“GNX” crashes into the Kendrick Lamar discography, creating a welcome return for modern music’s prophet

Graphic by Maddie Cohen

by sam shipman

What sets Kendrick Lamar apart from Drake, Gracie Abrams, your second cousin, and frankly anyone else is when he releases a project, the world and the culture shuts up and listens. Lamar has been a hot topic with his fifty-seven total Grammy nominations and highly anticipated Super Bowl Halftime show. Still, the Prophet topped his own buzz on November 22nd— roughing up “New Music Friday” by dropping GNX, his sixth studio album with almost no warning. 

GNX highlights the recent Lamar trends of unforgiving honesty accompanied by cruel disses on anyone and everyone. GNX also restores Lamar’s consistent ability to bring in mind-numbing vocal sampling and features so strong they’re basically seamless—gifts that were lacking on his recent series of singles.

Lamar touches on a vast range of subjects in his life, including, but not limited to, dissing everybody (“wacced out murals”), his work ethic (“gnx”), and his relationship with creating music (“gloria”). The primary difference between GNX and other major releases like To Pimp A Butterfly (2015) or Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (2022) is that this record feels more like a collection of songs rather than a coherent conceptual project– a surprising shift from an artist often praised for his story-telling through a front-to-back listening experience.

GNX’s step away from Lamar’s usual routine is not a negative, and in fact, it arguably highlights a larger issue within the bubble of people listening to his music: Lamar’s fans clearly expect a certain level of quality from him that is almost unreasonable to achieve with every major release he puts out. If someone complains that the record isn’t good enough even though all twelve songs are strong cuts, it’s clear who the problem is. But don’t let the critics tell you what's wrong and what's right— on “wacced out murals,” Lamar directly calls out the people who have a fixed expectation of his music. 

“This is not for lyricists, I swear it's not the sentiments / Fuck a double entendre, I want y'all to feel this shit”

Once you adjust to this era of Lamar, it’s pretty simple to highlight what Lamar does differently on GNX versus other projects. Projects such as Mr. Morale hit a wide range of topics while carrying a centralized theme of self-reflection. GNX, as discussed, is more about each individual track rather than a larger theme, so it does give the listener some whiplash if the front-to-back listening approach is taken. For instance, switches from “gnx” to “gloria” could be seen as sharp—but it simply takes readjusting to a new listening style. This shift makes GNX more “marketable” rather than being his next magnum opus, an arguably much-needed shift in a time of steamy political discourse. Maybe everyone jamming out to “squabble up” is more approachable than your high school friend group listening to “Auntie Diaries” in a car together. 

Don’t let the album’s digestibility give the illusion that GNX has any less depth. Lamar approaches most tracks on GNX with an aggressive style reminiscent of older tracks like “For Free?” on To Pimp A Butterfly (2015), or “Rigamortis” on Section 80 (2011).  While songs like these have faster flows than any cut on GNX, this new record bounces between snappy verses and Lamar’s playful pronunciation; annunciating words  like “face” or “taste”:“I feel good, get the fuck out my face / Look good, but she don’t got no taste.” (“squabble up”)

Lamar pairs his playful energy with a coordinated lyrical depth that is commonplace on his other records. Cadence and concept-wise, “squabble up” is a mirror image of “N95” or “Humble.”

GNX’s high-energy tracks meet the Kendrick Lamar album “checklist” of creating bangers that will surely stick around on the radio for weeks to come. But these are balanced with poetic storytelling on songs such as “gloria” or “heart pt 6,” which force the listener to stop what they’re doing and contemplate the plot that Lamar is weaving. 

The glue that holds both song mediums together is GNX’s vocal sampling and feature list. GNX was produced by longtime collaborators like Sounwave and Mustard. However, strange and unexpected credits include Jack Antonoff, known for being a megaproducer for pop icons, but who has also dusted off his chops working with the likes of BROCKHAMPTON. Antonoff doesn’t just mingle, sticking around to produce eleven of GNX’s twelve songs.  

The record’s greatest highlights show through in the warm synths oozing at the start of “heart pt. 6” or the horns blaring through the back half of “tv off.” These artful touches make Antonoff’s work on The Tortured Poets Department look like a  stain on his production catalog. The vocal sampling choices also add another fun element to GNX that is missing from other Lamar records. Debbie Deb’s 1983 song “When I Hear Music” is used in the first verse of “squabble up,” making it feel almost disco-eqsue. The most prominent vocal sample comes at the opening of the record on “wacced out murals,” which features Deyra Barrera, a traditional Mariachi Singer who Lamar noticed from her performance at an LA Dodgers game. Barrera sings, “I feel your presence here Last night And we start to cry,” to kick off the record, and her entrancing voice appears several more times on the project.

GNX features a slew of other artists. While big names like SZA and Roddy Rich provide outstanding features on the record, Lamar has gathered a group of smaller LA-based artists to accompany him on this project; all are talented and elevated by Lamar knowing exactly how to play up their strengths. Case in point: the title track “gnx,” where Lamar features Hitta J3, YoungThreat and Peysoh as they reminisce on their accomplishments and impact on art coming out of LA.

GNX's marketable assortment of 12 songs is destined to become a welcome addition to the Lamar catalog. And while Lamar is taking yet another victory lap, the only possible complaint about GNX is that it falls short of a ridiculous parasocial image people have constructed of Lamar’s art. But the Prophet will guide you, if you just forgo trying to figure out where GNX ranks amongst Lamar’s slew of masterpieces, and instead bask in the glory of the ride.