Photograph: Taylor Hill/WireImage
Kendrick Lamar’s huge yr isn’t over but. The rapper simply dropped his sixth album, GNX, with no warning. The undertaking comes after a monthslong beef with Drake, being named because the Tremendous Bowl 59 halftime performer, and up to date tracks like “Time to Watch the Get together Die.” That tune isn’t on the album, however 12 new tracks are (other than the few seconds of “squabble up” he teased within the “Not Like Us” video). In truth, Lamar’s shock album is filled with surprises, from a fruitful collaboration with Jack Antonoff to a seeming jab at Lil Wayne. Let’s break all of it down.
The reply is true there on the duvet. GNX is a nickname for a limited-production “Grand Nationwide Experimental” mannequin of the Buick Regal from 1987. Nicknamed “Darth Vader’s automotive,” the GNX was all black and sooner than a daily Grand Nationwide. Solely 547 of the automotive have been made, boosting its mythology amongst gearheads; Automobile and Driver later referred to as the GNX “the final old-school American muscle automotive.”
We already know Ok.Dot loves his wheels — he only in the near past flaunted a Ferrari within the “Not Like Us” video. The title is a flex greater than something, however Lamar does rap concerning the automotive: “All I ever needed was a black Grand Nationwide,” he declares on “television off.” He additionally reveals off that GNX within the minute-long teaser he dropped simply earlier than the album got here out.
Talking of teasers, followers have spent months clamoring for the monitor Lamar teased at the start of the “Not Like Us” video, which they referred to as “Broccoli.” Name it by its actual title, “squabble up.”
What he’s normally doing: producing. Contemporary off Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Division and Sabrina Carpenter’s Quick n’ Candy, Antonoff executive-produced all of GNX. However it’s much less of a random pairing than you’d assume. See, Sounwave, who’s been working with Lamar since his 2011 monitor “A.D.H.D.,” can also be an govt producer on GNX, and Sounwave has been shut with Antonoff for years. Antonoff first tapped him to co-produce just a few songs for his band Bleachers’ 2017 album Gone Now; quickly after, in 2019, they shaped the trio Crimson Hearse with Chicago singer Sam Dew and launched an album. (Dew, a singer from Chicago, is throughout GNX too as a songwriter and singer.) Round that point, Antonoff received Sounwave within the studio with Taylor Swift, as a co-producer on her Lover tune “London Boy.” Sounwave, Antonoff, and Swift reunited for Midnights, on the songs “Lavender Haze,” “Karma,” and “Glitch.” So it was actually solely a matter of time earlier than Sounwave launched Antonoff and Lamar — which truly occurred sooner than GNX. Antonoff is credited alongside Sounwave as a producer on “6:16 in LA,” one of many Drake disses Lamar dropped in Could.
Sorry, however no. DJ Snake began that rumor just a few days in the past when he mentioned Swift had recorded a tune for Lamar’s upcoming album. However when GNX arrived, Swift was nowhere to be heard. That pairing would’ve made some sense, although: Bear in mind, Lamar remixed “Dangerous Blood” for Swift again in 2015 and even rerecorded his verse for 1989 (Taylor’s Model). Antonoff additionally lately posted a photograph on Instagram of Swift and Sounwave collectively within the studio from December 2023 — after Midnights was lengthy out — giving some credence to the rumor. Possibly we’ll see Lamar on Swift’s new album as a substitute?
Let’s run by among the larger company.
Deyra Barrera
The primary voice we hear on the album is the Los Angeles mariachi singer. Barrera has been performing for years and even competed on season ten of La Voz, Mexico’s model of The Voice, in 2021. Extra lately, she sang at Dodger Stadium for the primary recreation of the World Collection. Possibly Kendrick was watching? Barrera sings at the start of “wacced out murals,” “reincarnated,” and “gloria,” carrying what seems like the identical tune all through the album.
Dahi
Lamar’s collaborator since “Cash Bushes” reveals up once more as a producer on “wacced out murals.”
SZA
Collectively once more. After collaborating on “All of the Stars” in 2018, Lamar’s former TDE labelmate SZA is again on two songs, “luther” and “gloria.” She additionally voices Lamar’s “pen” on “gloria,” à la “We Cry Collectively.”
Kamasi Washington
The jazz saxophonist who beforehand performed on “u.” will get producer credit on “luther” and “television off.” Lamar additionally references him on one other tune, “squabble up”: “Hold a horn on me, that Kamasi.” (A saxophone might not technically be a horn, however we’ll let it slide.)
Dody6
The Compton rapper will get a visitor verse on “hey man” simply months after coming dwelling from jail.
Mustard
In case you missed Lamar shouting his title on “television off,” yeah, Mustard’s on that beat. (So is Sean Momberger, who produced “Not Like Us.”) The hip-hop big additionally labored on “hey now.”
Evan Smith and Zem Audu
Antonoff’s Bleachers bandmates play sax on “television off.” It’s not their first time making their manner onto one among Antonoff’s productions — they’ve performed on quite a lot of Swift’s songs.
Terrace Martin
The saxophonist, a key participant from To Pimp a Butterfly, is again as a producer on “dodger blue.”
Roddy Ricch
Lamar’s fellow Compton rapper makes an look on, in fact, “dodger blue.”
AzChike
One other L.A. rapper, AzChike contributes a verse to “peekaboo.” Earlier this yr, he dropped a verse on Kendrick’s good friend ScHoolboy Q’s album “Blue Lips.”
