Nobody in hip-hop could make the world cease fairly like Kendrick Lamar. Followers bought a reminder of his gravity when he dropped his newest album, GNX, earlier immediately.
Checking in at a dense 44 minutes, the brand new LP arrives about seven months after he beforehand stopped time with “Not Like Us,” a Drake diss observe that turned iconic shortly after its launch. Coated in layered rhymes, playful cadences and sprawling West Coast flavors, it is an album that builds on the vibes of his Grammy-nominated single. And all it takes is a cursory look by means of the lyrics to see it is simply as fiery.
As is all the time the case with a Kendrick launch, there’s so much to unpack right here. So, let’s open the trunk and get to it. Listed here are Okayplayer’s 10 largest takeaways from Kendrick’s new GNX album.
It’s Extraordinarily West Coast
Rap followers have usually talked about how much less regional rap has gotten due to the web, nevertheless it’s clear right here that Kendrick is providing one thing very West Coast with this launch. And it goes past hip-hop; he’s even bought visitor spots from Barrera, a Los Angeles-based mariachi singer and seems on “Wacced Out Murals,” “Reincarnated” and “Gloria.”
Whether or not it’s a hyphy-inflected soundscape, a Drakeo The Ruler-esque circulation or visitor spots from regional acts like AzChike, Roddy Ricch, Lefty Gunplay, Hitta J3 and extra, Kendrick weaves his approach by means of varied components of the California rap diaspora. All of it performs out like a 44-minute model of the Pop Out. Whereas he makes some prolonged commentary directed at Drake and Canada’s comparative lack of rap historical past, he retains issues centered on his Coast as a substitute, championing Cali hip-hop — its previous, current and future.
Kendrick and Jack Antonoff Is the Duo We Didn’t Know We Wanted
You wouldn’t be loopy for considering Kendrick’s “6:16 in LA” was the toughest beat to emerge from the entire Rap World Battle final spring. You could be just a little on one should you anticipated it to be co-produced by Taylor Swift’s go-to producer. You’d even be proper. Alongside Sounwave, Jack Antonoff produced the pensive soul beat, and he returns for GNC, the place he lays out beats that would soundtrack a futuristic turf warfare.
The tracks listed below are concurrently glossy, pummeling, and cinematic, stark departures from the dreamier choices Antonoff’s accustomed to getting off on tracks like Taylor Swift’s “Antihero.” Simply take a look at “Squabble Up” to see what I’m speaking about. Whereas his Kendrick collabs might sound random, they apparently aren’t; Antonoff is definitely a part of a gaggle with Sam Dew and Sounwave. It’s referred to as Learn Hearse. So with that in thoughts, the synergy right here ought to’ve been anticipated.Bangers Abound
Mr. Morale & The Large Steppers had some slaps, however this one, as intense as it’s, gives a barrage of anthems his earlier LP didn’t. “Squabble Up” and “Peakaboo” aren’t fairly “Not Like Us,” however they’re going to search out snug slots close to the highest of that Billboard Sizzling 100 chart subsequent week. Additionally: don’t be stunned if we see a surge of hyphy-adjacent raps heading into 2025. The West Coast is about to eat as soon as once more.
He Stays the Petty King
Proper from the start, Kendrick makes it clear he’s not an enormous fan of the entire, “let bygones be bygones” factor, reclaiming his Petty Crown with some ferocious bars on GNX opener, “Wacced Out Murals”: “I’ll by no means peace it up; that sh*t don’t sit nicely with me / Earlier than I take a truce, I’ll take em to hell with me.” He may very well be speaking to Drake, however broadly talking, it comes off as an “anybody can get it” sentiment. However he does take time to come back at some people by title.
Referencing the latest Lil Wayne-Tremendous Bowl drama, Kendrick pokes enjoyable at Weezy for saying the New Orleans halftime efficiency was “ripped away” from him: “Used to bump Tha Carter III, I held my Rollie chain proud/Irony, I believe my laborious work let Lil Wayne down.” Ouch.
However it didn’t finish there. Simply bars later, he had phrases for Uncle Snoop, too, calling out his fellow West Coast legend for reposting Drake’s Kendrick diss, “Taylor Made Freestyle.” In the event you recall, the observe noticed Drizzy use AI to rap in Snoop and 2Pac’s voices. And yeah. Kung Fu Kenny wasn’t feeling Snoop’s obvious amusement, and he made an appropriately snarky weed joke to make his level: “Snoop posted “Taylor Made,” I prayed it was the edibles/I could not consider it, it was solely proper for me to let it go.”
