At least ATRL can agree with critics on one thing: To Pimp a Butterfly’s explosive third single is the highlight of the album; the voters for this rate and Pazz & Jop both gave it the runner-up spot. Rocking a James Brown funk—and a James Brown swagger—Kendrick flaunts his rise to the top of the rap game, a reign that his rivals couldn’t undercut even if they cut off his leg. But even on a classic rags-to-riches braggadocio rap track, Kendrick has more on his mind: Contrasting his success with the trope that black men will either be dead or in jail by the age of 25, he recognizes that he is simultaneously a king and a slave in America.
Best bit: “Stuck a flag in my city, everybody's screamin’, ‘Compton!’/I should probably run for mayor when I'm done, to be honest”
