Kendrick Lamar Addressed it All on ‘GNX’

Sometimes you just gotta pop out…with a new album.

Kendrick Lamar shocked the world with the surprise drop of GNX, his sixth studio album and his first not released under the TDE banner. (The album is out via pgLang and Interscope.)

GNX is lean and mighty—12 tracks and under an hour long. With the exception of SZA and producers like Sounwave, Jack Antonoff, and Mustard, the album mostly highlights newer, underground voices like Dody6, Hitta J3, and others.

It's an interesting move from Kendrick. After a year where he bested Drake in a rap battle, released the No. 1 rap single of the year, and cemented his place as top dog by getting the Super Bowl halftime performance slot, Kendrick could have gone bigger, more mainstream with this release. But instead of crafting a glossy, commercial album, he chose to focus on something more local—an album dedicated to his city, full of regional sounds and cultural callbacks.

In short, GNX is more "pop out" than Super Bowl.

Even the album's release signaled something understated: Kendrick teased GNX on his YouTube and finsta on Friday morning, sharing a snippet of a song that doesn’t even appear on the final tracklist. By the time fans processed the teaser, the full album had already dropped, with K.Dot sending out the link.

GNX is Kendrick's first release since Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, and it represents a complete 180 from that album. While Mr. Morale was long, complex, and introspective, GNX is stripped-down, confrontational, and to the point.