Kendrick Lamar GNX: Album Review

It’s finally here. Randomly, on a Friday morning. And yet, somehow that is perfectly fitting. 2024 has no bigger star than Kendrick Lamar. This is his world and we’re just living in it and if he wants to drop at a random ass time, it’s no longer a random ass time, it’s the time Kendrick is dropping his album.

So, what’s new, from a cursory glance? I don’t know…pretty much everything. This album definitely has that signature Kendrick songwriting and of course, the bars. But the atmosphere? The ambiance? New, rejuvenated, vicious, hungry. Reincarnated. (You’ll see.) The beats are menacing, skeletal and cavernous. It’s like being submerged inside a living Megaladon skeleton. Oh, and new friends like Jack Antonoff (yes, that one, Taylor Swift’s producer.) I have regretfully, shit on him at times, but he COOKS, apron and all, on this record.

So, before we get ahead of ourselves, where were we? Well, Kendrick cooked Drake in the Beef of The Century earlier this year and we all witnessed that. But what was the last Kendrick record like? Mr. Morale and The Big Steeppers. This record was unlike any Kendrick record that came before it, mostly because instead of being about a lot of things, it was about Kendrick, albeit, it was about a lot of things (!!) about Kendrick. And it was dense and heavy and you came off feeling like Kendrick worked out just enough to figure out he wasn’t done working things out. It was basically a Kendrick Lamar take on the concept of BoJack Horseman. “Am I evil?” Maybe.

But GNX finds Kendrick in a new, refreshed place. He’s tougher now, angrier even. He’s seeing outwards now, while also maintaining that inner view of himself. He’s asking questions, he’s finding his answers and he’s really looking at things from the perspective of like a demi-god. He’s the greatest rapper of the century (but Kanye was still better at beats.) Kendrick has nothing left to prove and now he’s simply grave dancing.

Let’s get into it- track by track baby. We been waiting for this one.

WACCED OUT MURALS

Right away we get hit with what will be a defining element of this record, which is Latin vocal chop. “Siento tu presencia” means “I sense your presence.” Which, considering what comes next, is actually badass. A menacing horn sample, synth stabs and Kendrick.

Kendrick shows up chopping heads. He talks himself up, he’s angry, on edge. Ready to brawl. “If they say it’s love, you been lied to” he growls over this sick bass. A few bars later the instrumental begins to expand, into this beautiful moving, breathing skeletal beat that seems simple in it’s construction, but together it’s truly a very elegant piece of music.

Kendrick goes off a beam here. “I’m gonna do what Covid did, they’ll never get over it” he says at one point and that’s the ugliest bar in rap right now. Kendrick says all this slowly too. You hear him and he’s speaking right at you and he’s taking names, including Snoop Dogg. Snoop Dogg already tweeted back. He agreed with Kendrick. It’s that kind of energy.

The bars on this track are powerful, cutting and personal, but they also have a wider appeal than something off MMTBS (if you don’t know what this ie abbrievating scroll up^). Kendrick is basically covering his time since the Drake beef and he’s still pissed. The production here sets a tone and the bars send a message. K Dot is back.

SQUABBLE UP

You might heard a snippet of this one before….at the start of the “Not Like Us” music video. And it absolutely delivers. This beat is some tough West Coast rap, with funky little synths, the signature bass of the record and like, a fucking bell line. Yeah, he just cooks over these lullaby bells. Absolutely psycho.

“A yee {African American fellow} couldn’t try me in a tri-state” and “I got the money and the power both gyrating” are my favorite bars but this whole thing is just bars. The beat is again, seemingly skeletal, but things come in and out. It’s fun, maybe the most fun track on the record, which is saying something. “THUMP THUMP THUMP baby rock a {African American fellow}” he pops off at one point and then in the next 15 seconds he’s howling like he’s being abducted by an alien.

This song is awesome and I will be listening to it every day for like a month at least. The bounce is infectious and this will hit the club like an STD. This will be everywhere. It’s got swagger, purpose and most of all, it bangs in the whip. Squabble up. Squabble up. Squabble up.

LUTHER

This song is a nice change of pace. Beautiful sample at the start, which breaks into this catchy and weirdly emotional hook about Roman Numeral Number Seven (VII) and then BANG! SZA IS HERE! AND IT’S A DUET! WHAT?

And they actually have insane chemistry. And this song is very sweet. It has strings and a gorgeous chord progression. I’m a sucker for a chord progression. Because I like music. The instrumental even gets to breathe a little bit at the end and it’s even prettier than you thought it was. Kendrick in his cozy romance bag is always a treat. I could see this being a hit too tbh. There’s something warm and reassuring about this song that almost melts my heart. Almost.

