Are we Alright?
[ EVENT ]: To Pimp A Butterfly (Re)Listening at REP CLUB 7.23.25
I remember we’re still conflicted… It’s been 10 years since Kendrick dropped to Pimp A Butterfly record that shifted the sonic landscape of Hip Hop & Jazz. I invite you to come out of your cocoon and join us for an IRL intentional relistening & revisiting of TPAB. I’ll be in conversation with brilliant Spelman professor Sequoia Maner, and author of the book To Pimp A Butterfly (Which was a part of the 33 1/3 book series) at my home away from home Reparations Club July 23rd at 7 pm.
The album is a poem within itself, meant to be experienced in its sprawling expansive entirety and not skipped, talked over or playlisted, So why not share that with ya’ll?
RSVP HERE before the event sells out!
Today some folks celebrate freedom, I find that liberation is far more appealing. They are far from the same thing. The freedom to consume and move without impunity seems to be what is on the menu as freedom. The real gag is the oppressors have made assimilation look like freedom. They have confused our collective goals by turning highly individuated social climbing and positioning into our north star. When liberation is the elimination of the systems of oppression on our everyday lives. That’s what I am interested in, the systemic unworlding to actually be liberated from this current paradigm.
On March 15, 2015 Kendrick Lamar's album To Pimp A Butterfly was released. Hip Hop would never be the same. The year To Pimp a Butterfly dropped police killed 1,152 civilians. Ten years later we still catching fades with the state fighting injustices on every level. As they pass Billionaire bills and kidnap entire communities we need more art & music that reflects the urgency of the time. It also felt aligned to pay homage (there is something to be said about approaching a song with such rich existing metadata already). Although Kendrick himself is not radical in his politics or with his platform, the emotions captured in the song Alright carries an energy of conjuring that became a contagiously compelling battle cry. It wasn’t written as a political record but the people chose it, it resonated with those that needed it most. The time is continuously now though! There is an uprising rising up in us. What words do we need now? I hope this rhyme can also be a remedy.
GET YOUR PASSPORT & JOIN MY PATREON for the full song!!
Here is how I decided to pay homage. Hope ya’ll vibe w/ it.
Aligned aka Iight fka Alright 2025 Lyrics:
Hook🪝
I need a liberation that’s global
I don’t need liberation not a Mogul
I need a liberation that is total
I need a liberation ( ( UGH! ) )
I need a liberation that’s collective
I need a liberation of perspectives
I need a liberation for my ppl
I need a liberation that’s connective
**
I need a liberation free from isolation
Free from domination
Free from hibernation
Free from separation
Free from segregation
Free from legislations
(we gotta get) repetitious w/ the reparations
We need reparations
reparations
reparations
Freedom time!
Time aint waiting
Time aint waiting
VERSE 2:
Polyphonic logic
Kaepernicking n**** at the college
Kidnapping kids (at) graduations, even at apartments
diabolic dialect deconstruction of the topic
Muthaf*ckas really live at the mall!
Buy a life off the shelf can you live w/ the cost?
blood on our hands & we can’t wash it off
(Living w/ our) Life in the air like a prayer at the Mosque
Will you Chat gpt when the water is gone?
For every single person everything is urgent
Think we need a surgeon
Wretched Of The Earthling ( ah! )
Seeing through the curtain
Everybody hurtin
Everythings uncertain
If your heart is broken, then your heart is working
I was thinking bout my ppl through the wisdom of our rhythms
I was thinking bout the workers
I was dancing on the ruins
I was picturing a vision
It’s a revolution brewing
Passport been packed up N**** what you doing ?
(Hook)
-d