In 2024, Kendrick Lamar became the master of the anti-rollout: Since the start of the year, heâs turned 12 wordsâ worth of X posts and a couple of tracks accompanied by still images to Instagram into an era-defining rap beef, a number-one single, and a booking to perform at the Super Bowl LIX halftime show, in New Orleans. Between his guest appearance on Future and Metro Boominâs âLike Thatâ and his chart-topping victory lap âNot Like Us,â Kendrick seized the countryâs attention by lobbing diss after diss at its most commercially dominant rap star, not quite deposing Drake, but certainly leaving a permanent stain on his image, accusing him of sex trafficking, pedophilia, and cultural colonization.
The beef simmered, after Drakeâs half-hearted and occasionally confusing response âThe Heart Part 6,â as Kendrick made his moves strategically, showing out for his Pop Out concert, âNot Like Usâ video, and Super Bowl announcement. This morning, however, Kendrick uploaded a cryptic, minutelong snippet titled âGNXâ to YouTube, and, even more unexpectedly, dropped his entire sixth studio album just before noon. The new LP is more accessible than 2022âs complicated Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, harkening back to the pop of 2017âs DAMN. and dabbling in bouncy West Coast club slappers and slick synth-pop across a relatively tidy 45-minute experience. Further exploring the nervy, Drakeo the Ruler-inspired flow that made the punchlines on âNot Like Usâ so memorable, heâs also brought a new generation of SoCal upstarts along for the ride, tapping local emcees like AzChike, Peysoh, and YoungThreat for collaborations. Here are five takeaways that stood out while spinning GNX the first few times.
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After ushering in summer 2024 with an all-out offensive against the OVO camp, Kendrick spares Drake the ire (or satisfaction) of another name-drop on GNX, but that doesnât mean heâs taken a pacifist turn. With opener âWacced Out Murals,â he comes out swinging, taking quick shots at those whoâve aligned with the opposing side. Spitting venom over sirens and staccato strings, Kendrick puts his former heroes in the crosshairs, reflecting on the disappointment Lil Wayne expressed when Kendrick was selected to play the Super Bowl halftime show in Weezyâs hometown, and calling out Snoop Dogg for posting Drakeâs AI-assisted âTaylor Madeâ diss to Instagram upon release. GNX may not be a major mobilization in the war between Aubreyâs Angels and TDEâs disciples, but thereâs just enough pot-stirring to fuel discourse through Thanksgiving.
Getting Hyphy
Despite the singleâs litany of quotable punchlines, it was arguably Mustardâs production on âNot Like Us,â which arranged a stuttering Monk Higgins sample over railgun kick drums, that kept audiences hitting replay well beyond its release date. His work set the tone for the menacing hyphy sound that dominates much of GNX. Mustard was enlisted to produce two tracks on the record, âHey Nowâ and âTV Off,â and the club-ready cuts âSquabble Upâ and âPeekabooâ were clearly produced with âNot Like Usâ in mind. (âSquabble Up,â of course was already previewed in the âNot Like Usâ video.) Thereâs still plenty of room for quiet contemplation on GNX, but thereâs no shortage of party playlist fodder either.
