“MUSTAAAAAARD,” screamed by Kendrick Lamar on “tv off” has been the ad-lib heard around the world since Lamar released his surprise album GNX on Nov. 22. On that random Friday morning, the only notice being an album preview posted on YouTube less than an hour before, the album was released through PGLang and Interscope Records. Consisting of 12 brand-new songs, GNX came as a shock to fans around the world.
With the new album, Lamar was able to become introspective on his hometown of Los Angeles, pulling from influences of 1990s West Coast rap, cultural references and artist features. Collaborating with hometown artists and producers such as Roddy Ricch and Mustard, Lamar was able to further connect his work to the place of his birth and childhood. The ways that he is able to interlace his personal experiences and birthplace influences along with modern-day beats and flows is beautiful in a way that little to no other rapper can match.
GNX is a step away from the fast-paced nature of the songs released due to the feud between Lamar and Canadian rapper Drake that took over the pop culture media landscape this past summer. While Lamar’s biggest hit from the beef, “Not Like Us,” is full of fast beats and lyrics attacking others, the songs that make up the tracklist of the surprise release are slower and combine different, more unique elements into their production.
One of the most prominent distinctive production elements that show Lamar’s individuality on the album is the inclusion of mariachi singer Deyra Barrera. According to Billboard, when Lamar first heard her voice during a performance at Game 1 of the World Series between the L.A. Dodgers and the N.Y. Yankees, he was entranced by it. During the production of GNX, Barrera was called into the studio to record audio. She had no idea where, or if, it was going to be used on the album, so when the opening track, “wacced out murals” began with her voice, everyone was surprised.
The song is also the opening track of the album. In it, Lamar reveals his first connections to Los Angeles and his own personal childhood nostalgia on the album when he raps about Anita Baker and places in his hometown such as Angeles Abbey Memorial Cemetery. The cemetery is mentioned when Lamar raps, “teleport to bullis road and dig up all my relatives.” Lamar rapping about exhuming his relatives expresses how his beginnings in Compton influenced his music in ways that his previous works does not.
The latest installment of The Heart series came in the form of “the heart pt. 6” on GNX. Traditionally, over his career, Lamar has released songs on most of his albums that are titled as different parts of the series. In 2010, he released “The Heart Part 1,” and now in 2024, he released the latest installment of the series, “the heart pt. 6.” The series follows his dreams and aspirations to make it in the music industry, and now that he has “made it,” the latest installment is a rehashing of his previous experiences. The rehashing goes to show how incredibly nostalgic the album is as a whole.
Another highlight of GNX is “squabble up,” a faster-beat party song that uses influences from Los Angeles originating hip-hop subgenres g-funk and hyphy. The song was featured as a snippet in the summer single, “Not Like Us,” and that’s where it first caught traction due to its infectious energy that makes you want to get up and dance. Along with being influenced by the subgenres of his hometown, Lamar also raps about the cultural components of his home. The lyrics, “Ghetto child, it was Blacky Milds with the Smirnoff,” exemplify aspects of urban communities and Lamar’s hometown. Rapping about the influences from his youth continues to epitomize the West Coast influences that are present throughout all of GNX.
R&B singer SZA has worked with Lamar on multiple projects including “Doves in the Wind,” a song off of SZA’s album Ctrl, and “All the Stars,” off of the Black Panther soundtrack. Their latest collaboration came into fruition as part of GNX on the song “luther.” A love story and angelic harmonies combine to create the highlight of the entire record. In the verses sung together, the two artists convey that that they would to chastise each other’s enemies if they are given the chance. During “luther,” Lamar utilizes his singing chops in a way that so perfectly complements SZA’s, and together they create a gorgeous song.
Highlighted in this review are only four out of the 12 songs on GNX, but they are the high points of the albume. The other songs that accompany these four include “man at the garden,” “tv off,” “hey now,” “dodger blue,” “gnx,” “reincarnated,” “peekaboo” and “gloria.” Throughout all of these songs, Lamar takes influences from his hometown of Los Angeles, hip-hop subgenres deriving from Compton and popular cultural and personal experiences. All of these factors meld together gracefully into an album that is so tastefully produced that it is certain to stand out against other 2024 releases.
