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.
More on Kendrick’s GNX after the paywall.
