Kendrick Lamar’s 2022 album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, took fans on a journey through intense personal growth. With his final project on TDE and Aftermath, he closed an important chapter and could have then stepped away from rapping to focus on his company pgLang. Thanks to a beef with Drake, however, Kendrick has awoken his competitive spirit and widened his focus to hip-hop and the music industry as a whole.
On the surprise track he dropped during the MTV VMAs, Kendrick declared, “It’s time to watch the party die” while running down the state of the culture. As it turns out, the song was just a precursor for his new album, GNX, which dropped on Friday without warning on pgLang/Interscope Records. The project maintains much of the aggression from his musical output this year, but balances that energy with moments of introspection and his vision for a better hip-hop.
Opening banger “wacced out murals” initially throws listeners for a loop with unexpected vocals from mariachi singer Deyra Barrera, but quickly moves into sinister synths and Kendrick expressing anger at a Compton mural dedicated to him being destroyed. Promising to “kill ’em all before I let ’em kill my joy,” he goes on to do exactly that.
He hits out at Cole for stirring up the Drake beef in the first place and then backing out in the lamest way possible, Snoop Dogg for posting Drake’s lame AI diss track, and even gets petty about his upcoming Super Bowl performance.
After grumbling about Nas being “the only one” to express public congratulations, Kendrick addresses the criticism over Lil Wayne not getting picked to perform in his hometown and distancing himself from certain people: “Whatever, though, call me crazy, everybody questionable/ Turn me to an Eskimo, I drew the line and decimals.”
Following a thinly veiled reference to Drake (N****s from my city couldn’t entertain old boy”) and a literal “fuck you” to hip-hop as a whole, an irascible Kendrick almost longs for the days he “stayed inside of my house.”
From there, he stays on the offensive with songs like “squabble up,” “hey now,” and “tv off.” The latter reunites Kendrick with “Not Like Us” producer Mustard, but isn’t another Drake diss. Instead, Kendrick contemplates the rare traits of authenticity and loyalty (“few solid n****s left, but it’s not enough”) before asserting his own superiority by quoting the Notorious B.I.G.: “Ain’t no other king in this rap thing, like siblings/ Nothing but my children, one shot, they disappearin’.”
While a triumphant reunion, “tv off” is the only Mustard-produced track on GNX. Longtime collaborator Sounwave helmed every song on the album alongside his Red Hearse bandmate and co-producer of the Drake diss “6:16 in LA” Jack Antonoff (yes, that Jack Antonoff), who contributed to all but one.
But don’t take Antonoff’s presence to mean the album sounds like his work with Taylor Swift (except for maybe the lackluster “dodger blue”). Together, Sounwave and Antonoff are the steady hand that guides the project, which is steeped in bouncy, regional LA production. Those menacing instrumentals are balanced out with the soulful beats of songs like “luther,” “heart pt. 6,” and “gloria,” when Kendrick briefly eases his foot off the gas pedal.
Another song where Kendrick takes a beat is the Tupac-sampling “reincarnated,” which connects to his previous mention of reincarnation on “squabble up.” On the track, Kendrick cycles through past lives “on this earth for a hundred plus” that fostered his growth while learning from the mistakes of artists who preceded him.
First channeling the spirit of an R&B guitarist and then a female singer on the Chitlin’ Circuit, the song moves into the present day as Kendrick has a conversation with God. (He also mentions Isaiah 14, a prophetic verse from the Hebrew bible describing the fall of Babylon and the restoration of Israel. The verse’s purpose in the song appears to be paralleling Kendrick’s own fall from grace. However, he’s previously alluded to a connection to the Black Hebrew Israelites, and it’s unclear whether there’s a greater meaning at play.)
At the end of the track, Kendrick celebrates rewriting the “devil’s story just to take our power back, ‘carnated” after winning God over with good deeds like his gang-uniting “Pop Out” concert and the acknowledgment that he’s “a long way from garnishing evilish views.”
On “heart pt. 6,” Kendrick continues looking inward while reminiscing about the early days of TDE over a flip of SWV’s “Use Your Heart.” Shouting out fellow Black Hippy members Ab-Soul and Jay Rock, he compares Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith to Hall of Fame NBA coach Phil Jackson.
Fast forward to the present, when a “yearnin’ for independence” and desire to “place my skillset as a Black exec” led to him leaving TDE on favorable terms. “Let me be the demonstration/ How to conduct differences with a healthy conversation,” he raps. “If that’s your family, then handle it as such/ Don’t let the socials gas you up or let emotions be your crutch/ Pick up the phone and bust it up before the history is lost.”
Beyond these moments of introspection, Kendrick also puts great care into what he thinks hip-hop should be. On the closing track “gloria,” he follows in the footsteps of Common and uses love as a metaphor for his complicated relationship with music, from his early dedication to the craft to the realization that his lyrics needed to mature to reach the next level.
This vision is also reflected in Kendrick’s decision to feature up-and-coming California rappers throughout GNX, including Dody6’s menacing verse on “hey now,” AzChike’s gun talk on “peekaboo,” and a trio of guest appearances on “gnx” from Peysoh, Hitta J3, and Young Threat.
Meanwhile, SZA is on hand for when Kendrick slows down on the aforementioned “gloria” and “luther,” the latter of which samples — you guessed it — Luther Vandross. On “luther,” the duo envisions an ideal world together over lush, orchestral production. Befitting the album’s energy, his version of sentimentality is taking out her enemies “strictly with that fire.”
This leaves the question of what can satisfy Kendrick at this point in life. Based on “man at the garden,” he’s still figuring it out. In addition to the tranquility from surrounding himself with the right people, he wants the money, power, and respect he deserves.
After delivering the classic trilogy of good kid, m.A.A.d city, To Pimp a Butterfly, and DAMN., Kendrick chose himself and worked through trauma on Mr. Morale. With GNX, he rides off the high of his feud with Drake, but he’s not done burning down the industry or giving up his mantle as the greatest rapper alive.
“I burn this bitch down, don’t you play with me or stay with me/ I’m crashin’ out right now, no one’s safe with me,” he proclaims on “man at the garden.” “I deserve it all because it’s mine/ Tell me why you think you deserve the greatest of all time.”
So, while GNX is an excellent listen, it feels like a warm-up for the reinvigorated Compton rapper’s next classic trilogy. But now that Kendrick’s off the sidelines and back on the field, expect his next album to once again change the game.