The message was clear: it was a portrait of defiance and empowerment for those the country had left behind. At their feet lies a judge sprawled across the floor, eyes crossed out and presumed dead, gavel loosely held in his fingers. The album cover depicts a powerful photograph of Lamar and his childhood friends posted up on the White House lawn, bare chested with bills and alcohol bottles in their fingers. It was an extended gaze at race and class in America, as well as the candid journaling of his own internal battles with depression and his wavering mental health.
To Pimp A Butterfly presented new themes and new sounds. While many listeners pined for the guttural, long winding raps of the previous album, Lamar was ready to steer in a new direction. In 2015, after the acclaim and accolades of Good Kid, MAAD City, Lamar released a long-awaited follow-up. Then freeze that verse when we see dollar signs.” ‘Untitled 02 | ’ (From Untitled Unmastered)
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“ Park the car, then we start rhymin', ya bish,” he says, “The only thing we had to free our mind. While they weigh up home invasions and a dream of money trees to diffuse their financial pressures, the mirage and fantasies of farfetched rap dreams glint vaguely in the distance. The undercurrent that pulls its tide is the unrelenting yearn for income, the hunger to go beyond their circumstances, a fervour that, when misdirected, can foster the kind of reckless spirit that sees young men risk their lives and freedom. Throughout, Lamar and Jay Rock glance back and forth between the perils of poverty and the instant rewards, yet high risks of life on the streets. With production from DJ Dahi it sees Lamar document the faint imaginings he and friends had growing up of a life beyond the confines of their neighbourhood. Armed with a stellar verse from TDE stablemate Jay Rock, the song is a wider glance at the relentless pursuit of the American Dream.
On an album revered as one of the finest rap records of its era, “Money Trees” is among its crown jewels. “Dreams of living life like rappers do,” Lamar slurs on “Money Trees”, another standout moment from Good Kid, MAAD City.
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