Kendrick Lamar has always been one of rap’s more fascinating and vulnerable acts.
However, Lamar’s latest album, a surprise drop titled GNX, finds the Compton, California, MC speaking as his most raw, unfiltered self.
The feud with Drake forced Lamar to address someone else putting his business in the street.
GNX gives us Lamar who has a choice on his hands.
But on GNX, Kendrick loaded up the album with a distinctly G-Funk inspired, synth-based, towering West Coast sound backed by the biggest producer in the region.
Rapper Kendrick Lamar has always been one of the more intriguing and vulnerable performers. He has opened up to us about his innermost thoughts, motivations, and past. The Compton, California, MC, however, is speaking as his most unadulterated, unfiltered self in his most recent album, GNX, which was released as a surprise. Additionally, a feud that altered his career path is largely to blame.
Lamar has meticulously crafted his personal narrative for the general public over the last fifteen years. The man who claimed to lead a dull life has managed to share all of his personal news with the world. When he revealed that his trip to Africa served as the inspiration for 2015’s To Pimp a Butterfly, we learned that he had traveled there. And at Damn’s conclusion. We found out that Anthony “Top” Tiffith, the CEO of Top Dawg Entertainment, had robbed Lamar’s father. On Mr. Dot Morale and the Big Steppers, Lamar also talked about his personal relationship and mental health issues. Lamar only speaks up when he wants us to feel a connection to him, in contrast to Drake, who is a digital native and has a lot of his personal life filtered through TMZ, NBA courtside memes, and his own network of rumor mills.
That all changed in 2024, though.
Lamar had to address someone else because of his feud with Drake, which forced him to put his business on the street. For the first time in his career, it caused him to react. During the feud, Lamar eviscerated Drake, but we learned more about him from the back-and-forth of pure aggression than we had ever known. We discovered, in particular, that Lamar is a kind and gentle, but vengeful, Gemini demon seed who is equal parts hate and love, both of which shoot out of his pores with the ferocity of a million warheads. The feud with Drake revealed Lamar’s motivations, including his desire to be the best, the personal slight he receives when someone challenges him, his passion for hip-hop and bringing his community and home together, and the fact that the man doesn’t understand what overkill is. Over the past ten or so years, we have learned a great deal about Lamar at his own pace, but we now understand what drives him. I suppose we can thank Drake for that.
Lamar is given a choice by GNX. He has the option to ignore the inadvertent leakage of his deeply held values and produce something fresh. Alternatively, he could embrace the Lamar we know and adore more than ever. Fortunately, he went with the latter, and the result is an album that speaks to more of his complaints while also allowing Lamar to express his love more loudly than ever before. He will undoubtedly make headlines for his snipes at rapper Snoop Dogg for sharing Drake’s diss earlier this year and his grief over rapper Lil Wayne’s ire at being left out of the Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans in February 2025, along with the other victory lap jabs at Drake. The album, however, also pays respect to the sources that helped shape Lamar’s reputation.
The GNX itself is an old-school Buick, and the music on the album seems to be something Lamar listened to while driving one of those vintage vehicles as a child. A Luther Vandross sample, a Tupac Shakur track interpolated, a SWV hook, and numerous West Coast tracks supported by DJ Mustard are all included. Since many people refer to these songs—among them, “hey now,” “tv off,” and “dodger blue”—as merely “Not Like Us” riffs, the latter in particular needs to be addressed, dear reader. They come from a time and interpretation of hip-hop that does not incorporate local sounds or a genuine appreciation for music that has a homey feel, so please disregard them. Additionally, these songs are critiques of Drake in their own right. As you can see, the Canadian MC of “Houstatlantavegas” helped bring in a new era of music that was so a mash-up of many different styles that it was difficult to tell Atlanta from New York or Los Angeles from Chicago. However, with the help of the biggest producer in the area, Kendrick loaded GNX with a distinctively G-Funk-inspired, synth-based, towering West Coast sound. It carries on the Pop Out show’s theme of bringing the neighborhood together, with each track sounding like the kind of blockbuster hit that could be performed on a Super Bowl halftime show stage and featuring rappers from his hometown (Dody 6, Sam Dew, Roddy Ricch, and others).
However, it’s the other parts that feel as victorious as DJ Mustard’s horns, when Lamar is menacingly introspective and has his chest out after crushing his rap peer. “Man at the Garden” is already one of my favorite songs from November. The affirmative refrain “I deserve it all” appears in the song, which was influenced by Nas’ “One Mic,” another early influence. Although the song doesn’t have the same volume as protest anthems like “Alright” or “Not Like Us,” it offers a chant that aids listeners in beating imposter syndrome. On the song, he raps, “I said I deserve it all, I never ask for too much credit, Seekin’ validation just for the aesthetics.”.
Yet, Lamar’s Gemini tendencies reappear on the album as he examines his flaws while protruding his chest. Regarding “heart pt. Taking responsibility for the group’s failures and acknowledging his own immaturity, Lamar walks us through the creation of Top Dawg Entertainment and his band Black Hippy in “6.”. It’s the kind of openness we’ve anticipated from Lamar, but now that we know him better, it seems even more genuine.
Lamar typically releases the “Heart” series prior to releasing an album. Another full-length project appears to be in the works, especially considering that the album’s preview snippet included two cars and a song that wasn’t on GNX. I wouldn’t be shocked if Lamar released a song on Thanksgiving or, more appropriately, MLK Day (the week before the presidential inauguration), as he has been releasing songs on American holidays ever since his beef with Drake began. In either case, the project might tell a whole story, similar to most of Lamar’s albums.
Even though Lamar’s career is reaching new heights, we can enjoy the organic, messy, experimental realness of GNX and the new Lamar for the time being.
David Dennis Jr. is the author of the critically acclaimed book “The Movement Made Us: A Father, a Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride” and a senior writer at Andscape. David has completed his studies at Davidson College.
