Kendrick Lamar surprised fans today with a new project, GNX, on Apple Music and other streaming services.
Fans were alerted to the arrival of what was initially assumed to be merely a snippet (see above), with a few choice lines popping out on inaugural listens. The larger picture became clear, however, when the full project was discovered.
The album, spanning 12 tracks and 44 minutes, is his first to be released exclusively through pgLang and Interscope Records. Its unveiling comes at a pivotal time, post-beef and post-Super Bowl headliner announcement.
Notable titles include “heart part 6,” a title Drake previously co-opted amid his and Kendrick’s historic back-and-forth, which dominated the year in hip-hop music.
The album’s credits reveal frequent appearances from producer and songwriter (and Bleachers frontman) Jack Antonoff, who previously co-helmed Kendrick’s “6:16 in LA” with Sounwave. Antonoff, of course, is a key figure in the Taylor Swift universe, which just under a decade ago tapped Kendrick for a “Bad Blood” remix. The album also features lesser known West Coast rappers like AzChike and Dody6.
GNX follows Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, which took home the Best Rap Album at the 2023 Grammys. At next year’s edition of the Recording Academy’s annual celebration of music’s finest, Kendrick is up for multiple potential wins, including “Not Like Us” for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
In February, Kendrick will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show in New Orleans. The announcement was undeniably shrewd, though not without controversy. Some felt that Lil Wayne should have been the pick given that NOLA is his hometown.
