full, as well as what Kendrick says after the recitation. using your influence. Sometimes I did the same. Abusing my power full of resentment. Resentment that turned into a deep depression. Found myself screaming in the hotel room. I didn't want to self-destruct.

The evils of Lucy was all around me. So I went running for answers until I came home. But that didn't stop survivors' guilt. Going back and forth trying to convince myself the stripes I earned Or maybe how A-1 my foundation was But while my loved ones was fighting a continuous war back in the city I was entering a new one

A war that was based on apartheid And discrimination Made me want to go back to the city and tell the homies what I learned The word was respect Just because you wore a different gang, colored the minds. Doesn't mean I can't respect you as a black man. Forgetting all the pain and hurt we caused each other in these streets.

If I respect you, we unify and stop the enemy from killing us. But I don't know. I'm a no mortal man. Maybe I'm just another nigga. Shit, and that's all I wrote. I was going to call it another nigga, but it ain't really a pawn. I just felt like it's something you probably could relate to. Other than that, now that I finally got a chance to highlight you,

I always want to ask you about a certain situation, about a metaphor, actually. You spoke on the ground. What you mean by that? What the ground represent? The ground is going to open up and swallow the evil. Right. That's how I see in my world is born.

I see, and the ground is the symbol for the poor people. The poor people is going to open up this whole world and swallow up the rich people. It's here on the final song of the album that Kendrick reveals that the narrative poem was actually being read to someone. Of course, we know now that person to be Tupac Shakur. But take yourself back to the first time he heard to Pimp a Butterfly. The slow reveal of the narrative poem throughout the album is both intriguing and mysterious. It forces the listener to think about each song as more than a song.

Their pieces to a larger puzzle Kendrick is constructing. When Kendrick finally reveals the poem in its entirety, then continues talking to someone, we suddenly find ourselves witnessing in real time something akin to a scene in a play. It adds a unique immediacy and oral tangibility unlike anything I've ever experienced in a piece of music. Suddenly, we're sitting in a room with Kendrick Lamar

and he's asking someone a question. Let's replay this particular moment and pay special attention to the pause between Kendrick's question and the response he receives. Other than that, now that I finally got a chance to highlight you, I always want to ask you about a certain situation about a metaphor actually

you spoke on the ground what you mean by that what the ground represent the ground is going to open up and swallow the evil right that's how I see in my world is born I see and the ground is the symbol

for the poor people For me this moment is always striking no matter how many times I listen to it there's so much weight and mystery and anticipation behind that pause and the response that's finally given, lives up to and perhaps exceeds the dramatic expectations of the moment, as it's spoken by a dead man, not other than Tupac Shakur, speaking to Kendrick from beyond

the grave. The moment suddenly turns metaphysical, as if we slipped through a back door into Kendrick's dream consciousness. Before we get too deep into Kendrick and Pock's conversation, I'd like to first briefly explore Tupac the man and recap all the references to him hidden throughout to pimp a butterfly. Kendrick addresses Tupac directly in the opening line of the narrative poem. I remember you as conflicted, misusing your influence. Caught between somewhat erratic behavioral impulses and artistic idealism, Tupac's musical success was often eclipsed by his legal and personal difficulties.

Tupac was born in New York City in 1971 to two politically active Black Panther Party members. Tupac's interest in social and political issues were made clear with this first album, Topocalypse Now, released in 1991. The album featured defiant, socially conscious subject matter like police brutality, economic inequality, and teenage pregnancy. But Brenda's barely got a brand, a damn shame, the girl can hardly spell a name. That's not our problem. That's up to Brenda's family.

Well, let me show you how it affects our whole community. Now, Brenda really never knew her moms, and a dad was a junkie foot and death into his arms. It's sad because I bet Brenda doesn't even know. Just because you're in the ghetto doesn't mean you can grow. But oh, that's a vote. My own revelation. Do whatever it takes to resist the temptation. Brenda got herself a boyfriend.

Her boyfriend was her cousin now let's walk to join. And she tried to hide a pregnancy from a family who really didn't care to see or give a damn if she went out and had a church of kids. As long as when the check came, they got hers diced. Now Brenda's belly's getting bigger, but no one seems to know. She's still years old, and she's half in a baby, in love with the molestable sex and her crazy, and yet all she thinks that'll be with her forever, and dreams of a world with her two of them are together, whatever.

