About GNX
Surprise released on November 22nd, GNX, named after his beloved classic Buick Grand National(mentioned many times in the album), is Kendrick Lamar’s 6th studio album. This marks the first true shock drop for popular music in a while as there was no promotional singles or social media post before the release. This album also comes after Kendrick Lamar’s famous rap beef with Drake this year, where he was decided the popular winner after his track Not Like Us topped the charts and set streaming records. GNX carries a lot of the same themes of the battle with less of a focus on Drake but more on the industry and culture as a whole.
During this beef, on another one of his singles Euphoria, Lamar claims “I’m what the culture feelin,'” placing himself as the spokesman for the common people against the lack of real substance in the music industry today. Kendrick has rapped this message in past albums like the real story of his life in Compton in Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City (2012) and a criticism of the rap industry in To Pimp a Butterfly (2015). Most importantly, Lamar truly opened up about his innermost feelings on his most recent album, Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers (2022). All of this has culminated into an unfiltered view of today’s music culture that Kendrick Lamar speaks up about.
“[Skrew] a Double entendre, I want y’all to feel this” – Lamar on ‘wacced out murals’
This lyric contrasts most of what Kendrick Lamar music has represented for the last decade and a half. Kendrick always delivers with clever and thought provoking commentary and storytelling that ties together so well. Its not like that doesn’t happen on GNX, but Kendrick is just so much more blunt and in-your-face about what he believes in. He doesn’t want you to sit down and think about his ideas, he wants you to get up and act because of his music.
Main Themes
Kendrick Lamar wants his listeners to feel his intensity and passion around topics like violence, ties to home, systematic oppression, respect, love, materialism, and the role of art to challenge the status quo. Lamar uses the features of mostly underground Compton based rappers to describe the reality of violence and materialism in life and to show his focus on his ties to his hometown. Kendrick also features the R&B star SZA in two songs, using her melodic voice in both to show instances of love and complex relationships. Kendrick himself talks about personal growth and his role in the culture to use his voice to push peace and to bring change against the vices that other rappers display, often leading to conflict, like his beef with Drake.
Musicality
Kendrick consistently takes very obvious influence from west coast style production in all of his projects, but none are more obvious than GNX. From a mix of funk and modern rap in the bass, synth incorporation, sample chops, and a laid back groovy nature to most of the beats, this album is both nostalgic and new in its feel. Kendrick also seems to be experimenting with his vocal inflections, often using this more scratchy throat voice to emphasize his intensity. With this voice, kendrick is able to show the most emotion through his performance. Where his past albums have mainly conveyed story and emotion through mainly lyrics and flow, Kendrick uses his vocal changes to offer more to a song.
Lamar has tended to be a good judge of features for his songs, but most of his collaborators have been famous artists in their own right. For GNX, either as challenge or as a show of true loyalty, Kendrick featured eight underground rappers from Compton. Only SZA and Roddy Ricch, who had one of the smallest features, could be called the starpower of the album. While these relatively unknown artists weren’t as popular as the features Drake has, Kendrick placed them perfectly throughout the album. These features serve to show the group traits of violence and materialism in Compton while also showing their respect for Kendrick and their willingness to follow him.
Highlights
- squabble up: With a west coast influenced bouncy and funky bassline under Kendrick’s quick vocals and a catchy chorus, this is a song to dance to. The lyrics are actually rather serious, focusing on the violence and vices in the hood (more specifically Compton) and a lack of good people to stand up to it. “squabble up” refers to preparing to fight. Kendrick uses it to show his willingness to fight the problems of the culture in his hometown and the everyday violence that occurs just as naturally as the chorus is sung.
- luther: As the only mostly R&B song, it is a standout in its feel. The billboard #2 song(only behind tv off) uses a melodic combo of SZA and Kendrick to exhibit a relationship emerging in Compton. Over melow, but not slow production that includes a softer bass and a soothing string section, SZA sings “concrete flowers grow” and Kendrick sings in the fashion of a gun sound being shot at an enemy of the two. This goes to show the relationship to be something beautiful created out of the ugly and the violent lengths they will go to defend it, a very unique take on a love song.
- reincarnated: Over a rambling-sounding piano, jazzy drums, and another west coast bass, Kendrick describes past lives of himself as past musicians. One is a famous guitar player who fell to the vice of gluttony, another being a famous vocalist who fell to to a drug overdose. Lamar then describes his own life, with both his vices and virtues, and ultimately ends with Kendrick talking to his father, God, who reveals his major flaw and his need for forgiveness in his heart, advancing his journey of personal growth.
- tv off: Reminiscent of its predecessor, tv off has the same banger vibes similar to Not Like Us. Both immediate #1 hits were produced by DJ Mustard and he didn’t slack off on this song. With a perfectly choppy and bouncy sample. Kendrick get to rap about the lack of people to the change of culture that he is bringing. Then comes the beat switch, where the sample slows down into a more imposing theme with added high hat drums and a classic rap bass. Kendrick, at a beat drop, yells “MUSTARD!!” and immediately moves into intense lyrics about Compton and the revolution that he is bringing. The song is ended with a relaxed feature from Lefty Gunplay, who only adds to the eminence of Kendrick’s power on the song.
- heart pt. 6: The “heart pt.” series was formerly made up of singles that teased his upcoming albums, but with Drake releasing a diss with the same name and this album being a shock drop, this song gets a new meaning as a part of the album. Contrasting the dissing nature of Drake’s version, Kendrick, over a very west coast based synth-based beat, talked about his journey while coming up as a rapper with his friends in Compton, learning about the industry, and his constant improvement in rap with his community. In the end, he looks at his current self as an executive and at the top of the rap game, and sees how far he came, but can’t forget his relationships along the way.
Score: 9.3 (It’s really good.)
The album as a whole is just a very well put together message of different factors in Kendrick’s life in reference to today’s culture. The use of a spectrum of different beats and flow with a focus on the west coast style enhances the albums and Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics, while more concise and simple, remain both thought provoking and enjoyable. This is just another great piece of art in his discography, and I recommend it to anyone looking for anything from dancing songs to storytelling songs to intense truth-telling songs.
What’s next?
Kendrick Lamar has now planned his Grand National Tour with SZA to start in mid April. This marks his quickest turnaround from tour to tour in his entire career as his last Big Steppers Tour ended in March of this year. Kendrick is also slated to perform at the coveted Super Bowl Halftime Show in about 3 months. Kendrick will perform in Dallas at the AT&T center on April 26th. And for his music, I’m simply excited for what’s to come.
