Kendrick Lamar has had one of the most entertaining years in music I’ve lived through. Following his feud with Drake was a blast, but now that we’re five months past the end of the surprise diss track release, it’s safe to say Lamar won the beef. If you’re unconvinced of this, his new album “GNX” will seal the deal.
Lamar’s sixth studio album was posted to social media and music streaming sites with little notice on Nov. 22. A brief teaser video was posted to Lamar’s YouTube channel an hour before the album was put out.
This shocking release made my day, and I don’t think I took the album off my Spotify rotation for the rest of the weekend. In fact, I haven’t stopped listening to it since it came out. “GNX” is a perfectly paced album above all else.
The tracklist is 12 songs long and flies by on a first listen. Every song flows perfectly into each other. Starting with “wacced out murals,” Lamar sets an ominous tone. The synth instrumentals are intermittent throughout this track, creating a truly sinister feeling.
As Lamar starts rapping, the song reveals itself to be a signifier of a transition in his sound. Each of his albums has had a different theme and tone, so “wacced out murals” points to a louder, spectacle-driven era for the artist. One lyric in “murals” puts it perfectly: “F*ck a double entendre, I want y’all to feel this sh*t.”
Back in September, the NFL announced Lamar would be headlining the Super Bowl. In advance of this, Lamar releasing a straightforward album, much different from his latest release “Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers,” is a brilliant idea. Along with some past hits that would fit perfectly in a stadium setting, songs like “squabble up” and “luther” from this album will surely get fans to their feet.
Lamar is often criticized for producing conceptual, heady songs that don’t drum up the same hype or danceability that songs from his contemporaries do. With his diss track “Not Like Us” earlier this year, though, Lamar proved he can still make a bop — “GNX” is further proof.
“tv off (feat. Lefty Gunplay)” is one of the standouts on the album. Almost immediately after the album debuted, social media posts mimicking DJ Mustard’s producer tag started going viral. About halfway through the song, Lamar shouts “MUSTARD” at the top of his lungs and signals an incredible tempo change.
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The song feels like two in one with how drastic the switch in tones is. This is due mostly to the beat but also thanks to Lamar’s iconic vocal performance. Between bars, the rapper lets out these brief vocal twitches that frankly make him sound like a madman.
He sounds like a madman across most of the album, too. Lamar raps with such intensity and purpose it’s hard not to sit on the edge of your seat at every word he says. He sounds the most emotionally invested in “reincarnated,” though.
There’s a theme of upholding the legacy of the West Coast rap scene throughout the album, but this is no more apparent than in “reincarnated.” The instrumentals on this track sample 2Pac and find Lamar reckoning with his legacy in comparison with some of rap’s most influential figures.
The song takes a call-and-response structure as Lamar grapples with the purpose of his music, the state of hip hop at large, and whether or not he feels he is meant to be the leader of a rap movement. Themes of savior complexes have been present in Lamar’s work for a while now, so it’s not surprising he thinks of himself so highly. But with how resonant “reincarnated” and another self-reflective song “man at the garden” are, I start to believe him when he says, “I deserve it all.”
If this analysis comes off fanboyish to you, you’re right. “GNX” is one of the best albums released this year without question and fits perfectly into Lamar’s top-tier discography. During their viral beef, Drake rapped “Kendrick just opened his mouth, someone go hand him a Grammy right now.” I agree, someone should hand him a Grammy right now.