GNX
Kendrick Lamar's surprise album is a test of cultural knowledge
It happened again. I was standing in my living room when I got a text from my DJ Josephine with a phrase that likely strikes fear into the heart of at least one Canadian (but not me):
Kendrick dropped!
Sun Tzu’s The Art of War dictates that “All warfare is based on deception.” It seems clear that Kenny has thumbed through this book once or twice. More than any other musician on this big blue planet, Kendrick Lamar is uniquely capable of “seem[ing] inactive” when he is, in fact, “using [his] forces." I recall doing my usual listless scroll through the New Music Friday offerings and musing about how it seemed to be unusually light on significant releases that week. Maybe it was just artists avoiding American Thanksgiving. Or perhaps some industry folks had advance knowledge. Either way, there it was:
Out of nowhere, the biggest release of them all was finally here after a long two years. GNX, the follow up to 2022’s Grammy-winning Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, dropped out of nowhere on November 22nd, hitting the web like a thunderbolt. “wacced out murals” (which has already been turned into an HBCU marching band arrangement, one of the Blackest things that can happen to a song) set the tone for the album with a menacing continuous verse inspired by the vandalization of two of his murals in LA.
That sense of place is apparent throughout the album, which is distinctively Californian, especially Angeleno. This is an album that indulges in several of the countless sides of Los Angeles, a prismatic city that might appear completely different to two visitors depending on which neighbourhoods they decide to visit. Outside of SZA (who singlehandedly turns “luther” and “gloria” into highlights), Lamar mostly eschews big names for regional artists, many of whom are from opposing LA gangs. This is a statement in and of itself, an album-length representation of the unity photo he organized at his Pop Out concert.
It’s one of many subliminal disses to Drake throughout the 44 minute running time of GNX, an implication that Kendrick is capable of bringing together his city’s warring factions in a way that Drake wouldn’t (or couldn’t) do in the GTA. “squabble up,” famously teased at the beginning of the “Not Like Us” video, is a squelchy Debbie Deb-sampling hyphy banger that evokes Bay Area sideshows.
Every reference in the “squabble up” video and throughout the album seems to function as a rubric for assessing the listener and viewer’s proximity to African-American culture. Like many other Black folks, Luther Vandross held a particularly sacred place for my family, so his sampling on “luther” feels intentional. In light of Drake’s ham-fisted AI parody during their battle, Kendrick spectacularly personifies 2Pac on “reincarnated” in a pitch-perfect homage that heavily samples Shakur’s “Made Niggaz” from the Gang Related soundtrack.
That song might hold a key to the album’s purpose. “Made Niggaz” is a posse cut featuring the Outlawz. Kendrick’s title track similarly sees him ceding the spotlight to a few lesser known LA emcees: Hitta J3, YoungThreat and Peysoh. One artist who looms largely over the album but isn’t directly shouted out is Drakeo the Ruler, a late Los Angeles rapper known for his idiosyncratic flows who was murdered in a targeted gang attack at an LA music festival in 2021. “reincarnated” features a conversation between God and the Devil that is reminiscent of DMX’s “Damien.” Kendrick interpolates “One Mic” by Nas on “man at the garden” and “Kick In The Door” by Notorious B.I.G. on “tv off.”
There’s a subtext to every reference he makes. Rather than being an extractive culture vulture who is demonstrably not like us, Kendrick consciously pays homage to the greats all over GNX. In the case of Nas, he was notably the only rapper to publicly congratulate Kendrick for getting the Super Bowl Halftime Show. But he’s also the guy behind arguably the most potent diss track outside of “Not Like Us,” one of few hip-hop songs that has become a verb: the withering “Ether” against Jay-Z. It’s as if Kendrick is saying, “This is who I relate to. How about you?”
Throughout the album, Kendrick definitely sounds like he’s trippin’ and he’s lovin’ it, as he states on the title track. Tapping into his regional roots must feel like a palette cleanser for Lamar, who has built a reputation as the voice of his generation, a Pulitzer Prize winner known for high-minded conceptual efforts. You can feel his looseness on songs like the Super Bowl-ready “tv off” where he screams producer Mustard’s name so excitedly that it’s already become a meme:
The way that Kendrick can now interface with the public reminds me of how Drake’s way around a caption used to be one of his greatest powers. Drake haunts GNX as a spectral presence that is merely hinted at but never called out directly, as if to suggest his now-waning relevance. With Lamar focusing on celebrating hip-hop culture and his hometown in an accessible way that is artful without compromising himself, GNX might hold the balance that could bring him the Album of the Year Grammy that has thus far eluded him.
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Magnificent write-up. I'm proud to say I recognized all the homages to the greats. I can't stop listening to this album.
Love to see you shine!