Rap-legend Kendrick Lamar drops surprise album

Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning artist and rapper Kendrick Lamar dropped a surprise album last Friday, titled “GNX,” and once again proved himself to be the greatest rapper of all time, this time by literally screaming that at the listener.

wacced out murals

Starting the album strong with a haunting choir, abrasive strings and hard-hitting drums, Lamar tells the listener what to expect from “GNX.”

Aiming his pen at the rap genre, Lamar lays the groundwork for his “I’m the best” mentality that he boasts throughout the album.

“Know you a god, even when they say you ain’t,” a line that is repeated frequently throughout the track gives insight into Lamar’s thought process.

Overall, “wacced out murals” proves to be one of the best intros to an album and perfectly lays out what’s to come for the next 48 minutes.

“But it ain’t no legends if my legend ends.”

squabble up

Starting the song hot with some of the most exhilarating 30 seconds from any Lamar track, the Compton rapper immediately lets the listener know this new Kendrick has been reborn and reignited his pen-game for what’s to come.

“I got friends, I got foes, but they all sittin’ ducks.”

At face value, it seems Lamar is just aiming at the foes part of that sentence, but given the mention of rapper Lil Wayne in the previous track, as well as subtle jabs at other artists Lamar once considered friends, this line is him letting the listener know no one is safe from his pen.

luther

Featuring SZA, “luther” slows the album down a bit and gives the listener the first taste of introspective Kendrick.

The song follows two people confessing their love to each other, while also looking into the rough, wild and sometimes scary world that is loving someone in the modern age. The song is also used as an allegory for the trials, tribulations and struggles that people of color, specifically Black folks, face in America.

man at the garden

“I deserve it all.”

This track is Lamar telling the listener exactly what he deserves and how hard he’s truly worked to keep the rap industry advancing. He continues to push the “I’m the best” narrative, while also laying out the accolades he’s received across the years for his work.

He also calls into question the listener and the world and asks why they believe they deserve him and his art. What did the world do to deserve Kendrick Lamar?

“Tell me why you think you deserve the greatest of all time.”

hey now

“You crash out, then you better break the backboard.”

Lamar tells the listener right from the jump with “wacced out murals” what he’s truly planning with this album, and then solidifies that with “hey now.”

reincarnated

“I got this fire burnin’ in me from within.”

Lamar describes the fire that drives him to not want, but need to be the best, and how that plus the fame and fortune that has come with his success has destroyed him. Describing how he is continuously reincarnated, he hints at it in “squabble up,” but once again doubles down on these concepts of religious torment and the need to be a god, while only being a man.

“I rewrote the Devil’s story just to take our power back, ‘carnated.”

tv off

Not much to say about this song other than it needs to be listened to and whatever spirit compelled Kendrick to Goku yell “Mustard” needs to remain in the booth for the rest of the rapper’s career.

dodger blue

The first song on the album to not offer much or resonate the way the rest of the album does. It is not a bad song by any means, but it is a throw-away compared to prior songs on the album.

peekaboo

“peekaboo” is Lamar having fun and enjoying a beat, but similarly to “dodger blue” it doesn’t resonate nearly as much as a song like “man at the garden.”

heart pt. 6

Lamar breaks down the rap legends who inspired his career in another introspective track off the album; this time describing his young desires to have these legends on his songs, and now how he feels he has surpassed them in terms of quality. “heart pt. 6” is stark contrast to the Kendrick heard throughout the rest of the album, but it reminds the listener of how far he has come in his career that has now spans over a decade.

gnx

“Tell ‘em Kendrick did it.” 

The titular song is the penultimate end to the album and features the repeated “Tell ‘em Kendrick did it” verse as Lamar takes credit for a multitude of accomplishments. All of which truly can be attributed to Lamar.

gloria

Ending the album with another joint song with SZA, Lamar takes a similar approach to “luther,” describing a mildly toxic relationship between two lovers, with the allegory that this is his relationship with the rap industry.

Overall, Lamar’s surprise album did not disappoint and proves again why he remains on top. This album, however, did not feel like a complete project, only a teaser to something that is coming. Hot off the trail of the Drake beef, Lamar wasted no time again establishing himself as the best to ever do it.

Lamar is correct in his assertion in this album that he is the greatest rapper of all time. It is time for the music industry as a whole to give this man his flowers.