Kendrick Lamar’s sixth studio album ‘GNX’ is, simply put, one of the best records yet by one of the greatest rappers of all time.

Stream: ‘GNX’ – Kendrick Lamar

Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, hitherto his most recent LP, opened with Kendrick Lamar confiding that he’d “been going through something” over the preceding “1,855 days,” which was precisely how long it had taken him to release a proper follow-up to 2017’s Pulitzer Prize-winning DAMN.

Lamar had stayed busy with various projects over the interim, including curating much of the Black Panther soundtrack, but – as he wound up demonstrating on Mr. Morale, his acclaimed 2022 comeback project – there’s not much that can surpass him having the space of a full solo album to flesh out his thoughts and skills on the mic.

GNX - Kendrick Lamar — GNX – Kendrick Lamar

GNX, which entered the cosmos as a surprise release on November 22nd, proves that much even further. This time, the wait time has been satisfyingly slashed in half – it arrives a mere 2.5 years, or roughly 900 days, after Mr. Morale – and the differences from its predecessor are far from limited to that. GNX is a considerably leaner record than Mr. Morale, clocking in at 44 minutes rather than 73. The two records share few of the same producers and guest artists, and while the rapping here is frequently boisterous, he doesn’t try to replicate the ruthlessness of “We Cry Together,” 2022’s hair-raising reenactment of an uncontrollably raging couple.

One crucial consistency remains, however: Kendrick Lamar is as dominant a force in the world of hip-hop as ever before. Even while turning 37, a past-their-prime age for many rappers, he’s managed to spend much of 2024 making that dominance obvious – nabbing the lead spot at the Super Bowl Halftime show, emerging triumphant in his questionable beef with Drake, and more. GNX manages to put a massive exclamation mark on all that in the closing weeks of the calendar year.

This album is simply teeming with verbal energy. “I got this fire burnin’ in me from within,” Lamar raps on “Reincarnated,” and the flames really do rage from there on, as the champion MC delivers devastating rhymes detailing how “I’ve been battling my soul, tryna navigate the real and fake… Cemented in pain, juggling opposing kinds of fame.” A decade-plus of celebrity has taken an evident toll on Mr. Duckworth, but he insists that it’s all worth it for the sake of quality hip-hop. “My present life is Kendrick Lamar,” he states. “The only factor I respected was raising the bar.”

And does that bar ever remain high across all of GNX. As a veteran MC, Kendrick Lamar displays plenty of hunger and lyrical command. “Squabble Up,” GNX’s lead single, has quickly claimed the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100, and Kendrick guards his throne well: “I got hits, I got bucks, I got new paper cuts. I got friends, I got foes, but they all sitting ducks,” he rhymes. Tossing in a shout-out to Kamasi Washington, who stops by yet again to contribute some of his masterful saxophone-playing to his Los Angeles comrade, serves as a solid cherry-on-top here.

Elsewhere, Lamar blends his expert lyricism and fearsome delivery consistently. His ability to shift from menacing to calm also impresses, particularly on “Man in the Garden.” In a style reminiscent of Nas’ “One Mic,” Lamar dials the intensity meter up and down and back again, all while demanding the flowers he’s earned as a long-lasting player in the rap game. “I deserve it all,” he states repeatedly. “I never ask for too much credit. Seekin’ validation just for the aesthetics.”

One commonality that does exist between Mr. Morale and GNX is that both of them feature chapters in “The Heart” series, the first chapter of which predates Kendrick Lamar’s own celebrity status (and that’s saying something at this point!) Now up to Part Six, the rapper proves this project was worthy of extension, as he maintains this series’ diaristic theme of reflecting on his current career state and also thinking about where he wants to go next (“I wanna evolve, place my skill set as a black exec’,” he hints).

Lamar may have severed his ties with Top Dawg Entertainment – GNX marks his formal departure from the label – but he remains on good terms with several TDE artists, most notably SZA. The two have collaborated on several songs already – especially 2018’s Oscar-nominated “All the Stars” – but, interestingly enough, none of them have appeared on any of Kendrick’s proper LPs. Lost time is quickly made up for: SZA demonstrates fine in-studio chemistry with Lamar on the melodic “Luther,” then spins around and does the same thing a few tracks later on “Gloria.”

Along with SZA, plenty of other guests make worthy contributions here, including a pretty long list of local L.A. rappers of various degrees of fame (Roddy Rich on the high end; Dody6, Wallie the Sensei, etc. lower down the podium). The effect is engrossing – it harkens back to Kendrick’s early, good kid, m.A.A.d city days when, before all the fame and notoriety, his musical goal was simply to take listeners on an up-to-date tour of his hometown.

In addition, these tracks benefit from the bouncy production co-efforts of Sounwave and Jack Antonoff – one of whom has worked with Kendrick Lamar a great deal, the other not so much, but both of whom were ultimately entrusted with the majority of the beats on GNX. For the most part, that decision pays off well.

Bottom Line: What we have on GNX is one of the supreme hip-hop talents in all history winning the battle against Father Time and crafting one of his finest works to date.

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