Kendrick Lamar Originally Named His New Album For Tupac

Before Kendrick Lamar's new album was called To Pimp A Butterfly, it was named for Tupac. In an interview with MTV, the Compton MC revealed that the original LP title was Tu Pimp A Caterpillar. "That was the original name and they caught it because the abbreviation was Tupac, Tu-P-A-C," he said "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." Kendrick still paid homage to Tupac on the album though, sampling an interview with Pac two weeks before the 1994 shooting at Manhattan's Quad Studios. Now that Tupac's estate is going into archival release mode, it seems likely that Kendrick will honoring his memory again soon.