![Kamasi Washington Praises Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp a Butterfly': ‘That Record Changed Music’](http://townsquare.media/site/625/files/2017/10/kamasi-washington.jpg?w=630&h=420&zc=1&s=0&a=t&q=89&w=980&q=75)
Kamasi Washington Praises Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp a Butterfly': ‘That Record Changed Music’
Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly may not have had the same commercial success as DAMN., but according to saxophonist Kamasi Washington, the album had a bigger impact than K. Dot's latest project.
Speaking with Pitchfork, Washington said To Pimp a Butterfly changed music and claimed "we're still seeing the effects of it."
"It went beyond jazz; it meant that intellectually stimulating music doesn’t have to be underground," he said. "It can be mainstream. It went beyond everything else too: harmonically, instrumentation-wise, structurally, lyrically. I feel like people’s expectations of themselves changed too. It just didn’t change the music. It changed the audience."
A contributor to the album, Washington said he wasn't involved in the early stages of recording but he immediately knew the significance the project would have.
"From day one, I knew this was a classic, world-changing record," he said. "Kendrick not only brought in the best people, but he allowed them to be at their best. That’s the rare thing. There are the people who it just comes easy to and there are people who work at it. Kendrick is both. He can instantly write a song that’s dope as hell, but then spend the time to meticulously work it out and make it perfect."
Released in 2015— three years after Kendrick dropped Good Kid. m.A.A.d. City—To Pimp a Butterfly landed on a number of lists for best albums of the year. The record featured the songs "i," "Alright" and "King Kunta."
More From TheBoombox
![Twitter’s Most Ecstatic Reactions to Lil Wayne’s ‘The Carter V’](http://townsquare.media/site/625/files/2018/09/lil-wayne.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![How the Soulquarians Changed Hip-Hop and Soul Music During The Turn of The Century](http://townsquare.media/site/625/files/2018/07/the-soulquarians.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Here’s The Complete Winners List from the 2018 BET Awards](http://townsquare.media/site/625/files/2018/06/GettyImages-983269326.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Watch SZA and Kendrick Lamar Fight Like Ninjas in the New Video for ‘Doves In the Wind’](http://townsquare.media/site/625/files/2018/04/sza-doves-in-the-wind.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Kendrick Lamar’s ‘DAMN.’ Spikes 263% in Sales After Pulitzer Win](http://townsquare.media/site/625/files/2016/09/Kendrick-Lamar.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Did TDE’s Punch Hint at a Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole Collaboration? [PHOTO]](http://townsquare.media/site/625/files/2017/07/kendrick-jcole1.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Bruno Mars Nominated for 2018 Billboard Music Awards](http://townsquare.media/site/625/files/2018/04/drake-kendrick-bruno.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Kendrick Lamar Will Headline Hot 97’s Summer Jam 2018](http://townsquare.media/site/252/files/2018/01/kendrick-lamar-847179942.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Kendrick Lamar Wins Pulitzer Prize for ‘DAMN.’](http://townsquare.media/site/252/files/2018/01/kendrick-lamar-840141350.jpg?w=980&q=75)