Kendrick Lamar unexpectedly dropped an album last week, surprising many because there was no mention or hints towards this album being dropped at all. Usually, artists set up release dates and advertise their albums a couple of weeks before they release but Kendrick abruptly released this album on November 22nd. This twelve-track album is forty-four minutes long and has nine features.
The features consist of Roddy Ritch, SZA, YoungThreat, AzChike, Hitta J3, Peysoh, Dody6, and many other features as background vocals.
Kendrick is well known for his rap mentioning his Christian following, as on his last album cover he wore a diamond thorn crown representing Jesus Christ’s thorn crown. He continues to mention his belief in god in his albums while also representing his upbringing in Compton.
Kendrick Lamar is a poet when it comes to rapping and is a terrific storyteller, he was the first ever rapper to earn a Pulitzer prize for his album “DAMN” which holds very popular songs such as “LOYALTY”, “PRIDE”, “HUMBLE” and “LOVE”. Most of his songs that hold a story usually stay on topic and relevant to what the song is about from beginning to end and others give off a “feel good” vibe, songs such as “Alright” or “Swimming Pools”. The album “DAMN” itself tells a story from start to finish but a better example would be “To Pimp a Butterfly”, another album released by Kendrick. Kendrick can tell a vivid story in his songs if you pay attention to what he’s saying, and I think a really good example of this is in his songs “How Much a Dollar Cost” and “DUCKWORTH.”
Kendrick represents Los Angeles, more specifically, Compton in every album. He continues to do so in GNX. A lot of the songs on GNX have West Coast reminiscent beats, and he purposefully makes it noticeable. He even mentions his Super Bowl drama with Lil Wayne on the opening track, “wacced out murals” which was an indirect callout, but those who were aware of the drama noticed. Many of the songs on GNX are already popular on TikTok such as, “squabble up”, “tv off” and “Luther”. But some listeners don’t think it’s Kendricks’s best work compared to his other albums, “I think the album was definitely not his best but I think it was a good album, it felt to homage to black culture while also being pure creative and fun” -Edens Jean-Baptiste, Sophomore.
The songs on GNX aren’t bad, it seems that listeners enjoy the full picture Kendrick paints in his albums, and he just didn’t meet the expectations listeners have set. “I think the album was fine. The songs were good but it felt more like a publicity stunt” Said Zulkar Rahman, a sophomore.