He left there and she had the baby solo. She had it on the bathroom flow, and didn't know so. She didn't know what to throw away and what to keep. She wrapped the baby up and threw them in a trash heap. Tupac's rise and subsequent reign would continue to display the dichotomy and confliction between his music and personal life. He was arrested numerous times on an array of charges. The day after being shot five times by muggers, Tupac fled his hospital room hours after

the surgery to attend the hearing of a sexual assault case against him. He was found guilty and sentenced up to four and a half years in prison. Tupac was still behind bars when his 1995 album Me Against the World was released. which debuted at number one. Despite his external Thug Life persona, Tupac continued to compose introspective poetic tracks like Dear Mama that complicated our picture of the young rapper.

When I was young me and my mama had beef, 17 years old kicked out on the streets. Though back at the time, I never thought I see a face. Ain't a woman alive that can take my mama's place. I'm spending from school. I was scared to go home. I was a fool with the big boys breaking all the rules. With my baby sister over the years we was poor in other little kids

And even though we had different daddies the same drama when things went wrong we blame mama I reminisce on the stress I caused it was hell hugging on my mama from a jail cell And who you think in elementary hey I see the penitentiary one day That's right mama cats we put a whoopin to my back side And even as a crack fiend mama You always was a black queen mama. I finally understand for a woman, it ain't easy trying to raise a man. When Tupac was released from prison, his entanglement in the East Coast West Coast rivalry escalated.

Convinced that rapper Notorious B.I.G. was involved in his shooting, Tupac went on record, in interviews and on wax, land blasting B.I.G. and his crew. It was also during this time that Tupac and Kee, Kendrick's pass crossed for the first time. As we mentioned way back on our very first episode of the season, Tupac and Dr. Dre shot the original California love video at the Compton Swap Meet. When the two stopped in the middle of the street near Kendrick's house, eight-year-old Kendrick sat on his dad's shoulders to watch. The event made a lasting impression on Kendrick, when he speaks of often in interviews. I was around eight years old. They were shooting a video

in my neighborhood in Compton. My father seen him. When two blocks down got me, by the time, time he got me, everybody was out there. It was like pandemonium, you know, he put me on his shoulders. And that he was, Dr. Dre, and Tupac right there, and I think it was a White Bentley, yep, that was shooting a video. And that moment right there, whether I know it or not, subconsciously, I think it, you know, eventually branched me off to what I'm doing now.

You know, it was already designed in Destiny. Fifteen years later, I meet Dr. Dre and I explain that story to him when I seen him, And he remembered that exact same moment and remember them kids that was out there. And I said, Dre, I was one of them kids that was there. You know, so it's a crazy feeling. In September of 1996, Tupac and Death Row CEO, Shug Knight, jumped a member of a Compton Crip gang

who was involved in a robbery of a Death Row entourage member earlier in the year. Hours later, Tupac was shot four times in the street of Las Vegas while riding in a car with Knight. He died days later. He was 25 years old. How would you compare how you're handling fame and fortune in 1995 to how you did a couple of years ago?

I believe I'm more responsible, more mature, and more focused. And I will be more focused and even more responsible and even more mature in time. It seemed like the two sides of Tupac were constantly battling with each other. One minute you're spitting at TV cameras, the next you're talking about Shakespeare.

Have you reconciled those two? Um, hopefully, I like to think so. I think that I'm really, I was a reactionary, and now I don't do that anymore. Same person is just, I don't react. Before I reacted, I didn't like the cameras, I spit. The last time we talked, you said that you were best known for your big mouth. What do you feel like you're best known for now?

Taking five bullets. surviving. I'm known as a survivor now. I hope so. For the jail thing, bullets and everything, controversies and everything. I hope so. And I want to be in the future known as somebody, you know, people to be talking about me like, you know, look, remember when he was real bad? Remember when two bog was real bad? You know what I mean? They do that about a lot of actors now. Like John Sevote, I read stories, and it's like, remember you were wild and all these other people, and now they're like, they're sweethearts.

We all should get that chance. I just want my chance. Considered by many to be one of the greatest rappers of all time, Tupac left behind an enormous, complicated, and perhaps incomplete legacy. We'll of course never know whether it's turbulent private life would ever reach some kind of equilibrium with the sensitivity shown on his records and interviews. I think it's important to remember just how young Tupac was when he received the immense amount of success, influence, and wealth that came with his music. Of course, this bridges us back to Kendrick Lamar and the story he tells on to Pimp a Butterfly.

