On Nov. 22, rapper Kendrick Lamar surprised fans by releasing “GNX,” his sixth studio album. The release capped off an eventful year and demonstrated that his music can be both fun and thoughtful, all while paying homage to West Coast hip-hop culture.
Some speculated that Lamar would wait to release more music until closer to the Super Bowl LIX halftime show, which he is set to headline.
Plus, Lamar was set to have arguably one of the best years in hip-hop history without releasing an album. The back-and-forth between him and Drake made waves in the hip-hop community this year, with two of the world's most popular artists directly attacking each other in song.
The beef reached its pinnacle with Lamar's “Not Like Us,” which would go on to become one of the most popular rap songs of the year. He paired the accusatory lyrics with a beat so catchy Drake himself admitted he would dance to it.
The new album is named after the 1987 Buick Grand National Experimental car model. Lamar said that after he was born, his father drove him home from the hospital in a Buick. At just 12 songs, it's his shortest album and a welcome change of pace from the prevalence of lengthy projects, such as Taylor Swift's “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” and Drake's “For All The Dogs,” in the current musical landscape.
The album's length doesn't limit its quality — it makes “GNX” concise and consistent. Lamar balances his usual thoughtful and serious subject matter with an emphasis on energy, excitement and fun.
Lamar's opener, “wacced out murals,” sets the tone of the album with vocals from Mexican mariachi singer Deyra Barrera, followed by a haunting synthetic rhythm which Lamar accompanies with rap. A sample of '80s freestyle dance singer Debbie Deb energizes the West Coast infused-song “squabble up.” On “tv off,” infectious clipped strings swing back and forth before Lamar yells “Mustard!” creating a viral meme that has already been referenced by entities ranging from the NFL to McDonald's.
On the song “peekaboo,” Lamar is at his most humorous. He trades bars with LA rapper AzChike and pokes fun at the idea of his lyrics being too complex, saying “Bing-bap-boom-boom-boom-bap-bam, the type of shit I'm on you wouldn't understand.”
Each of Lamar's previous albums have been based on unifying concepts, but on “GNX,” the concepts are generally limited to individual songs. As Lamar says on the album's opener, “Fuck a double entendre, I want y'all to feel this shit.” Instead of having listeners spend time interpreting the album's meaning, Lamar wants them to focus on how the music feels.
