September 9, 2026
Serato DJ 5.0 Public Beta First Look – Beatgrids Go Lucid!
Serato’s 5.0 versions of DJ Pro and DJ Lite have gone into public beta today. They bring with them new flexible BPM analysis, called Lucid Beatgrids...
Thursday, March 16, 2017
The Samples Behind Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’
After much anticipation, Power 106 has dropped an episode of Wax Only that examines Kendrick Lamar‘s third studio album, To Pimp a Butterfly.
Released on March 15, 2015, To Pimp a Butterfly debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart and won five Grammy awards. It featured the singles “Alright,” “These Walls,” and “King Kunta,” the latter of which sampled Curtis Mayfield’s “Kung Fu.” Other notable tracks were “The Blacker the Berry,” which sampled Cold Grits’ “It’s Your Thing” and “i,” which sampled The Isley Brothers’ “That Lady.”
In addition to its many accolades, the album was recently commemorated at Harvard University’s music library. It was one of the first four hip-hop albums to be archived as part of their Classic Crates project. The other three albums honored were Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Nas’ Illmatic, and A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory.
Wax Only is a series that showcases samples used on classic hip-hop albums. It’s hosted by Power 106’s Production Director, Vin Rican.
Watch above to see Vinny go through the samples from the album.
Related: The Samples Behind The Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Ready to Die’
