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Kendrick Lamar’s reputation precedes him. With each studio album, he’s amassed critical praise and chart success. His projects evoke cinematic imagery, contain original poetry and are sometimes framed as a therapy session. With Lamar, his previous work often overshadows his new releases.

Lamar surprised fans on Nov. 21 with “GNX,” his sixth studio album, after a summer of musical volleys fired at Drake, like “euphoria,” “6:16 in LA” and, of course, “Not Like Us.” The ubiquitous song of the summer, “Not Like Us” brought a series of allegations against hip-hop megastar Drake. On its way to shattering streaming records and piling up Grammy nominations, “Not Like Us” created buzz that a new album was in the works.

Now, the album’s here.

“GNX” marks Lamar’s first album with pgLang, a creative company he formed in 2020 with filmmaker and friend Dave Free. Free was mentioned in some of the summer’s diss tracks, with Drake alleging that one of Lamar’s kids had been fathered by Free instead of Lamar on the song “Family Matters.”

So, defining “GNX” is daunting.

The album’s title references a Buick Grand National, which Lamar’s father drove to the hospital on the day Lamar was born. It’s a partial tribute to Lamar’s hometown of Compton, California, and West Coast hip-hop overall.

The work is his first album since “good kid, M.A.A.D. city” to draw from G-funk beats and features many rising stars in the West Coast scene. But, some collaborators on the album reflect Lamar’s seismic influence in the industry, with pop star SZA appearing on two tracks and super-producer Jack Antonoff, known for his work with Taylor Swift, credited on 11 of the 12 songs on “GNX.”

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Lamar’s shots at OVO and Drake are part of a broader movement in the entertainment industry of exposing truths, like comedian Katt Williams addressing Diddy’s allegations on Shannon Sharpe’s podcast in January.

This summer, I worried Lamar stooped beneath himself. I like “Not Like Us” as much as the next person, but I also agree with Steph Curry’s assessment at the Olympics — “it’s not the only song in America.” Its popularity may be the result of shady practices at Universal Music Group, as Drake alleged in a recent lawsuit.

“GNX” moves Lamar into a confusing new era. Sure, there’s shots at Drake and plenty of victory-lapping on “GNX.” Yet it seems like Lamar’s “Watch The Party Die,” released on Sept. 11, was his last word about the feud.

The album draws listeners into a dramatic world with “wacced out murals,” a beat that feels like a boxer’s introduction to the ring as Lamar addresses character assassination. Lamar understands noise from the public is insignificant as long as you “keep your head down and work,” freeing him from this summer’s spectre.

“squabble up,” which was initially teased in the “Not Like Us” music video, is full of swagger, an infectious call-and-response bridge and plenty of smack talk. “luther,” featuring SZA, has a slower R&B beat. It’s thematically similar to Nas and Lauryn Hill’s “If I Ruled the World,” using the metaphor of concrete flowers to express hope for a world where resilience is rewarded.

The album’s centerpiece, “man at the garden,” is a monologue alluding to Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane before his arrest and crucifixion. It’s Lamar’s somber prayer where he addresses his relationship with God, his family and his fans.

Lamar seems bothered by his role in this summer’s feud, with unclear intentions and his pleas for validation from audiences as the greatest rapper of all time. “man at the garden” is the standout on “GNX,” a perplexing moment of retrospection contradicting the rest of the album.

Back to energetic thrillers with “hey now,” “reincarnated” and “tv off” — the latter being an instant hit on social media because of Lamar’s “Mustard” yell — “GNX” continues to lack a cohesive theme. On the one hand, there’s tons of swagger, but, on the other, plenty of introspection. “reincarnated” readily addresses these contradictions with a dialogue in the final verse, focusing on Lamar’s mission to capture light and serve harmonious purposes.

After a few more nondescript West Coast tributes, “heart pt. 6” continues Lamar’s “The Heart” series, installments from the depths of his psyche starting in 2010, addressing his motivations for creative freedom. Those motivations, among others, caused the Black Hippy collective to fail, but Lamar became a mouthpiece for a generation. “heart pt. 6” is an evaluation of Lamar’s own creative growth and the potential of hip-hop to change history.

“gloria” concludes the album with an extended metaphor referencing Lamar’s pen, symbolically representing his gift as a rapper. Lamar’s creative gifts enabled him to speak on social truths and lift him out of poverty. The song closes an album without consistent focus by addressing the art form itself, recontextualizing “GNX” as an exploration of hip-hop’s power for consequential cultural shifts, rather than a mere victory lap.

Lamar, a Pulitzer Prize-winner with 17 Grammys and an album archived at Harvard’s library, has produced some of the most thought-provoking music of his generation. But this summer was redundant. Luckily, “GNX” has enough new ideas to maintain his reputation for conscious and complex music.

“GNX” isn’t about social injustice, nor is it about Lamar’s personal struggles. Rather, it’s a meta-modern work balancing crowd-pleasing boasts and a philosophical evaluation of an artform. With “GNX,” Lamar takes hip-hop to a self-referential place, where the cultural impact of the form is critiqued within the form itself.

Though not as readily conscious as “To Pimp a Butterfly” or “DAMN.,” the short runtime of “GNX” reflects a man bogged down by contradictions, stuck between loyalties to a culture that wants accountability from perceived sinners and harmony from the whole. Division and harmony form a dialectic where Lamar is pulled between being a weapon of truth and a source of unity.

Some fans speculate “GNX” foreshadows another drop soon. Lamar will be in New Orleans for the Super Bowl halftime show Feb. 9, 2025. I think he’ll stay quiet until then. Lamar’s been a savior, a prophet and a poet. Like Alexander the Great, Kendrick Lamar has no more worlds to conquer.

Published on December 4, 2024 at 11:22 pm