Like Pock, Kendrick came from poverty. Like Pock, Kendrick created socially conscious records from day one. Like Pock, Kendrick found success and influence at a young age. Like Pock, Kendrick struggled to reconcile his past with his present life. And like Pock, Kendrick had the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, battling Uncle Sam and Lucy, and altogether conflicted about the use of his influence. In Acts 1 and 2, Kendrick displayed the ways in which he misused his influence. for financial gain and materialism on Wesley's theory for free,

for an ego-driven assault on his rap peers and competent enemies on King Kunta, and to exact revenge on an in-prisoned rival gang member on these walls. By addressing Tupac directly in the narrative poem's opening, I remember you as conflicted, misusing your influence. Sometimes I did the same. Kendrick acknowledges the parallels between himself and Tupac. The connection is something that Kendrick has felt for years, and expressed prior to Butterfly's release.

Let's listen to an interview Kendrick did in 2011, speaking on his reference to Tupac in the song High Power, as well as the time Pock came to him in a dream. Keep in mind, this interview was years before Good Kid and Butterfly were created. You said something about having a vision of Pock or having a dream. Can you kind of elaborate on that? It's a crazy, it's a true story, actually. You know one of them things when you're real delirious in your sleep? You don't know if you're living in life or not. Like woke up or anything.

And it's a real situation where I was sleep one night, man. And his, his bluer, like a silhouette. And he basically said, keep doing what you're doing. Don't let my music die. And she scared shit out of me. Straight up. It was shit. Just off the fact that it was prior to it that the day before, my mom was bringing up.

You know, you and Tupac, y'all, like, days apart, your birthdays. And I never knew that shit. It was a wild shit. once he said that shit and I'm really big on shit like that spiritual shit like that somebody comes in your dream and it lays a message

you gotta listen you gotta listen to it because I got past family relatives that's been past and been coming to my dreams forever and talking to me and I just really wanted to share that message man

and I felt like it was something I just couldn't keep to myself I want to put it out to the world and let me know this shit is real for me I mean I'm not only doing it for myself anymore I'm doing it for people around me, my city of course, and for a bigger power, and that's to continue the message that he tried to carry. Kendrick mentions in the interview that he and Tupac's birthdays are

close together. Indeed, both were born in June, making them Geminize, the zodiac sign best known for having two conflicting personalities. Specifically, Tupac was born on June 16th, while Kendrick was born on June 17th, the day after. Things get spooky when we realized Tupac released his definitive album Me Against the World on March 14, 1995, while Kendrick released to Pimp a Butterfly March 15, 2015, exactly 20 years plus one day, a sly symbolic gesture and a cryptic nod to their respective birthdays. The quote-unquote next day becomes a metaphor for the continuation of Pock's legacy and message. In the same year to Pimp a butterfly was released, Kendrick wrote a letter to Tupac on the anniversary of his death that was published on Tupac's

website. It reads, I was eight years old when I first saw you. I couldn't describe how I felt at that moment. So many emotions, full of excitement, full of joy and eagerness. Twenty years later, I understand exactly what that feeling was. Inspired. The people that you touched on that small intersection changed lives forever. I told myself I wanted to be a voice for man one day.

Whoever knew I was speaking out loud for you to listen. Thank you. K.L. True to form. Kendrick can't help but suffuse this letter with a few cryptic gems. Kendrick states that he was 8 years old when he first saw Pock and Compton. At the time of writing this letter, Kendrick was 28 years old, making it 20 years since first seeing him. He mentions this with the line, quote,

20 years later, I understand exactly what that feeling was, inspired. Of course, the product of that inspiration Kendrick is referencing here is to Pimp a Butterfly, the album he released 20 years than a day after Pock's album. The last line, whoever knew I was speaking out loud for you to listen, refers to Kendrick's recitation of the narrative poem throughout the album, which we know is being read to Pock all along. What you can't see is that the word U is spelled using just the letter U, the same way the song U on Butterfly is spelled.