Now the query is, how will Snoop reply? He’s bought an album popping out, so we’ll see if he takes it to wax.
He’s Bought Smoke for Rappers — and Outsiders
It’s clear that Kendrick is previous letting rappers off the hook on the subject of beef, however make no mistake, he’s bought smoke for people exterior the tradition, too — particularly, those that would attempt to disrespect it. That additionally begins on the very starting of the album. Simply take a look at “Wacced Out Murals,” which incorporates an obvious reference to comic Andrew Shulz’s tasteless and unfunny podcast remarks about Black ladies: “Do not let no white comic speak about no Black girl, that is legislation.”
The bar, which evokes the identical kind of condescending lesson plan Kendrick doled out to Drake on “Meet The Grahams,” additionally nods to the Black episode friends failing to step up and condemn Shulz’s remarks. So yeah. Kendrick wasn’t having it, and he stands as maybe the one rapper to deal with the scenario on a track.
He’s Nonetheless Spraying Righteous Venom at Rap Tradition
No matter occurred between DAMN. and Mr. Morale & The Large Steppers clearly left a mark on Kendrick’s artistry. You possibly can see it within the spurts of, ought to I say, righteous venom sprayed at rappers any and in all places. On “Wacced Out Murals” he takes time to espouse the virtues of monogamy whereas calling out the hip-hop neighborhood, their “events” (a possible reference to Diddy, others), and different avenues for general weak point.
This One Wasn’t About Numbers
Look, nobody hates saying stuff like, “he did this for the artwork” greater than me, nevertheless it’s clear Kendrick wasn’t bag-chasing or awards-hounding with this one. If he had been, he would’ve included a number of extra high-profile visitor artists as a substitute of the native Los Angeles acts he placed on the LP. Oh, and he additionally would’ve made positive “Euphoria” and “Not Like Us” had been on it — whilst bonus tracks. Each songs have collected tons of of tens of millions of streams and can certainly be licensed multiplatinum at any time when PG Lang and the RIAA determine to get round to it.
GNX is all about Kendrick doing what he wished to do, which is seemingly an entire bunch of West Coast flowing, California celebrating, and a ton of non-public reflection. And ample shit speaking. If this one goes multiplatinum — which it’s going to — it is only a bonus.
He’s Having A Lot of Enjoyable
Put the hatred apart, and it’s very apparent that Kendrick is having a lot enjoyable rapping. The best way he’s taking part in round with cadences and enunciating sure phrases speaks to kinetic spontaneity that provides phonetic thrills to each syllable. There are moments all through this challenge (“Hey Now” all through and that “Hey, hey, hey, hey” line from “Peekaboo”) the place you possibly can’t assist however snigger, evoking the identical response many followers had once they first heard him utter “brother” on “Household Ties.” Gemini vitality is greatest served with a aspect of wit — one thing that Kendrick clearly will get.
He Takes Affect From the GOATs
On “Reincarnation,” Kendrick doesn’t simply pattern 2Pac’s “Made Niggaz” — he mimics his cadence and vocal inflections, providing up a supply that’s undeniably paying homage to the beloved rapper. Dare I say it is like ’Pac’s been — [gasps] — reincarnatd! However 2Pac isn’t the one rap legend Kendrick channels on GNX. “Males on the Backyard” has Nas’ “One Mic” graffiti’d throughout it, and “Gloria” is a cousin of “I Gave You Energy,” with Nas’ personified gun changed by Kendrick’s pen.
He Offers Closure for His TDE Period
It’s not too usually we get closure on this merciless world we’re dwelling in, so it was cool to see Kendrick present us some on “coronary heart pt. 6,” which sees him replicate on his stint with High Dawg Leisure (TDE)) and Black Hippy, the group composed of himself, Ab-Soul, Jay-Rock and ScHoolboy Q. After changing into a celebrity with the label — one he’d been with because the early 2000s — Kendrick left TDE after releasing Mr. Morale & The Large Steppers in 2022, working by means of his personal label, PG Lang, and Interscope Information ever since.
His departure primarily crushed the hopes of followers nonetheless ready for a Black Hippy album, a truth Kendrick admits to on “coronary heart pt. 6”: “I jog my reminiscence, knowin’ Black Hippy did not work ‘reason behind me/Creatively, I moved on with new ideas in attain.”
In itself, the admission is refreshing and considerate. And but, that second isn’t as essential as his tender reminiscences of these early TDE studio classes, the place Kendrick sounds genuinely in awe of the artists he’d quickly surpass.
