Apparently Kendrick Lamar’s rap battle with Drake was a side quest because the rapper casually dropped an album on Friday.
“GNX” is a deep dive into Lamar’s past and inner dialogue as he deals with his life decisions. The album is enjoyable but may live in the shadows of most of his discography and the songs he dropped earlier this year.
The title of the album comes from Lamar’s connection with the Buick model that was released in 1987, the year Lamar was born. In a 2012 interview with Complex, Lamar talked about how he was brought home in a Buick GNX after his birth.
The 44-minute album originally did not mention the featured artists, which left me closely listening to try and pinpoint who else was on this album. The only one I knew right away was SZA, who was featured on the songs “luther” and “gloria.”
I could not have guessed the other featured artists on this album.
Along with the 2Pac sample, the Compton native honors his south Los Angeles roots by featuring a number of rappers from the same area. These artists include Dody6, Wallie the Sensei and Roddy Ricch.
Lamar added to “The Heart” series on this album with “heart pt. 6.” On this track, he seems to look back on his early career at Top Dawg Entertainment and his involvement in the hip-hop group Black Hippy with Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and ScHoolboy Q, who are each referenced throughout the song.
Listening to the album throughout the weekend, I was not blown away by the album musically. It felt like the same song with different lyrics with the exception of “squabble up.”
The track “tv off” stands out amongst the other songs. Not only because it resembles “Not Like Us,” but also because of Lamar screaming “Mustard” in reference to DJ Mustard.
While those two songs are exceptions, many of the songs do not seem to be made to get listeners hyped in the way “Not Like Us” did, which is fair, maybe Lamar didn’t plan on getting into rap beef before releasing this album. Regardless, I feel like his releases from earlier this year led me to expect something different from this album.
However, I was captivated by Lamar’s skills as a lyricist, which isn’t a surprise considering he won a Pulitzer Prize.
The album is filled with religious references. In the song “reincarnated,” there are three verses — the first two describe Lamar’s “past lives” and the last one describes his current life. In addition to referencing the belief in reincarnation, the third verse references the story of Lucifer.
“You fell out of Heaven ’cause you was anxious / Didn’t like authority, only searched to be heinous / Isaiah fourteen was the only thing that was prevalent / My greatest music director was you,” Lamar raps on top of a sample from 2Pac’s “Made N****z.”
It is believed by some Christians that Lucifer was the angel of music but was kicked out of heaven due to his hubris. The reference continues and solidifies at the end.
“I rewrote the devil’s story just to take our power back, ‘carnated,” Lamar ended the song with.
I could dive in more about Lamar’s lyrics and what they reference but listening closely and dissecting lyrics is part of enjoying Kendrick Lamar’s music. So, go do that, if not to take in the lyrics then to prepare for his performance at Super Bowl LIX.