The hook for you is loving you as complicated, which if you remember from our analysis was inspired in part by Tupac's poem, Love is Just Complicated. Also, as you've probably noticed throughout the season, Kendrick alludes to Tupac in some way on nearly every song. We heard how For Free was likely inspired by Pock's life is a traffic jam. We heard Kendrick recite made it past 25 on King Kunta, referencing the age Tupac was when he died. We heard how the hook Loving You is Complicated from the song You, mirrored Tupac's poem, Love is Just Complicated.

On all right, Kendrick shouts Lord knows in reference to Pock's song on the same name. We heard how the phrase, If You Scared, Go to Church on Four Sale, nods to the first use of the phrase on Tupac's Rather Be Your N-Word. On hood politics, Kendrick shouts 50 N-word salute, and reference to Tupac's tattoo. We heard Rhapsody name-drop Tupac as well as quote his song Keep You Head Up on complexion. The opening line of Pock's Keep You Head Up is some say the black or the berry, the sweet or the juice, which of course is in line with Butterfly's neck song, The Black or the Berry. We heard how Kendrick's You Ain't Got a Lie is an extension of Tupac's lie to kick it.

On I, we heard Kendrick redefined the N-word in a similar way that Pock did on his song Words of Wisdom. And finally, on Mortal Man, Kendrick reveals that the narrative poem recited throughout Butterfly was in fact being read to Tupac himself. Let's listen again to the opening dialogue between Kendrick and Pock. Having explored Pock's life, Kendrick's connection to him, and all the Pock references on Butterfly that leads to this moment. Let's again feel the way to that dramatic pause. You spoke on the ground What you mean by that What the ground represent

The ground is going to open up And swallow the evil Right That's how I see it My world is born I see and the ground is the symbol For the poor people Right

The poor people is going to open up This whole world Swallow up the rich people Because the rich people are going to be so fat And they're going to be so appetizing You know what I'm saying Wealthy, appetizing The poor are going to be so poor

And hungry You know what I'm saying It's going to be like You know what I'm saying? It might be some cannibalism out this mother, but they might eat the rich. All right, so let me ask you this then. In a discussion with Mark Robin,

Kendrick explained how Butterfly's Tupac's sequence came about. That was another gift, man. I got that audio recording when I was in Germany by a cool guy, man. He said, I did an interview with him. And he said, man, Pac have the same sentiments, even though we're totally full. from age and he said I want you to have something sure enough I took it back to the bus I

played and it's a full long unreleased joint of him just asking them questions and what intrigued me the most what gave me the idea is that the answers that Pock is given are answers for today time and age man and I said the world got to hear this and they got to hear it on a major scale you know and I got that opportunity and I give love and I give thanks to his mother, you know, for allowing me to use her son vocals in a positive light, you know, because a rapper can do anything, they can butcher them and make it the worst thing ever, but I want to continue his message through that, and I thank him for that for allowing me to do that. Kendrick asked Pock a series of questions that seek advice on both his own personal journey,

as well as the state of our nation. He begins by asking Pock about a metaphor, the ground. Pock explains the ground represents the disenfranchised and impoverished people in America, and that someday the ground is going to, quote, open up and swallow the rich people out of hunger and desperation. With the ever-growing income inequality in America, where the top 1% control 40% of the nation's wealth, while the bottom 80% control just 7%, it's not as stretched to apply the ground metaphor to modern times.

Of course, the metaphor also applies to the history of our nation, built on slave labor and the exploitation of minority groups for the benefit of mostly white men. Tupac propheses the rebellion arising from the ground, as extreme hunger will inevitably lead to acts of desperation. If I know that in this hotel room, they have food every day, and I'm knocked on the door every day to eat, and they open the door, let me see the party, let me see like they're throwing salami all over the...

I mean, just like throwing food around, but they're telling me there's no food in there. You know what I'm saying? Every day, I'm standing outside trying to sing my way in. You know what I'm saying? We are hungry, please let us in. We are hungry, please let it say. After about a week, that song is gonna change the, we hungry, we need some food.

After two, three weeks, it's like, you know, give me on the food, and wrecking down the door, and after a year, and you're just like, you know what I'm saying? I'm picking the lock coming through the door blasting, you know what I'm saying? It's like you're hungry, you reached your level, you don't want anymore. We asked 10 years ago. We was asking with the Panthers. We was asking with that. You know, it's civil rights movement.

We was asking. You know, now those people that were asking, they're all dead and in jail. So now what do you think we're going to do? Ask. I put my gun away and grab my AK. It's getting hate dick. I can't call it.

