After “DAMN.” dropped, Kendrick Lamar waited five years to put out his next album, which we all know now as “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers”.
So it came to my surprise, that around noon on November 22nd after waking up from a nap, I checked twitter to see that Kendrick had dropped an album.
Obviously, due to previous events earlier in the year with a certain Canadian artist, I wasn’t expecting anything from Kendrick. At least until maybe before the Super Bowl. And with especially how personal his last album was, and then going through that feud with Drake, I wasn’t knowing to expect with this project.
What I listened to was another great piece of work once again from Kendrick. He feels comfortable on every track, never forcing anything, just being who he is/who he represents. He is LA to the core, and I think for the first time, he gets to really show it to the masses on “GNX”.
After going through several full listens, I am ready to put my thoughts on paper and let y’all hear it. Obviously its only been less than a month since the album has been out, so the rankings of my favorite songs are always subject to change. However, great music is always appreciated and will always stand the test of time.
Enough talking. Let’s get into it.
“THE YSN REVIEW”
- luther ft. SZA
- heart pt. 6
- squabble up
- reincarnated
- gloria ft. SZA
- tv off ft. Lefty Gunplay
- hey now ft. Dody6
- man at the garden
- wacced out murals
- dodger blue ft. Wallie the Sensei, Siete7x & Roddy Ricch
- gnx ft. Hitta J3, YoungThreat & Peysoh
- peekaboo ft. AzChike
The definition and explanation of “Not Like Us” is displayed throughout this whole album. LA’s greatest really came to show the world where he’s from and what it represents.
His sixth studio album came as a surprise, but no one was surprised to see the attention to detail and passion in his art. That has always been a constant.
From the second I pressed play on “wacced out murals” you know you were in for an intense, but concise listen.
“keep your head down and work like I do
But understand everybody ain’t gon’ like you”
Not only was the music incredible, but Kendrick used this album to either double down or address every thing surrounding his name. From talking about Lil Wayne, someone he used to idolize, being salty about not being for the Super Bowl in his home state of Louisiana to talking about the relationship he still holds with TDE despite the speculation.
“Whacked the murals out, but it ain’t no legends if my legend ends”
Reincarnation and mortality is something that Kendrick touches on several times on not only “GNX”, but his previous works as well.
As someone who talks about growing up as a “good kid” around a “m.A.A.d city”, Kendrick has spoken about his flirtations with death and temptations to bring it to his doorstep several times (Sherane in good kid, m.A.A.d city & walking the old lady which led to his death in DAMN.).
And just like on DAMN., Kendrick brings up the topic of mortality/reincarnation early on “Squabble Up”.
“God knows… I am… REINCARNATED”
Which brings me to another track on this album that I truly was astonished by. “Reincarnated” is a song from Kendrick that has him speak through several different vessels (artists that have passed away due to different vices) and he tells it through a story telling perspective.
I love when artists do that, now it may be way different in terms of the depth of the story and the content, but Meek Mill’s “Tony Story” series is another example of great storytelling through another persons viewpoint. Even though the characters are fictionalized, it tells a real story that grabs the listeners attention.
First off, the song has a sample of Tupac’s “Made N*****” and he’s even rapping with a Tupac-like flow, which is most likely at shot back at Drake for using an AI version of Tupac during the series of diss tracks.
In this song he talks about living through two different lives before becoming Kendrick Lamar. In his first life he was a R&B guitarist who lied to the people and died with his money, Insinuating that he was a gluttonous man that didn’t give back to his people or community at all.
It is said that Kendrick is talking about John Lee Hooker, who used different monikers, like “The Boogie Man” (something that Kendrick has called himself), to release music outside of his contract to keep the money for himself.
In his next “life”, Kendrick is talking from the perspective of Billie Holiday, a singer who used to frequent nightclubs in the Harlem area singing for people in attendance. She achieved great success, but she suffered throughout her life with drugs and alcohol, eventually dying from heart failure caused by cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 44.
The last verse is from Kendrick’s own life and perspective. And in this verse he ends up talking to God himself about his life as an artist, what he represents and asking for God’s approval of what he’s done.
And despite all the good that he’s done, God sees through all of that and tells Kendrick that he still has a love for war and he doesn’t have the ability to forgive (something that he referred to on “Father Time” when being confused how Kanye could forgive Drake).
At the end of the song, Kendrick reveals that he would give his life just to “live one in harmony now” with God, who he feels he’s let down throughout the course of his career. And at the end of each verse of the song he says the word “reincarnated”, which could signify the figurative ending of one life and the start of another.
And now back to the topic that brought us here, Kendrick’s relationship with mortality and reincarnation in his music. If we look back to “Mortal Man“, Kendrick is talking to what is understood to be the spirit of Tupac asking for advice. On “The Heart Part 5“, he talks from the perspective of both Nipsey Hussle & Kobe Bryant from the afterlife. And here on “reincarnated” he is asking God for forgiveness and guidance.
I think what Kendrick has always cared about, from the moment Snoop Dogg hailed him as the new King of the West Coast, is his legacy. On “man at the garden” he talks about wanting his respect and that “he deserves it all“, because he knows the work it took to get to this point.
In Mr. Morale, Kendrick discussed what he dealt with in his life all the way from childhood to when he became this big artist. Mental and physical abuse in his upbringing, temptations of adultery & prideful sins were all themes that were present in the introspective album we all know as, “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers”.
Now we look at GNX. GNX, named after the Buick Grand National eXperimental, is an album that represents what Kendrick has been able to accomplish & what his character represents.
“Top used to record me back when it was poor me
And now we at the round table for what assures me”
On “Not Like Us”, Kendrick made it known that it is something special to represent not only LA, but the West Coast as a whole.
He then doubled-down by making several LA anthems on this album and reiterating his stance on who’s in front at the race to the top in the music industry.
“Tell ’em Kendrick did it, ayy, who showed you how to run a blitz?
Tell ’em Kendrick did it, who put the West back in front of shit?”
And I think that’s what makes this album so special. To start on attack mode with a song like, “wacced out murals” and then to end on song like “gloria” goes to show you both sides of Kendrick’s artistry and personality.
What a listening experience this was. All eyes are on Kendrick now for his Super Bowl performance in February. Will we hear from him again before then? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Ranking my favorite albums and songs from this year is going to be equally as challenging as it will be fun.
Until next time, this is YSN, signing out.
