Album Review: “GNX” by Kendrick Lamar
The mysteriously ubiquitous Kendrick Lamar. An impressive soundscape channeling the West Coast. Beats that knock harder than a noise complaint at a house party at 2am. Vicious, relentless bars that cover everything and everyone under the sun. Where were you when it dropped?
I was crashing at a friend’s place in Boston — he lives in a Christian missionary commune. I had woken up and was listening to some Drakeo the Ruler (RIP) to start my day as I got ready to head out. In that moment, I literally thought to myself, as I’ve been thinking all year, that Kendrick rapping over these West Coast beats is exactly what I want from his next project. Not Like Us is obviously the biggest song of the year and a cultural moment.
And then we got it minutes later. This felt like divine timing, given the Christian missionary energy around me. This was different. The sudden release shook me and the rest of the world to our collective core.
The GNX, or Grand National Experimental, was a limited-production version of the Buick Grand National made in 1987 — the same year Kendrick was born. It’s a continuation of regal cars on rap album covers as well, namely Jay-Z’s Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life from 1998.
The GNX was created to be the “Grand National to end all Grand Nationals.” Kendrick Lamar is the rapper to end all rappers. There are exactly 547 GNXes in the world. Hip-hop, like conspicuous consumption, is a competitive sport. Kendrick has anointed himself as the best rapper alive after an already-incredible run in 2024, eviscerating Drake to the point where none of his 20-odd songs + features following the beef made wide cultural impact.
Kendrick is a rare breed. He’s wholly unique but simultaneously represents rap music and hip-hop culture. Five timeless albums and countless unforgettable verses later, he’s given us a lean, 12-track, 44-minute project out of nowhere that feels urgent yet meditative, introspective yet ignorant, current yet anachronistic.
Intro wacced out murals shows Kendrick bloodthirsty and ready to defend his title as the king of rap (big me) as the instrumental slowly builds up over the course of the song and adds tension to the dramatic conceit he brings to attention, from the public defacing of his mural to his readiness for war.
Songs on here are bridged together with chirps or instrumentals or rattling or raindrops or breathing — as on squabble up, which feels so West Coast and mesmerizing in its punch, its boom, and the flow, where Kendrick is literally skating on the beat. It feels to me like he's showing the world and his fan base and his detractors alike that he can make anthems seemingly effortlessly.
There was no radio push or promo single, as this was submitted last Friday and his record label Interscope found out when the rest of us did. It's interesting how past “bangers” like DNA. and N95 (also found on the same track 2 spot in their respective albums) have this elevated cinematic quality to them, where, for example, in N95 it's very orchestral in the way it swells and dips and swells again. But in comparison, squabble up, peekaboo, and hey now contain these skeletal, murderous, trunk-rattling West Coast beats that you’re going to be hearing outside everywhere in 2025 and beyond.
I found myself playing those three songs and tv off the most off this album within the last few days. But tv off is on another level. The beat switch and the instantly ubiquitous scream in combination with the horn section on the back half switch are such tasteful and welcome additions to the track that really put it a cut above anyone else in hip-hop. I knew from first listen that it would be the standout hit on here, and the endless social media reactions verified the same.
Some of the slower cuts on here like luther, man at the garden, and reincarnated offer lyrical meat for hardcore fans and casual listeners alike. Kendrick continues to relay this idea that he's a contradiction between sinning and flexing and being a God-fearing man between wanting to be at peace himself to eviscerating other rappers like it's nothing. heart pt. 6 offers a similar titular fakeout to Drake’s own Pusha T fakeout on Virginia Beach from For All the Dogs. This song provides a glimpse into the early days and inner workings of TDE and its immemorial Black Hippy group. While luther grew on me a lot this week, some of the others haven’t had as much replay value as other songs from the record.
dodger blue was a huge grower for me. Kendrick feels more comfortable here, vibe-checking LA over a silky instrumental through a radio-friendly song that feels more assured and cohesive than past awkward attempts like Die Hard from Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers and LOVE. from DAMN. Another was the posse cut gnx that was just so out of left field that it took me a while to even listen closely. Featuring smaller West Coast rappers like Hitta J3, YoungThreat, Peysoh, Dody6, AzChike, and Lefty Gunplay proved a brilliant addition to the album and its LA-forward sound.
Repetition is used tastefully as a motif throughout the album — from the “crazy, scary, spooky, hilarious” outro on tv off to the affirmations of “I deserve it all” on man at the garden to “What they talking bout? They talking bout nothing” on peekaboo to “walk, walk, walk, walk” on dodger blue, these songs are designed to get stuck in your head. Kendrick sounds charismatic as ever behind the mic, giving us new flows, inflections, and sounds between top-quality bars.
It begs the question: what's left for Kendrick? He's had the dense experimental cinematic albums like To Pimp a Butterfly, good kid, m.A.A.d city, DAMN., even Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, especially in how personal it gets — but this is just like a Kendrick Lamar album. I honestly don’t see myself going back to songs like gloria or man at the garden or reincarnated as much, but I can appreciate them for what they are. And GNX doesn’t feel as rewarding of a full listen as past projects have, but the balance in sonics and content feels apt for what Kendrick was trying to achieve here.
It’s clear this project’s conceit is meant to be much more straightforward – at least by Kendrick’s standards. You won’t find an omnipotent Greek chorus via Bēkon like the one between songs on DAMN. There's no poem that the songs adapt to become at the end like on To Pimp a Butterfly. It lacks the tap dancing motifs and therapy session structures and other high art concepts of Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.
Aside from a few mood-setting Spanish spoken vocal passages, it's straight up just music. And for a rapper and musician who's heralded by critics and fans alike as this purveyor of higher consciousness and elevated thinking and conscious hip-hop, it's absolutely comforting to have him just drop some genuinely great music that you're going to hear in cars, at the club, at bars, NBA 2K loading screens, whatever else.
Whatever some of the songs in this album will be inescapable and this really feels like Kendrick capitalizing on yet another commercial peak of his career. And to answer the question above, it’s to keep moving the needle, keep experimenting, and keep drawing from the city and sounds and people that made him who he is. I’m excited to see what’s next from Dot, whether that’s the Super Bowl, a rumored next album, or anything else. The element of surprise is an indefatigable strategy, and Kendrick asserts his throne through this album’s runtime. Not all of the songs have to be hits or tied up into high creative concepts. They can just be songs, and damn good ones at that.