Kendrick's next question to Pock is one Kendrick often asks himself. Do you see yourself as somebody that's rich or somebody that made the best or their own opportunities? I see myself as a natural-born hustler, a true hustler in every sense of the word. I took nothing.

I took the opportunity. I worked at the most menial and degrading job and built myself up so I can get it to where I owned it. I went from having somebody managed me to me hiring a person that works my management company. I changed everything. I realized my destiny in a matter of five years, you know what I'm saying, to make myself a millionaire. I made millions for a lot of people. Now it's time to make millions for myself. You know what I'm saying?

I made millions for the record companies. I made millions for these movie companies. Now I make millions for us. Pock tells his classic rags to riches story. The interesting thing here for me is the emphasis on ownership. He notes how he's made millions for other people. In the context of Butterfly, we might say Pock was being pimped by Uncle Sam. He then says he took hold of his situation and began building his own financial infrastructures.

We might say, like Kendrick, the pimped became the pimp. The slave became the master. You know, everybody's getting pimped. Whether you work a 9 to 5 or whether you work for yourself, you're getting pimped by somebody. That's not the crime. The crime is how long you allow yourself to get pimped. You have to come up. Everything is to come up.

Everything is a struggle. You start from the bottom, working to the top. Kendrick's next question to Pock is another that relates directly to the story told on Butterfly. And through your different avenues of success, how would you say you manage to keep a level of sanity? By my faith in God, by my faith in the game, and by my faith in all good. good things come to those that stay true. Right. You know what I'm saying?

And it was happening to me for a reason. You know what I'm saying? I was noticing shit. I was punching the right buttons and it was happening. So it's no problem. You know, I mean, it's a problem, but I'm not feeling to let them know. I'm going to go straight through. At the heart of Butterfly is Kendrick's struggle with fame and keeping a level of sanity.

Puck says his sanity comes from his faith in God, the game, and the phrase, all good things comes to those who stay true. We can easily apply this to the truth. the lessons Kendrick learns and ultimately preaches on Butterfly. He reconnects with God in South Africa and returns home to preach authenticity in Act 4. Even the creation of Butterfly, which prioritizes narrative and artistry over radio hits, is itself an act of authenticity and remaining true. Kendrick's next series of questions have to do with the black community's resistance against past and present oppression. Would you consider yourself a fighter at heart or somebody that

Somebody that only reacts when they back us against the wall. Shit, I like to think that in every opportunity I've ever been threatened with resistance, it's been met with resistance. And not only me, but it goes down my family tree. You know what I'm saying? It's in my vans to fight back. All right, well, how long you think it takes before niggas be like, we fight in the war?

I'm fighting the war. I can't win. And I want to lay it all down. In this country, a black man only have like five years we can exhibit maximum strength. And that's right now why you're a teenager, why you still strong, why you still want to lift weights, why you still want to shoot back. Because once you turn 30, it's like they take the heart and soul out of a man, out of a black man in this country. And you don't want to fight no more.

And if you don't believe me, you can look around, you don't see no loudmouth 30-year-old motherfuckers. That's crazy because me being one of your offspring of the legacy you left behind, I can truly tell you that it's nothing. It's nothing but turmoil you're going on. So I wanted to ask you what you think is the future for me and my generation today. I think that niggas is tired of grabbing shit out the stores, and next time it's a riot, it's going to be like bloodshed, for real. I don't think America know that. I think America think we was just playing.

It's going to be some more playing, but it ain't going to be no plan. It's going to be murder. You know what I'm saying? It's going to be like Nat Turner, 1831 up on this motherfucker. You know what I'm saying? It's going to happen. That's crazy, man. Even though the Pock interview we're hearing was recorded nearly 20 years ago,

his words on race relations still ring true today. It's a somewhat sobering thought. Pock believes a true rebellion or civil war is the fate of racial and class divisions in America, that the ground will open up and swallow the evil. In recent times, we've seen riots and demonstrations after the multiple killings of unarmed black men, and even more recently protests against our current admissible. illustration who seems to have no interest in improving race relations. Pock refers to Nat Turner, a 19th century slave who led a rebellion in 1831 that resulted in the death of 55 to 65 white people.

