Review of GNX, Kendrick Lamar’s surprise album

While I personally think I will single out or remember 2024 in musical terms as the year of Macklemore –daring to denounce Israel’s genocide in Palestine and the total complicity of the United States during the university protests with HIND’S HALL and HIND’S HALL 2 (alongside Anees, MC Abdul, & Amer Zahr)– it is impossible not to think of Californian Kendrick Lamar as the artist of the moment even among those who don’t listen to rap.

And it is still surprising, because I honestly think that nobody expected that 2024 would be remembered as the year of Kendrick Lamar. Beyond his collaboration with Future and Metro Boomin’ on the song Like That (from the album WE DON’T TRUST YOU), the end of the cycle that Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers represented in 2022 left many of us wanting to know what was coming next, but in a way satisfied.

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers: a closing that marked the beginning of a new stage

With that album, the contract and professional collaboration with the label Top Dawg Entertainment, for example, came to an end. At the same time, the title and the concept invited us to meet two alter-egos of the rapper as an artist and as a person. A closing with a production that seemed to sublimate all the previous works. Careful samples, elements more typical of jazz and a relaxed style in most cases to contrast with the urgency of the singer in other stages, sometimes from the same song (how can we forget the collaboration of Sampha in Father Time or Amanda Reifer in Die Hard).

The feeling I had after listening to that album for months, being already a faithful follower of Lamar for many years, was that he had emptied himself. Faced with the emptiness that comes after releasing everything, it is often difficult to “start over”, and that is perhaps why I did not expect to hear anything new from him beyond the usual collaborations in rap and trap. However, as of December 16, 2024, I can safely say that Kendrick Lamar has been the most successful artist of the year, culminating in the Super Bowl finale, where he will become the first artist to perform solo during halftime.

Kendrick Lamar’s year: undisputed success in 2024 “thanks” to Drake

And, at least in part, it’s all thanks to Drake. Or in spite of him. I don’t want to go into the whole beef, because I find it absurd and more a question of egos, but it’s true that it’s through this battle that Kendrick Lamar responds to the Canadian rapper who heads the fashion brand OVO (key to understanding some of the Californian’s answers) with new songs that, in addition to giving more context to the past friendship of both (which also included J. Cole), serve to get us to the previous step before the arrival of GNX (the title of the album taken from the Buick GNX car that went on sale in 1987, the same year Kendrick Lamar was born): Euphoria and, above all, Not Like Us.

Because Drake made a huge mistake, given what we’ve seen: attacking Kendrick Lamar’s origins and using 2Pac –recreating his voice with artificial intelligence– for it. The uproar in the US was such that even 2Pac’s heirs came out to say that they were siding with Kendrick Lamar, whom they believed 2Pac would respect much more than Drake, given his musical career and vital position.

Kendrick Lamar’s response? The aforementioned Not Like Us. The song of the summer, the fall and whatever else comes next. Initially released as a diss, it was so successful that Lamar published a video months later and even so its validity placed it among the most viewed of the year. A song that served both to criticize Drake (calling him OV Ho and a pedophile for his relationship with Millie Bobby Brown when she was 16) and to pay homage to the popular culture of the West Coast in general and Compton in particular.

GNX: Or how Kendrick Lamar returns to the roots of West Coast hip hop

And that’s how we get to GNX. A surprising album because it totally breaks with Kendrick Lamar’s previous work, both in terms of production –here apparently more basic, less spectacular– and themes –here, let’s say, more rooted, although still offering his personal touch. It’s surprising, more than anything, because, in addition to having been an album released by surprise, without prior announcement, it is like a true beginning in his career; fresh and that really feels like the beginning of a new stage. With a much simpler, more “classic” production (with nineties samples like the one from Use Your Heart (1996), by SWV, for heart pt. 6), the rapper from Compton comes spiritually closer to The Documentary (2005), by The Game.

This “new beginning” is full of symbolism. The title, GNX, taken from the iconic Buick GNX, not only connects with Lamar’s year of birth, but also evokes a feeling of speed, power and nostalgia. It’s as if Lamar wants to remember where he came from as he moves forward into an unknown, yet exciting future. Is this car a symbol of his personal and artistic journey? Listening to the album and not knowing anything about cars, I’m willing to bet yes, but this is obviously a guess.

But listening to GNX gives the impression that the beef with Drake is a catalyst that has helped this new direction. The “homage” to West Coast hip hop that began in Not Like Us continues in the 12 songs that make up this album and that stands out for its thematic coherence and lyrical quality.

With a calm style that transmits a lot of peace –man at the garden, luther or gloria, the last two with SZA– or with a vocal rage more typical of Gangsta rap like 2Pac –using a sample of his Made Nigazz in reincarnated– or a more energetic version of himself –tv off or squabble up–, you always have the feeling of listening to Kendrick Lamar, which confirms yet another album that he is the best rapper of his generation and, given the facts, of these times we live in.

Ultimately, while GNX doesn’t focus on the Drake feud, it seems to have been instrumental in Lamar re-evaluating his artistic direction, and that’s something we have the other freak out to thank for. The veiled criticisms and implicit homages to Compton/California figures reinforce the sense that Lamar is charting a path away from superficial feuds and toward a more lasting legacy with an album that stands out for its freshness and the artist’s ability to balance the mix of classic and modern.

Whether it’s pop or rap, his flow and delivery are unsurpassed right now, and names like Doechii are getting closer and closer to his level. Linking back to the beginning, I would say that Macklemore stood out for his political courage and message, while Lamar has done so for his artistic mastery, proving once again why he is considered the best.

In any case: “I want a ceasefire/Fuck a response from Drake.”