2 weeks Ago By Jude Noel
In 2024, became the master of the anti-rollout: Since the start of the year, he’s turned 12 words’ worth of X posts and of accompanied by still images to Instagram into , , and , in New Orleans. Between his guest appearance on Future and Metro Boomin’s “ ” and his chart-topping victory lap “Not Like Us,” Kendrick seized the country’s attention by lobbing diss after diss at its most commercially dominant rap star, not quite deposing , but certainly leaving a permanent stain on his image, accusing him of sex trafficking, pedophilia, and cultural colonization. The beef simmered, after Drake’s half-hearted and occasionally confusing response “ ” as Kendrick made his moves strategically, showing out for , , and Super Bowl announcement.
This morning, however, Kendrick uploaded a cryptic, minutelong snippet titled “GNX” to YouTube, and, even more unexpectedly, dropped just before noon. The new LP is more accessible than 2022’s complicated , harkening back to the pop of 2017’s and dabbling in bouncy West Coast club slappers and slick synth-pop across a relatively tidy 45-minute experience. Further exploring the nervy, Drakeo the Ruler-inspired flow that made the punchlines on “Not Like Us” so memorable, he’s also brought a new generation of SoCal upstarts along for the ride, tapping local emcees like AzChike, Peysoh, and YoungThreat for collaborations.
Here are five takeaways that stood out while spinning the first few times. After ushering in summer 2024 with an all-out offensive against the OVO camp, Kendrick spares Drake the ire (or satisfaction) of another name-drop on , but that doesn’t mean he’s taken a pacifist turn. With opener “Wacced Out Murals,” he comes out swinging, taking quick shots at those who’ve aligned with the opposing side.
Spitting venom over sirens and staccato strings, Kendrick puts his former heroes in the crosshairs, reflecting on when Kendrick was selected to play the Super Bowl halftime show in Weezy’s hometown, and calling out Snoop Dogg for posting to Instagram upon release. may not be a major mobilization in the war between Aubrey’s Angels and TDE’s disciples, but there’s just enough pot-stirring to fuel discourse through Thanksgiving. Despite the single’s litany of quotable punchlines, it was arguably Mustard’s production on “Not Like Us,” which arranged a stuttering Monk Higgins sample over railgun kick drums, that kept audiences hitting replay well beyond its release date.
His work set the tone for the menacing hyphy sound that dominates much of . Mustard was enlisted to produce two tracks on the record, “Hey Now” and “TV Off,” and the club-ready cuts “ ” and “Peekaboo” were clearly produced with “Not Like Us” in mind. (“Squabble Up,” of course was already previewed in the “Not Like Us” video.
) There’s still plenty of room for quiet contemplation on , but there’s no shortage of party playlist fodder either. Fans may have been surprised to find out that was listed as a co-producer of Kendrick’s “ ” diss in May, but the credit makes much more sense now. Along with Top Dawg Entertainment’s in-house producer Sounwave, the pop super-producer worked on almost all of ’s tracks, likely contributing to the album’s lush timbres, orchestral flourishes and synth-heavy nostalgia fuel.
Kendrick’s rumored Taylor Swift collaboration may not have materialized on , but her right-hand man’s fingerprints are all over the new release. With “Heart Pt. 6,” Kendrick continues the long-running biographical series that he’s been updating since 2010, ignoring which served as a white flag ending the spring’s diss war.
This time around, Kendrick details his split with TDE to form his own creative communications company, pgLang. Former labelmates Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and Schoolboy Q appear as characters in Kendrick’s recollections of early recording sessions, which he says taught him the skills he needed to forge his own path: “I guess my motivation was the yearnin’ for independence,” he raps. “Now it’s about Kendrick, I wanna evolve, place my skillset as a Black exec.
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