Analysis
This was the first single for
Kendrick Lamar upcoming album
To Pimp A Butterfly and it was musically was quite different from the music he's made in the past and people thought he was going 'pop'. The sample is from a song named "That Lady" from The Isley Brothers. This song would end up winning 2 Grammy's at the
2015 Grammy Awards, the Grammy's were for best rap performance and best rap song.Once on
To Pimp A Butterfly it would be the
15th track.He
talks about his decision for this sound on an interview with HOT 97 at timestamp 6:07. He explains that he believes it's a soul sample, and that lyrically he did it for people in a penitentiary but also for kids who hurt themselves, he was trying to inspire people with a simple message. It helps people in penitentiary because they can lock your body but not your mind so having an uplifting message like this can help them.In an
interview with Breakfast Club he says that The Isley Brothers are one of his favorite groups so when he realized the song he used from the sample, "That Lady", was untouched he decided he wanted to put his own twist to it. In this interview he also says they can trap your body but not your mind which is why an uplifting song like this can help.In an
interview with billboard Kendrick says that he made this song when he was in self doubt and making this song was a psychological trick for him because even if he is feeling off he will have to perform this self-affirming song.*There may be errors on this page.