Peysoh, Hitta J3, and Younger Menace
Lamar provides a platform to those three rising L.A. rappers on “gnx,” celebrating the West Coast hip-hop scene. “Who put the West again in entrance of shit?” he asks within the hook. “Inform ’em Kendrick did it.” Lamar beforehand appeared on the remix to Hitta’s first single, “Do Yo Gudda,” again in 2014.
Lamar determined to not embrace any of his Drake diss tracks on GNX, however their beef nonetheless looms over the album. On “wacced out murals,” Lamar raps about securing his spot on the high, whereas placing anybody who doubted him on alert. “It was once fuck that n- – -a, however now it’s plural,” he raps. “Fuck all people, that’s on my physique.” Yeah, heavy is the pinnacle that wears the crown: “Perceive all people ain’t gon’ such as you,” he cautions within the hook. Later within the tune, he calls out J. Cole’s apology for his personal diss “7 Minute Drill,” rapping, “Fuck apologies, I wanna see y’all geeked up / Don’t acknowledge me, then perhaps we are able to say it’s truthful / Take it to the web and I’ma take it there.” Lamar goes on to say that he “prayed it was the edibles” when Snoop Dogg posted Drake’s AI-aided diss “Taylor Made” (it’s Snoop in any case). Talking of “Taylor Made,” Lamar additionally one-ups Drake’s AI Tupac by sampling Pac’s tune “Made N- – – -z” on “Reincarnated.”
The remainder of the album is heavy on the flexes you’d count on from the man who declared, “Fuck the Large Three, n- – -a it’s simply Large Me.” He reiterates that on “television off,” echoing Biggie on “Kick within the Door”: “Ain’t no different king on this rap recreation, like siblings.” On “man within the backyard,” he surveys every thing he’s earned, repeating, “I deserve all of it.” He ends the tune asking, “Inform me why you deserve the best of all time, motherfucker?”
When Lamar booked the Tremendous Bowl halftime present, quite a lot of followers and rappers mentioned they thought Lil Wayne deserved the gig as a substitute because the Tremendous Bowl was being held in New Orleans and Wayne is the largest rapper from town. (Not that the halftime set has ever matched the Tremendous Bowl website — bear in mind when Maroon 5 performed in Atlanta?) Wayne later responded, saying he “felt like shit” for not getting it. On “wacced out murals,” Lamar tries to make sense of it: “Used to bump Tha Carter III, I held my Rollie chain proud / Irony, I believe my laborious work let Lil Wayne down.” He goes on to rap that “all people questionable,” and provides, “Gained the Tremendous Bowl and Nas the one one congratulate me.” Possibly he received some extra texts right this moment.
Lamar reclaimed his “Coronary heart” collection after Drake beforehand referred to as his final diss monitor ‘The Coronary heart Half 6.” However Lamar’s “coronary heart pt. 6” has little to do with Drake — it’s truly an in depth reflection of his days signed to Prime Dawg Leisure and leaving the label the place he made his title. Lamar raps about admiring TDE rapper Ab-Soul, working with Jay Rock, and sharing hen with ScHoolboy Q the primary time they met. Lamar additionally remembers freestyling in Dave Free’s “champagne Acura,” earlier than Free would later discovered pgLang with Lamar. He additionally goes on to provide credit score to TDE’s executives, shouting out the belief that CEO Anthony “Prime Dawg” Tiffith put in his artists and evaluating president Terrence “Punch” Henderson’s encouragement to legendary Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson.
By the tip of the tune, Lamar is rapping about what led him to go away TDE. “Black Hippy didn’t work ’explanation for me,” he admits, referring to his supergroup with Ab, Rock, and Q. “Creatively, I moved on with new ideas in attain.” Lamar goes on to say he hopes his leaving TDE was “the demonstration” for “easy methods to conduct variations with a wholesome dialog.” Lamar’s recommendation? “Choose up the telephone and bust it up earlier than the historical past is misplaced / Hand-to-handshake is sweet when you might have a heart-to-heart.”
On the centerpiece to GNX, Lamar provides a little bit of a historical past lesson. “Reincarnated on this earth for 100 plus / Physique after physique, lesson after lesson,” he raps, occurring to match himself to some musical greats. The primary verse possible takes the attitude of John Lee Hooker, a formative blues singer and guitarist who left dwelling in Mississippi to make music in Detroit. The second verse is about “a Black girl on the Chitlin circuit,” seemingly Billie Vacation or Dinah Washington, who have been each jazz singers. In each verses, Lamar raps about how vices like girls, gluttony, and medicines led to their downfalls. Within the third verse, Lamar raps as himself, saying he discovered from the teachings of his previous lives. He admits he forgave his father for kicking him out of the home, however mid-verse, the “father” he’s rapping to switches to God. Recounting his good deeds, Lamar says he “put 100 hoods on one stage,” a possible reference to when he united quite a lot of gangs at his “Pop Out” live performance. “So are you able to promise that you just received’t take your presents as a right?” Lamar later raps. “I promise that I’ll use my presents to convey understanding.”
Enjoyable reality: Kendrick Lamar and Father John Misty have dropped albums on the identical schedule for over a decade: 2012, 2015, 2017, 2022, and now right this moment. pic.twitter.com/tj5nFyL60a
— CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) November 22, 2024
not now I’m furiously scribbling my seeming response to
— Father John Misty (@fatherjohnmisty) November 22, 2024
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