Kendrick Lamar Reveals Original Title of 'To Pimp a Butterfly'

Kendrick Lamar’s album was a caterpillar before it became a butterfly.

During an interview with MTV News, the Compton MC revealed the original title for his chart-topping album: Tu Pimp a Caterpillar.

A blog called DeadEndHipHop.com came upon the Tupac Shakur-inspired title during a roundtable discussion about the album.

“That was the original name and they caught it because the abbreviation was Tupac, Tu-P-A-C,” said K-Dot.

On Butterfly‘s final track, “Mortal Man,” Kendrick interviews the late rap icon, and was planning to make that the centerpiece.

“That was the original point once I got the interview,” he explained.

But he ultimately decided to change the 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,” he said. “For me, it represents using my celebrity for good. Another reason is, not being pimped by the industry through my celebrity.”

While the title was touch and go, the concept was always the same. “I knew that was going to be the concept, I didn’t know if that was going to be the title.”