If he does this he will be helping his community from inside the community, as opposed to continuing on his track to help his community from the role as a mainstream celebrity.
So, he begins looking at his second-best alternative, which is returning to the streets of Compton. He believes he is putting in all this work to become a mainstream influence, but the payout has not yet been worth it because he is still getting “pimped” by “Uncle Sam” as he puts it. He contemplates all the work he’s put in into getting to this point of fame in his career, which is the investment side of the model. Indirectly, throughout the album he is debating his two options using the equity and investment model (Sprecher, 1988).
#Kendrick lamar pimp a butterfly allmusic free
He wants people to see him as successful and living his dream, but in his back-stage thoughts he knows he is still being controlled by the industry and he is not as free as he would like to be.Īnother prevalent topic throughout this album is Kendrick comparing his life in mainstream America to his life back home in Compton. He explains how his back stage thoughts are getting in the way of how he wants to appear to the public with his front stage self-presentation. He speaks on the fact he is at the top of the music industry according to the public, but he is still institutionalized by the industry, as well as him hometown of Compton. The following song is “Institutionalized.” This song is an insight into Kendrick’s back stage self-presentation. This is his front stage he knows this is what the public will see him as, so he presents the best, most confident, version of himself. However, in the song he is essentially saying there’s no way anyone could stop him at this point in his career, everyone thinks he is the best, and he wants everyone to know he is the best. Kendrick compares himself to Kinte, saying the industry is trying to cut his legs off, meaning they are trying to slow down his success. Kinte was a slave in the 18th century who tried to escape, but got caught by his owners, and as a punishment they cut Kinte’s foot off. The most obvious instance on the record of him switching between describing his front-stage and his back-stage is between the songs “King Kunta” and “Institutionalized.” On the track “King Kunta” Kendrick proclaims he is at the top of his game and the top of the music industry. Then, he’ll show us his aspects of himself that only he experiences, his back-stage, and he describes his thought processes at these points throughout his career (Goffman, 2006). This is why it gets so interesting, as there are times he describes himself and how he showcases himself to the world, which is his front-stage. Kendrick shows different sides of himself throughout this entire album.