Rapper Kendrick Lamar surprise-dropped his sixth studio album “GNX” on Nov. 15. Named after the Buick GNX, this record serves as an homage to Lamar’s hometown of Compton, California, and the larger L.A./West Coast culture in general. It also caps off a banner year for Lamar, from winning his famous feud with Drake earlier in the year, getting the nod to perform in Super Bowl LIX and now dropping “GNX” under his record label pgLang.
The opening track is “wacced out murals,” where both Kendrick and the beat go hard. The horns do the most to build up an ominous vibe, while Kendrick waxes lyrical on his undying commitment to his craft with a quiet ferocity. A lovely touch is the Spanish poem that is sung throughout the album by mariachi singer Deyra Barrera, punctuated with a lovely flamenco-esque guitar.
Next up is “squabble up,” which was teased earlier in the “Not Like Us.” This whole song and its subsequent video act as an homage to West Coast and hip-hop culture. The beat is filled with funky alien-sounding synths and sparse drums. The music video takes inspiration from The Roots’ video for their song “The Next Basement.” Furthermore, there are references to albums by Isaac Hayes, Ice-T and Nate Dogg. Kendrick’s rapping stands out here, and I love how he raps the chorus: “I feel good, get the fuck out my face.”
“luther,” built off a Luther Vandross sample, represents a large tonal shift from the last two songs. It features lush orchestral instrumentation and a feature from SZA, who honestly carries this song into the upper echelons. I love Kendrick and SZA’s call-and-response during the last two verses because of how well their voices fit together and the rapid switch between them, like they’re trying to finish each other’s sentences. This is nice since the lyrics are about Kendrick’s devotion to his partner, rapping, “If this world were mine, I’d take your dreams and make ‘em multiply.”
“man at the garden” is where Kendrick raps if he should “deserve it all,” a phrase that is oft repeated throughout this song. The song starts calmly, with muffled drums soundtracking what Kendrick has done that makes him believe he deserves it all before it ramps up to the climax where he exclaims, “Tell me why you deserve the greatest of all time, motherfucker,” a call to the listener to ask why they deserve it all.
The West Coast vibes return with “hey now.” The gasps throughout the song help give the song a horror vibe. It also features underground L.A. rapper Dody6, who raps an excellent guest verse. I would argue that lyrically, it’s like “man at the garden” as both vocalists sing about overcoming adversity to reach success.
“reincarnated” is built off a 2Pac sample and has a unique song structure. As Kendrick first personifies two black musicians from the ‘50s — R&B guitarist John Lee Hooker and a female vocalist many believe to be Billie Holiday — before returning the focus to himself. He also shouts every syllable with intensity, ending each verse with “reincarnated,” ringing throughout the whole mix. The third verse ties the whole song together, as Kendrick owns up to his own shortcomings but still strives to use his artistry and talent to build people up, the artistry that he — and many others — may have inherited from Hooker and Holiday, hence the song title.
“tv off” may be the biggest song of this album, purely because of the “Mustard” scream that Kendrick does in the second half. But that doesn’t mean the first half of the song isn’t a banger as well. With DJ Mustard bringing his signature production style, Kendrick is full of braggadocio. The second half starts with that iconic scream, backed by an orchestra. Kendrick serves even more hard-hitting lyrics, about rising above mediocrity and laziness with the refrain of “turn this TV off.”
The L.A. love train continues with “dodger blue.” The vocals on here are bright and upbeat, and I want to highlight the great vocal layering effect in the chorus when someone sings “Westside, get the money, yeah, that’s fo’ sho’.” For a short song, it packs so much.
“peekaboo” has the same ominous vibes as “hey now,” and coming after “dodger blue” helps keep the album fresh. It is also quite cheeky, as Kendrick says “peekaboo” a lot and the featured artist, AZChike, another underground rapper, sounds like Yuno Miles (there’s one line that makes this feel clear). The lyrics lament the modern music industry, with the line “What they talkin’ about? They talkin’ bout nothin’” detailing how songs today seem vapid.
“heart pt. 6” is another entry into the “Heart” song series, where Kendrick talks about what’s on his mind. Part six is lovely, since Kendrick reminisces on all the figures in his career, from his supergroup Black Hippy, TDE label boss Top Dawg and good friend Dave Free. The song is carried by this stunning West Coast beat, punctuated by the chorus, which samples R&B trio SWV.
The penultimate track is the posse cut “gnx.” All the rappers on this song (Kendrick, Peysoh, Hitta J3 and YoungThreat), flex their successes and their L.A. heritage. My favorite verse is probably YoungThreat’s, because he is on his “Bob the Builder shit.”
“gloria,” the final track, concludes the Spanish poem sung throughout the album, in “wacced out murals” and “reincarnated.” The song starts out looking like a love song devoted to Kendrick’s partner before it’s revealed to be Kendrick’s “pen,” his love for songwriting and his artistry. The storytelling takes the stage for this song since the beat is mostly muted. But once the outro hits, SZA comes back to sing the outro with a whole violin section backing her, and the guitar from the Spanish poem comes to support her as well, helping bring an excellent song and overall excellent album to an end.
Kendrick’s shift to a West Coast vibe has proved a massive success, as he brings up yet another excellent album in his already excellent discography. Some standout favorites for me were “luther,” “tv off” and “gloria.” The West Coast beats, the features he brought on and his eclectic voice show time and time again why he is one of the greatest rappers of our time.
Rating: 4.5/5