MAN AT THE GARDEN

It’s time to reflect. There’s light rain, very light rain in the background. Kendrick is talking about how he deserves….literally all of it. He deserves it all. He’s being serious too. He’s flexing but also reflecting at the same time and that’s hard to do.

This beat is light and never the focus, but it does pull it’s share of the weight. This isn’t a Nas song (the joke is that Nas chooses bad beats. ;) Then there’s this piano coming in and changing the background tone into something sad and imperial. Kendrick is a GOAT and the weight that carries is crushing. This is Succession-core but starring Kendrick Lamar.

Kendrick’s talking about how he’s the greatest of all time and he deserves all of this and he’s HIM and everyone hates him and is jealous and Kendrick is still angry and he deserves it all because it’s his and-

It’s actually nowhere near as douchey as it sounds. It’s quite reflective in a weird way and I think it was very interesting track. These are usually not my favorite Kendrick tracks but I really like this track. It’s got movement, it’s engaging, it’s kind of open ended and it takes the record in a new direction that will be expanded on later.

HEY NOW

Reverbed shakers. I think that’s what that is. Hell, you don’t know, you aren’t hearing this. It’s shakers, for sure. And a bubbly click clack snare.

Kendrick rides in over the 808, which bounces around like the logo on one of those old TVs. This is a flex record. We’re flexing. Do a head bop. “It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s all blue strips” Kendrick says and then the song changes into a weird and delightful G funk-jazz segment about how aliens have abducted Kendrick to perform. This is Kendrick saying this, not me this time.

Then Dody6 shows up on a hard cut to 808s and just mean mugs the last 50 seconds. He’s a menace. But who is Dody6? I honestly have no idea. Overall, really cool song.

REINCARNATED

This is Kendrick on his Buddhist Rage Poet shit. Over a swinging Latin guitar chops with some nice keys lines and analog drums (except one “boop” because Jack Antonoff), Kendrick goes over his previous incarnations, lives where he was also a musician. Specifically, Jackie Wilson and Billie Holliday. It’s really interesting and very artistic for a mainstream rap record. I mean Kendrick is, but this is very forward, very Bob Dylan. It’s not a “Oh, the character Lucy is Lucifer” moment, like on his record To Pimp A Butterfly, it’s much more direct and challenges you to engage in this idea.

He tells the stories of these previous lives in this context where they are also his and he asks himself, “Why do I keep coming back?” and a choir of Angel Kendricks question why he should be in heaven. “My greatest music director was you, it was colors, it was pinks, it was reds, it was blues” and “I sent you down from heaven because you were broken” stand out.

But the best line, and probably the most important one is when Kendrick says “I can tell you where I’m going” and the Angel Kendricks reply “I can tell you who you are.”

TV OFF

This song is going to be a meme but also a hit. A “get down” crass horn riff fires off and Kendrick goes in spitting fire, spewing confidence like a fucking volcano. He’s pissed off here but also in charge. He’s animated as hell, inflecting everything.

“Turn his TV off” Kendrick snarls. This is some foul, “bullying an asshole” type vibes. There’s always a bigger fish and at 5’5, Kendrick is the biggest fish in rap music. Someone’s TV is getting turned off. The flow is infectious, more of the West Coast flow that is the bread and butter of this record. The beat is awesome. It has just enough layers to feel punchy while still letting Kendrick control the air. Then it happens. A beat switch and then-

“MUSTARDDDDDDDDDDDD!” Mustard is here and Kendrick is happy to see him. I mean he screams his name like it’s a war cry and then really, really gets into turning that guys TV off. “TURN HIS TV OFF, TURN HIS TV OFF!” Kendrick yells.

Then the track ends with someone (idk who) repeating the mantra “Crazy, scary, spooky, hilarious” several times. Yeah, we are so back.

DODGER BLUE

This is more of an RnBish joint but not like the Weeknd, more like 90s RnB. Kendrick slides over this bass heavy synth beat. Wallie The Sensei and Siete appear here too, both with little solo parts and then as harmonizers. I don’t know who they are but they’re solid. It works in the context of this song and this record.

I do think this is the weakest track on the record. It’s only like two minutes and it kind of stays the same instrumentally and Kendrick spits bars but they don’t really point at anything I can over analyze. It’s still a fun track and by no means is it a bad song.

