First Impressions: Kendrick Lamar - GNX
"It's motivation if you wonder how I did it."
Hello,
These are my first impressions of Kendrick Lamar’s surprise album release, GNX, named after the 1987 Buck GNX Regal, allegedly the same car that his father brought Lamar home in from the hospital when he was born.
Ok, so Kendrick Lamar is my favorite rapper. I still remember when I first heard To Pimp a Butterfly (2015). That album; that’s a classic 11/10 album that is probably my favorite album of all time, any genre.
Let’s get into my first impressions. I’ve listened to it 5-6 times, including right now as I’m reflecting on my impressions.
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Right out the gate, “wacced our murals,” reflects upon the rap beef battle that he just had with Drake that shook hip-hop culture. I can say that, for me personally, his verse on “Like That” on Future and Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You (2024) shifted my listening and music consumption this year after that. K-Dot took shots at Drake and I knew we were about ready to be in for generational beef. This opening track is dynamic, seeing King Kunta shift flows, speed and delivery on a dime. He is burning the entire industry, not just Drake at this point: “It used to be fuck that nigga, but now it's plural. Fuck everybody, that's on my body.” Yes, King, I’m here for it. The production on this song, by Sounwave, Dahi, and Jack Antonoff is ominous, heavy, thumping, and epic, yet sparse and minimalistic.
Track #2, “squabble up,” is an absolute west-cost banger, mirroring in style the biggest song of the year and the absolute nail-in-the-coffin for Drake, that he surprised dropped right after Drake thought he left a mark, “Not Like Us.” This track is catchy, immediate, and finally includes the verse that he teased on the video version of “Not Like Us.” I’m hearing that LA is rocking this track so hard and that makes me smile. Kendrick, as Snoop and Dre are saying, is the king of the west coast. The next track, “luther,” named after Luther Vandross (but maybe also Martin Luther), features SZA and it’s that super melodic style that K-Dot introduced on DAMN. (2017) on tracks like “YAH.” and “Loyalty” with Rihanna.
From here on, the album kind of has a consistent give-and-take with track placement: a reflective-yet-hard-ass song followed by a West Coast banger followed by a melodic, boom-bap meets R&B style song, in terms of both the performances and production choices. The references, double-entendres (“with a bone to pick like sea bass;” “Hi, have you ever been a joint and you know it?”), and lyrical themes are top notch. Case in point: On “Reincarnated,” Kendrick flows over a 2Pac song, singing about being the reincarnated corporeal body of everyone from…well…2Pac, John Lee Hooker, Billie Holiday, his dad, God, and so forth. It’s a fantastic song. On another track, Kendrick interpolates Nas’ “One Mic.” He also directly raps a Biggie line on “tv off.” Kendrick represents hip hop and is almost single-handedly keeping it alive (Yeah, Griselda are as well but they are still somewhat underground).
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The penultimate track features Kendrick putting on Peysoh, Hitta J3, and YoungThreat, all independent LA artists. He doesn’t even have an entire verse on this song - it’s all about putting on young blood. Cool. The final song “Gloria” once again features SZA, and it’s a love letter to his pen; to writing.
There is lots to chew over; plenty of easter eggs; and it’s an extremely easy listen, especially compared to Mr. Morale witch requires lots of focus and attention, since it’s basically a rap theater performance, full of toxic couples fighting, therapy sessions, and lots of slower, moodier stuff such as “Auntie Diaries” and “Mother I Sober.” Musically, this sounds like what Vince Staples has been doing, and that is a compliment. OH, and when Kendrick screams “MUSTAARRRRRD” and “turn the TV off, turn the TV off” at the Super Bowl it’s going to be so lit. Plus, he’s right: the only reason to tune in is for his performance. Then, turn that shit off. And definitely don’t watch the commercials.
Tell ‘em Kendrick did it.
Use your heart and not your eyes,
Patrick M. Foran