‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ Almost Included A Track With Prince

Kendrick Lamar has released his latest album, To Pimp A Butterfly to critical acclaim. And now, Lamar has shared that To Pimp A Butterfly almost included legendary music icon Prince.

Kendrick Lamar talks recording an unreleased song with Prince for his new album ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’: http://t.co/vzC0ShCZrT

— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) April 1, 2015

In an interview seen on the Rolling Stone, Lamar stated that he actually recorded with Prince for To Pimp A Butterfly, but that it just didn’t make it onto the album because they were “pressed for time.”

Lamar said that the two worked together on some tracks for To Pimp A Butterfly at Prince’s Minnesota home. Lamar and Prince also performed a show for Yahoo! Livestream from there.

Although the collaboration didn’t make the final cut for To Pimp A Butterfly, Lamar couldn’t say enough about working with the “Purple Rain” musician.

“I didn’t trip over getting a song done. I really appreciate the actual game he was giving me,” said Lamar.

He then added that Prince “took control of his music.”

Lamar also shared that Prince gave him more than a possible track for To Pimp A Butterfly. Lamar stated that Prince, whom he referred to as a “mysterious, mystique man,” shared some wisdom with him.

“He was breaking down some things that I need to consider in my career,” said Lamar.

Lamar, much like Prince, takes his music and his message very seriously. Lamar shared in an interview with MTV his connection to his music.

“For me, it’s so much of a spiritual process in making an album. I gotta really feel connected to the music, I gotta feel connected to what I’m talking about. And that can drain you, because you’re pulling all these different emotions out.”

Lamar also shared some more about his hit album, which is the artist’s second major album. To Pimp A Butterfly was originally going to be called Tu Pimp A Caterpillar, which Lamar chose because “the abbreviation was Tupac, Tu.P.A.C.”

So what made him decide to change his album’s name?

“Me changing it to Butterfly, I just really wanted to show the brightness of life and the word pimp has so much aggression and that represents several things…For me, it represents using my celebrity for good. Another reason is, not being pimped by the industry through my celebrity.”

The only thing that could make To Pimp A Butterfly even better would be to that unreleased collaboration between Lamar and Prince.

[Photo Courtesy of EURWeb]