To suppress the uprising, whites organized and killed an estimated 200 African Americans, many of whom were not involved in the revolt. Turner was eventually captured, killed, skinned, and quartered. Tupac has a gigantic cross-tattooed on his back. In some, the cross is the words Exodus 1831. There is no Exodus 1831 in the Bible. Rather, Pock is drawing parallels between the stories of Nat Turner's 1831 slavery rebellion and the book of Exodus, which tells the story of the Israelites escaping slavery in Egypt led by Moses. And remember, Kendrick cites Exodus and Moses on how much a dollar cost, which marked Kendrick's liberation and recommitment to God. In their own ways, Pock and Kendrick looked to

themselves as the Moses of their communities, attempting to free their people from the prison of their environment. Kendrick and Pock's conversation concludes with a brief discussion about music. That's crazy, man. In my opinion, I only hope that we kind of have left is music and vibrations. A lot of people to understand how important it is. Sometimes I can get behind a mic and I don't know what type of energy I'm going to push out or where it comes from. Trip me out sometimes. Because it's spirits. We ain't even really rapping.

We're just letting our dead homies tell stories for us. Kendrick shares his faith in the power of music, believing it's one of the only hopes we have left. Kendrick's use of the live version of I put on display the power that music has to bring about change. His song and words ended a fight in the crowd, and he hopes his album will end the interracial conflicts in Compton. Kendrick then shares that he's at times baffled by the energy he puts out on record or on stage and questions where it comes from. Pock interjects, answering, because the spirits, we ain't really rapping, we're just letting our dead homies tell stories for us. Here, we have yet another mind-blowing turn of events, as we realize this line refers directly to butterfly itself.

Tupac is the dead homie, and is his story Kendrick is both telling and continuing. All the illusions to Pocke throughout the album, the narrative poem that's addressed to Pock, the calculated symbolism of releasing Butterfly the day after the 20th anniversary of All Eyes on Me, paralleling their respective birthdays, Kendrick seeing Pock when he was eight years old in Compton, and the full-circle moment of him performing at that very same spot 20 years later, not to mention the similarities between their respective journeys that center around the confliction they feel about their position in the world and how they choose to use their influence. It all adds up to a kind of spiritual channeling of Tupac Shakur and a continuation of his legacy.

Remember, Pock came to Kendrick in a dream and told him not to let his music die, a message he took to heart. It would seem to pimp a butterfly as Kendrick's fulfillment of that promise, a perpetuation of the story he was tragically unable to complete. Indeed, Pock is the spirit, the dead homie that propels the album. I'm not saying I'm going to rule the world or I'm going to change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain. that will change the world.

And that's our job. It's to spark somebody else watching us. We might not be the ones, but let's not be selfish, and because we're not going to change the world, let's not talk about how we should change it. I don't know how to change it. But I know if I keep talking about how dirty it is out here,

somebody's going to clean it up. It would seem Kendrick believes that brain might just be his own, and through humility, God, self-respect, and love, Kendrick will continue Pock's legacy and reconcile their shared confliction. Oh, and if all these Tupac connections weren't enough, consider this. What if the title of the album was to Pimp a Caterpillar? And what if we made an acronym from this title?

The number 2 for 2. P. P. P. P. P. A. and C. C. Tupac. Yes, this was the original title of the album. But as Kendrick explains, he preferred the contrast between the words Pimp and Butterfell. Yeah, to Pimp a Caterpillar. That was an original name and they caught it because the abbreviation was Tupac. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And that was original point once I got the interview. Okay.

You know what I'm saying? So I'm coming with the idea and me changing it to butterfly, just really wanted to show the, the, the, the brightness of life and the word pimp, it has so much aggression. And that represents several things. For me, it represents using my celerity for good. You know what I mean? Another reason is not being pimped by the industry through my celebrity. Right.

You know, so it gets even deeper than that for me. I could be talking all right to have about it. But it was almost called to pimp a caterpillar. Yeah. While we're going to save our in-depth analysis for the longer dramatic poem, Kendrick recites next for our family. finale episode, I do want to listen to that poem now in full and talk about the very last moments of the album and how it relates to all we've discussed today.

