Of course Kendrick Lamar is the one to get me itching to write a bigger piece. After all he’s the one to make “music that electrifies them”.
GNX was a fascinating album from Kendrick in 2024. In a way it feels like his most “in the moment” and “reactionary” LP, one that’s deeply rooted in the contemporary sound of the West Coast and his status as rap’s championed boogeyman. This album’s goal is succinctly stated on “Man in the Garden”: it reminds you that Lamar “deserves it all.” The accolades, the Super Bowl, the love, the hate, everything in between.
To show why this album feels reactionary, look no further than the intro of “Wacced Out Murals”. It’s easily one Kendrick’s most exhilarating openers, a strained verse jumping from disappointing his idols, to the same idols letting him down, his own LA mural and artistry being defaced. One of Kenny’s greatest assets is taking incredibly personal topics, in this case rap stardom struggles, and making it not just musically infectious but lyrically potent. “F*ck a double entendre, I want y’all to feel this shit.”
Throughout GNX, that line’s intention is felt as multiple hard-hitting bangers pop up. Breakout song “Squabble Up” is a head bopper with a chunky, synth laced beat but lines like “why the f*** you rap if it’s fictional” remind you there’s genuine demon energy there. “TV Off”, “Peekaboo” & “Hey Now” are songs that sonically remind me of his Cali-inspired rippers on Good Kid, Maad City, but the trajectory from indecisive teen to powerful rap figure is felt in both Kendrick’s delivery and boastful pen. The West Coast feel is further exemplified by multiple features from current LA / West Coast rap figureheads. Dody6, Az Chike, Lefty Gunplay, and many more offer variety and spice to tracks, offering a unique look after the landscape Kendrick helped cultivate.
There’s plenty of bangers here, but the goal of the record is more than just clever penmanship over good beats: this is an album that engages with Kendrick’s growth as a songwriter and human. The song “Luther” is proof that over the years Kendrick has damn-near perfected rap / R&B fusion, harmonizing with SZA on a beautiful set of strings and samples. “Heart Pt. 6” is a biographical look at Kendrick’s rise to rap stardom: starting with nothing but fast-food fueled writing sessions, to performance conditioning, to pursuing your own solo career in spite of ties you share with your rap group. “Man in the Garden” reworks Nas’s “One Mic” for a dramatic monologue as Kendrick recites his stacked resume for an audience that will either love him or hate him for it.
Before wrapping up things, I do want highlight something that I feel is unaddressed by many critics on GNX: Kendrick’s throwbacks to age-old rap concepts. On Track one, he shouts out some of the idols who inspired him: Lil Wayne, Nas, Snoop, etc. GNX feels like a love letter to the West now, but I also think it works as a throwback to the rap ideas that inspired Kendrick himself.
“Reincarnated” directly rips the beat from 2Pac’s “Made ******”, where Kendrick ambitiously tells the story about musicianship, greed, and falls from grace; I interpret this as a Lil Wayne Dedication-type move to take an older beat and do something new with it; the 2Pac love is the icing on the cake. “Gloria” is a “personification” song, where his rapping seems to be about a person, only to be a loving ballad about his own pen; Nas’s “I Gave You Power” comes to mind. “Dodger Blue” is a slow jam that is vivid in its LA imagery, heavily melodic and territorial, similar to something Snoop Dogg would put out in his heyday.
So yeah, you can say this is one of Kendrick’s shortest, most straightforward records. You can also say there are many layers to peel back, spaces to interpret and places left up for your interpretation. I personally think this is a “lightning in a bottle” project: one that captures Kendrick’s dominance and combative attitude this year, injecting both in a tracklist that explores what inspired him and what he’s inspired. A capstone to a generational year from a generational talent.
