Kendrick Lamar is the greatest rapper of all time, at least that is what he is telling us.
The 37-year-old rapper from Compton, Cali. has recently released a new record — only announcing it 30 minutes before it dropped. “GNX” has arrived. It is a short, concise, 12 track and 44-minute record. But does it live up to everything that Kendrick has been putting out recently?
Yes. It even exceeds them.
“GNX” is everything I expect from a modern, West Coast hip-hop album — and more. It basks in its hyphy, ratchet and nervous music influences. These regional sounds force Kendrick — a traditionally conscious and laid-back rapper — to stretch his flows and cadence a bit more than he is used to.
The record is hot off the year-dominating success of Kendrick’s Drake-diss tracks: “Euphoria,” “Meet the Grahams,” “Not Like Us,” etc. — he knows that the internet’s current Drake-hate wave is profitable. However, instead of directly capitalizing off of this, Kendrick opts — correctly in my opinion — to double-down on the musical vibe of “Not Like Us.” Brash, bold and electrifying.
The entire record is filled with catchy-as-hell choruses, anxious beats with staccato string and bass hits, as well as crash-out lyrics that go for the kill. Take the fifth track, “hey now,” for example:
“We got the same twenty-four, what you mad for?/I put a square on his back like I’m Jack Dorsey/It’s high beams if I make a public appearance/Go back to hidin’ ’cause I’m not too friendly with n*ggas,” Lamar raps on “hey now.”
There are a ton of other instances of this, the delightfully ignorant “peekaboo,” the hilarious posse-cut “gnx” and the sure-to-be-viral “tv off” — featuring incredible production by Kamasi Washington, Mustard and Jack Antonoff, to name a few.
The West Coast vibes extend from those cuts to some of the more traditionally “conscious” tracks, where Kendrick flexes his lyricism. Songs like “reincarnated,” “heart pt. 6” and the closing-track “gloria” demonstrate this. My two favorite tracks on the record, “reincarnated” and “gloria” are just as good as some of Kendrick’s classic storytelling tracks for me.
“Reincarnated” interpolates both Tupac’s traditional West Coast flow and even one of his beats, Kendrick uses this homage to paint us a picture of musical legacy. He narrates from the perspective of John Lee Hooker and Dinah Washington, then jumps to a call-and-response segment with another version of him — Kendrick’s interpretation of God.
“I kept one hundred institutions paid/(Okay, tell me more)/I put one hundred hoods on one stage/(Okay, tell me more)/I’m tryna push peace in L.A./(But you love war)/No, I don’t/(Oh, yes, you do)/Okay, then tell me the truth,” Lamar raps on “reincarnated.”
The final track, “gloria” is absolutely impressive and encompasses everything amazing about Kendrick Lamar. He raps seemingly about a woman who is elusive and seductive, but it ends up being about his love for writing raps.
“My woman and my right hand, my saint and my sin/Ain’t no bitch like my b*tch ’cause that b*tch been my pen,” Lamar raps on “gloria.”
The features on “GNX” are what makes the record stand out among popular rap albums, for me. There are obvious inclusions like SZA, but underground L.A. artists like Dody6, Hitta J3 and Young Threat are present on the album as well.
Overall, I am extremely impressed with this record. Although I was not a fan of the start of the album, the creative ingenuity of Kendrick and his producers saved this for me. The run from track five to the end is one of my favorite track-runs in Kendrick’s discography. This record contends with Kendrick’s best like “To Pimp A Butterfly” and “good kid, m.A.A.d city.”
It’s hard to say where Kendrick will go from here, but to me, it really does not matter — because he will always be a legend.