I wanted to read one last thing to you. It's actually something the good friend had wrote describing my world. It says, The Caterpillar is a prisoner to the streets that conceived it. Its only job is to eat or consume everything around it in order to protect itself from this mad city. While consuming this environment, the caterpillar begins to notice ways to survive. One thing you notice is how much the world shuns him, but praises the butterfly. The butterfly represents the talent, the thoughtfulness, and the beauty within the caterpillar. But having a harsh outlook on life, the caterpillar sees the butterfly as weak and figures out a way to pimp it to

his own benefits. Already surrounded by this mad city, the caterpillar goes to work on the cocoon, which institutionalizes him. He can no longer see pass his own thoughts. He's trapped. Or trapped inside these walls, certain ideas take roots such as going home and bringing back new concepts to this mad city. The result, wings begin to emerge, breaking the cycle and feeling stagnant. Finally freed, the butterfly sheds light on situations that the caterpillar never considered and denied. Although the butterfly and caterpillar are completely different, they are one and the same. What's your perspective on that? The piece Kendrick recites uses the transformation of Caterpillar to Butterfly as metaphor for his own journey, as well as a potential journey

of all the disenfranchised members of society. And as we'll see in our next episode, the The butterfly piece also mirrors the structure and story told onto Pimp a butterfly. When Kendrick asked Tupac for his perspective on the poem, he gets no response, despite Kendrick's frantic probes. The album ends suddenly, and we're left in mystery of what it all means. Kendrick admitted that he wanted to leave the end of the album open to interpretation. My personal understanding ties into what we've already discussed, that Kendrick is the continuation of Tupac's legacy, and Pock failing to respond, symbolizes his inner.

ability to fulfill his own destiny. He was taken from us too soon due to his involvement in Rapp and streak politics. By studying his life and work, Kendrick was able to learn through Pock's experience without having to suffer his same fate. Indeed, Kendrick made it past 25, able to fully develop into the butterfly that sheds light and helps bring about change. For this reason, Pock's silence could be calculated. He doesn't need to answer Kendrick as he's confident in Kendrick's ability to carry the torch, to finish the work he was unable to complete. Pock's absence at the end could also be viewed as symbolic, of all the young black males that are, as the saying goes, dead are in jail by the age of 25. Kendrick's homies, Dave, Chad,

Braves, and Pupp all died before the age of 25 due to street politics and black-on-black violence. Their voices were tragically lost, taken before their time. This both saddens and frustrates Kendrick. Someone like Tupac had a strong desire and real potential to help uplift his people from historic oppression and ultimately died by the hands of the very same people he was trying to save. Kendrick sees the tragic irony of assassinating a potential savior and seems set on ending this paralyzing cycle by showing young black men a way out through self-respect, union, authenticity, and love. I feel like if you can't respect yourself, then you can't respect your race, then you can't respect another's race, then you can't respect. And you can't

respect, you know, it just has to do respect, like my mother took me. I think that there's when there's hopelessness, people revolt. Because it's like there's nothing that's like, you know, it's like we're going, is America going to help us ever? You know, because I mean, we know for a long time they haven't. Are they ever? And it's like all these things are showing us, no. And there's, you know, there's somebody going, no, they're not going to help you.

No, they're not going to help you. And then, of course, we're saying, no, they're not helping us. All BS aside, it all comes down to we got to survive. I mean, even warriors put their spears down on Sundays. We got to survive here in this country, because I'm not going back to Africa. We got to survive here. For us to survive here, white folks, black folks, Korean folks, Mexican folks, Puerto Ricans, we got to understand each other. We've got to take a bigger chance.

And when I say Americans, people think I'm talking about Uncle Sam. I mean, like, actually Uncle Sam with the gray hair and the flag. I mean you, you, you, the guy, you know, the Mexican. I mean, you need to do something. I don't know about you, but I can't handle any more mind-blowing explosions today. We'll finish our analysis of the butterfly poem and draw some final conclusions about to pimp a butterfly on our season one finale episode. Next time on Dysect.

Dysect is written and produced by me. If you've enjoyed Dysect this season, please do me a favor and rate Dysect on iTunes. It takes less than 30 seconds, and it really helps you. others discover the show. Also, this will be the last week to donate to our fundraiser benefiting the music program at Compton's Bicentennial High School, Kendrick's alma mater.

We've got some great donation perks, including Dissect shirts, printed manuscripts, and a Kendrick-inspired hat by Riz Apparel. Make your donation by Sunday, February 5th, a dissectpodcast.com. While you're there, don't forget to check out the Topimpa Butterfly album map. You can even pre-order a limited edition physical copy. Again, that's dissectpodcast.com.

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