One and the Same

Around the time The Bluest Eye was published, the American Civil Rights Movement was coming to a close and presumably so was the racial injustice that plagued the country since its birth. And after the novel addressed these issues in such a graphic way, one would think that Toni Morrison  successfully shocked her readers into never repeating the events of the past again. But almost 50 years later that discrimination is still very real in society. When Kendrick Lamar released, To Pimp a Butterfly in 2015, police brutality and "Black Lives Matter" protests were in full swing, making it the perfect time to release such an intricate and socially conscious album.

Kendrick Lamar does exactly what Morrison did with her novel, in that he sheds light on some of the most controversial topics of the time, like in the song, "Complexion (A Zulu Love)". Here he talks about the unfair beauty standards that African-American women have to deal with and preaches that "complexion don't mean a thing," whether you're "dark as the midnight hour or bright as the mornin' sun." In this song there are times where Kendrick mirrors some of the same exact ideas that Morrison discusses in The Bluest Eye. For example, Pecola feels ugly because she always compares herself to the "blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned dolls [that] every girl treasured." She is told, that "this is beautiful" and that if she is one day "worthy" enough, she could be beautiful like that too. Kendrick also recognizes this desire for this supposed white beauty when he states "You blew me away, you think more beauty in blue, green, and grey."

Beyond the idea of beauty standards, To Pimp a Butterfly is most similar to Morrison's novel in the way that it addresses the same over-arching theme: that blacks are held back by the institutions of race, wealth, and social class. In Kendrick's song, "Institutionalized," he describes that even though he has achieved a great deal of wealth and success, he still is trapped in the mindset of a poor kid from Compton. In one part of the song he states:

If I was the president
I'd pay my mama's rent
Free my homies and them
Bulletproof my Chevy doors
Lay in the White House and get high, Lord
Who ever thought?
Master take the chains off me

This may seem odd to the listener that he would think on such a small scale, but he is so confined by society to this way of thinking, that this is all he knows. He can't even imagine a world outside of Compton, where he turned to drugs to cope with the constant fear that he could be shot at any moment.

Kendrick Lamar addresses more of the stereotypes and gets into his own internal conflict in the song, "The Blacker the Berry," starting every verse with the line, "I'm the biggest hypocrite of 2015." At the close of the song he concludes:

So don't matter how much I say I like to preach with the Panthers
Or tell Georgia State "Marcus Garvey got all the answers"
Or try to celebrate February like it's my B-Day
Or eat watermelon, chicken and Kool-Aid on weekdays
Or jump high enough to get Michael Jordan endorsements
Or watch BET cause urban support is important
So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street?
When gang banging make me kill a nigga blacker than me?
Hypocrite!

One after another he lists off an endless stream black stereotypes along with movements that he feels that he is obligated to support as a member of the black community but all of this means nothing because he too is part of the problem. Kendrick can do everything in his power to represent his race properly, but if blacks are still violent towards each other, then no progress is being made. All of their attempts at equality are pointless if there is no unity on their end to begin with.

The poem that closes the album perfectly summarizes the main points of both The Bluest Eye and To Pimp a Butterfly. In it he concludes:

The caterpillar is a prisoner to the streets that conceived it
Its only job is to eat or consume everything around it, in order to protect itself from this mad city
While consuming its environment the caterpillar begins to notice ways to survive
One thing it noticed is how much the world shuns him, but praises the butterfly
The butterfly represents the talent, the thoughtfulness, and the beauty within the caterpillar
But having a harsh outlook on life the caterpillar sees the butterfly as weak
And figures out a way to pimp it to his own benefits
Already surrounded by this mad city
The caterpillar goes to work on the cocoon which institutionalizes him
He can no longer see past his own thoughts
He’s trapped
When trapped inside these walls certain ideas start to take roots
Such as going home, and bringing back new concepts to this mad city
The result?
Wings begin to emerge, breaking the cycle of feeling stagnant
Finally free, the butterfly sheds light on situations
That the caterpillar never considered, ending the eternal struggle
Although the butterfly and caterpillar are completely different
They are one and the same