Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Poster

The story behind the cover

The White House lawn, in black and white

Shot by photographer Denis Rouvre, the cover shows Kendrick Lamar surrounded by a group of shirtless children and young men, standing triumphantly on the lawn of the White House. The image is rendered in stark black and white, with a judge lying prone in the foreground. It reads as both celebration and confrontation, a group portrait of Black joy and defiance staged at the very seat of American power. Every face, fold of clothing and blade of grass carries meaning, which is exactly why it rewards a large print.

To Pimp a Butterfly arrived on 15 March 2015 and immediately felt like an event. Kendrick pulled jazz, funk, spoken word and soul into a dense, ambitious song cycle, with contributions from Terrace Martin, Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Pharrell Williams and a cast of collaborators including George Clinton and Snoop Dogg. It topped the US Billboard 200 and earned RIAA platinum certification. Songs like Alright became protest anthems, and the album is now widely cited among the most important records of its era.