PEEKABOO

The soul sample to 808 driven beat is brutal. This song is wild. The beat is really cool. I like this militant sound Kendrick pulls out at times on this record. “Peekaboo” Kendrick says after like every bar and then he hits you with a trademark weird Kendrick hook “What they talkin bout? They talkin bout nuthin” in a weird rhythm that actually works really well.

Then AzChike and Dody6 show up and begin trading bars with Kendrick and it’s neat because they have this chemistry that feels absolutely homegrown. It’s got culture, it’s got vibes and it’s also very silly, but in a menacing way. At one point Kendrick says something to the effect of “Ba Da Bing Ba Da Boom!” as a sort of hook and it fits perfectly. You’ll be saying “PEEKABOO” by the end of it and you should be.

HEART PT. 6

Drake tried. He really did. But I chose to accept the song called “Heart Pt. 6” that ISN’T about how Drake does not diddle kids as the real one.

This song is really insightful but also kind of light. Dense, layered but also breezy beat. Kendrick tells stories about how he got his start, about signing Jay Rock and his desire to elevate those around him. A great SWV sample (produced by the Neptunes) works as a hook here. Kendrick is just doing his thing, weaving some nice yarns and talking about his morals. I mean, at this point I’ve listened to a lot of Kendrick and like 6 other Heart songs so I know the deal. It’s a good song. Maybe not quite my bag but still a really good track.

GNX

This is a posse number, with a menacing piano and according to Wikipedia, uncredited vocals from Peysoh, Hitta J3 and YoungThreat. This song is a bop, with a simple but effective and catchy beat. All three guests features have a unique voice and bring their own style to the beat while also trading bars with Kendrick. This is a very impressive track and the chemistry feels so organic between these guys.

The best verse in this song is YoungThreat. I mean this dude is infectious. He’s got great inflections, he mentions Lizzie McGuire, which is awesome to me for reason. It’s kind of hypnotic listening to YoungThreat lay down some admittedly threatening bars. I love the energy and the vibe of this track. It’s a hypnotic bounce, something internal and natural. It feels pure.

GLORIA

Our glorious closing is a love song featuring once again SZA. It’s soulful, pretty number, with nice melodies from Kendrick to balance out some serious and emotional bars. Kendrick is cycling through his mind’s eye, exploring his relationship to women, a woman and women’s relationship to the world. There are themes of creation, birth, trust, sadness and love. The instrumental is amazing. Maybe the best slow beat on the record. Beautiful guitars, gentle pianos, soft drums and a strong Latin influence, which is actually a thing on a lot of tracks on this record.

It’s a fitting closing to a record that explores so much of the “now” for Kendrick and ultimately to circle back to an active form of reflection is probably the best reset point for us. It’s like a big exhale, a clearing of the mind. But make no mistake, this song is tender. “My saint and my sin, no bitch like my bitch because my bitch is my pen” he says to close the record, a thought provoking sentiment that grants both clarity and confusion in equal measure.

——————

So that’s it. GNX by Kendrick Lamar. The GNX is a reference to a car, specifically a Buick Regal. I don’t know enough of the science around Buicks to know what that means or what it denotes but I just thought you should know that.

I really liked this record. I mean, it’s not my favorite Kendrick Lamar record. I like it more than MMTBS but I do think I probably like the trio prior to that more. But in 2024, it’s head and shoulders above most everything else I’ve heard this year. I mean Yeat’s record was pretty lit. But I think this a better album than that one. Come on now. Yeat’s 24 song album was not passing the heat check like this.

A few of these songs are gonna be hits and even more will be memes. “MUSTARDDDDD” (from “Turn His TV Off” already has a McDonalds cosign via Instagram. What I’m really excited about is how he brought West Coast rap into the mainstream in such a pure yet contemporary form. This sound can carry and I think it’s a great move away from trap which is absurdly over saturated. This record is a victory lap for Kendrick. And to be fair, Jack Antonoff and Sounwave deserve a lot of credit as well for making this unified yet diverse sound palette for Kendrick to lay into. I was really impressed with the production choices made here.

Track by track, bar by bar, one crazy voice inflection at a time, Kendrick keeps up his historic year with a record that is likely to once again shape culture, which is what the GOAT must do. This is the first record under King Kendrick and it feels like a regime change. This is what Kanye dropping used to feel like. It’s a moment and so if this feels a little rushed, that’s because it is. Because this record is a moment and I want to preserve it best I can. 2024 has kind of sucked for everyone. Except Kendrick. And he ends this record the same way he started it- standing tall.