In an interview with Ebro Darden and Nadeska Alexis on Apple Music, Kendrick Lamar spoke about what inspired him to pivot from the intimate approach he took on Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers to the hyper-localized, hard-hitting GNX.
At around the 38-minute mark of the interview, which can be seen here, Ebro asked K Dot about his head space between the release of Morale and GNX, and why he decided to commit to the heavy West Coast sound when he did. “My cousins were like DJ Quik, and [Dr.] Dre, these folks that my people were playing. So I always had that DNA, and you heard that DNA a little bit in good kid, m.A.A.d city, but I wanted to tell my story first," he explained. "Fast forward to GNX, I felt it was just a perfect time ‘cause not only the energy was lost, but it was an energy that was bubbling inside of me as well. I wanted to go back to the forefront of the bite and the grit of rap."
Mr. Morale saw Kendrick at his most intimate, with heavy subject matter including trauma and his complicated relationship with fame. GNX, meanwhile, is straight to the point with hard-hitting production and a significantly shorter run time.
"Just hard raps, and hard-ass beats. And that’s the basics for me," he continued. "I thought about, ‘Damn, what I like when I was a kid? Hard raps and good beats that’s smacking, right?' It was a great transition from Mr. Morale, because that was my most intimate. I wanted to go inside my psyche and my withdrawals and see how it connects with the public and who can relate. So, during this time around I think it was necessary to come out of that cocoon and feel like, ‘Okay, I’ve arrived now. I can spread my wings and show every state of who I am as far as Kendrick Lamar.'“
It worked out well for the rapper, who scored his fifth No. 1 album with GNX after a landmark year that featured the biggest rap beef in recent history. Alongside the West Coast-flavored production, almost all of the guest vocalists on the record are very much a part of that scene. He had toyed around with these sounds before—most notably on his breakthrough album good kid, m.A.A.d city—but the heavy Los Angeles feel was nowhere as prevalent as it is on GNX.
