On November 22, 2024, at 12:30 P.M. (EST), Kendrick Lamar released the album trailer to his YouTube channel. Thirty minutes later, he released the album to all platforms at random. This was a very surprising drop. This album has 12 songs and is 44 minutes and 20 seconds long; the shortest studio album of Lamar’s career. This features SZA, Dody6, Lefty Gunplay, Wallie the Sensei, Siete7x, Roddy Ricch, AzChike, Hitta J3, YoungThreat; and Peysoh. This album has 363.6 million streams on Spotify globally.
The term “GNX” has a specific meaning, it stands for Grand National Experimental, which was a special edition version of the 1987 Buick Regal T-type. The year 1987 is significant to Kendrick as his birth year. Several fan accounts allege that his family had a Buick GNX at the time, and reportedly used this vehicle to transport him home after he was born.
First on the track is “wacced out murals” and this is the introduction to Lamar’s surprise album drop. This whole album is incredibly impactful because it is the first official album he’s released since dissing rapper Drake. This song is bold and unfiltered about Lamar’s unwavering art, struggles with everything in and out of the music industry, and his vision for his legacy.
The second song on the track is “squabble up” which is a West Coast-infused party anthem. Tying back to Lamars California heritage, this song combines G-funk and hyphy resulting in a dynamic and upbeat soundscape. The name “squabble up” comes from L.A. slang referring to fighting like the saying “square up”. The whole song is a combination of the titles of his songs.
The third track is “Luther” (featuring SZA) which is his 5th overall collaboration with her. Kendrick gave tribute to the title to a song called ¨If this world were mine¨ by a gentlemen named Luther Vandross.This song has a strong smooth instrumental and flat effortless vocals. It really gives a ¨loverboy¨ feel to the song due to the fact the song is about spoiling your significant other. Kendrick gives his perspective, where him and his lover would live in an eutopia. The song really flaunts the chemistry of the pair and how they work well together in the music and rap scene.
The fourth track is called, ¨man at the garden¨, which is a reference to the biblical story of the Garden of Eden when God kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden due to disobeying and trying to find a cheap way out. Kendrick really points out how he worked for everything hes got and how he ¨deserves it all¨. Meaning he never seeked validation. He points out the struggles hes overcome and how every rapper faces adversity but he handled his differently. The bouncy instrumental along with the built up climax of the song really shows his career through the song.
¨hey now¨ is the fifth track on the GNX album, it is also a story on how Kendrick has faced adversity and how you need to man up and take over the obsticales that are thrown your way. Kendrick talks about how you need to stay connected with your original dreams and not get sidetracked.
The sixth song in the album is titled, ¨reincarnated¨ which brings recognition to the West Coast legacy of 2Pac and makes fun of Drake through Drakes use of AI generated 2Pac vocals. Kendrick highlights the strength of the black community and how they can build musical greatness through collaboration.
The seventh song is titled ¨tv off¨ which is a reunion with his producer DJ Mustard, who worked with him for ¨Not Like Us¨ the Drake diss track. The song shows how Kendrick is calling people to rise above mediocrity. As well as not getting caught up in useless distractions. The song criticizes comfort and encourages others to escape their easy lifestyles and challenge themselves.
The eighth song is named ¨dodger blue¨ which is a tribute to West Coast LA culture, highlighting his childhood area. He critiques outsiders’ views on the area and how the misconception of his childhood hometown quickly grew from a few lies. Kendrick uses the title ¨dodger blue¨ as an ode to the LA Dodgers beating the New York Yankees to win the 2024 world series.
The ninth song in the album is titled ¨peekaboo¨ which has colorful surface level lyrics and a nice instrumental. It’s a small bounce back from the previous and meaningful song ¨dodger blue¨, even with a short runtime it still is tik tok famous with many people using the song for edits in the truck scene.
The tenth song in the album GNX is called ¨heart pt. 6¨ which is the 6th part of his ¨heart¨ series. He talks about the state of his life at the time of the recording of the song. Early 2024 Drake released a song titled ¨THE HEART PART SIX¨, trying to mock Kendrick. However it didn’t work since Kendrick didn’t care and still posed his ¨heart pt. 6¨ song without even acknowledging him.
¨GNX¨ is the eleventh song on the album. GNX has multiple meanings as stated in the first paragraph, however in this song he goes in detail about his earnings and respect in the rap scene, flexing his authority and power among other rappers. Kedricks hook in the song undermines other rappers and points them out as fake trendsetters. The song’s rough imagery shows how good of a storyteller Kendrick really is. He also points at the legacy that older rappers have left in the LA rap scene.
The twelfth and final song on the album is titled ¨gloria¨(featuring SZA), which marks their second collaboration on the album and their sixth in total. Kendricks interesting choice of title points to his lover being his ¨pen game¨ meaning he’s in love with the way he writes his own songs. He points out how his real relationships always interfere with his art game. SZA and Kendrick both touch on both sides of love giving a dual feel to the song overall and showing how they work so well together.
GNX is really a masterpiece of its time. Kendricks impatient instrumentals that seem to chase his voice instead of his voice chasing it. Which points to how Kendrick always sets the president for rappers that wish to make a difference. His real vocals and how he always has messages in between the lines shows how his pen game is really genius. Kendrick Lamar’s album ¨GNX¨ has an important love tone and that’s shown through his sharp to the point lyrics in songs such as ¨peekaboo¨ and his smoother vocals like in ¨luther¨.
