GNX | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 22, 2024 | |||
Genre | West Coast hip hop | |||
Length | 44:20 | |||
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Kendrick Lamar chronology | ||||
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Singles from GNX | ||||
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GNX is the sixth studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was surprise released on November 22, 2024, through PGLang and Interscope Records. The album features guest appearances from SZA, Dody6, Lefty Gunplay, Wallie the Sensei, Siete7x, Roddy Ricch, AzChike, Hitta J3, YoungThreat, and Peysoh. Production was primarily handled by Sounwave and Jack Antonoff, alongside Mustard, Sean Momberger, and Kamasi Washington, among others. Titled after the Buick Regal model and following his feud with Canadian musician Drake, GNX is Lamar's first album to be released after his departure from longtime labels Top Dawg Entertainment and Aftermath Entertainment. [1] [2]
GNX was released to widespread critical acclaim and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, giving Lamar his fifth number-one album. [3] It also topped the charts in numerous countries including Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, Denmark and the UK. [4] [5] [6] It was supported by three singles: "Squabble Up", "TV Off", and "Luther". Lamar and SZA will additionally embark on the Grand National Tour in 2025 to further promote the album.
Kendrick Lamar released his fifth studio album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers , on May 13, 2022, to critical and commercial success. [7] [8] After concluding The Big Steppers Tour in March 2024, [9] Lamar shared on social media that he had purchased a vintage, limited-run 1987 Buick Grand National Experimental (GNX), [10] the same model that his father used to take him home from the hospital following his birth. [11] [12]
Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers was Lamar's last album with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), to which he had signed in 2005. [13] Before his feud with Canadian rapper Drake re-escalated, [14] he quietly departed from Aftermath Entertainment and signed a direct licensing agreement with its distributor, Interscope Records. [15] [note 1] Lamar released five standalone singles during the latest installment of their conflict, including the Billboard Hot 100-toppers "Like That" and "Not Like Us". [16] [17] The rapper teased a then-untitled song in the beginning of the music video for the latter. Entertainment Weekly observed its inclusion and fan speculation that it could be included in his next album; [18] the song was revealed to be "Squabble Up". [19] [20]
Rumors surrounding Lamar's forthcoming album began to emerge, with some being denied by close affiliates. [21] After announcing that he was chosen as the headlining act for the Super Bowl LIX halftime show, [22] Lamar surprise released "Watch the Party Die" on his Instagram account. Rolling Stone said that the track bodes well for his next album–"whenever it comes". [23] Dazed , on the other hand, predicted that he was gearing up for an "astronomical" era. [24] By October, Lamar's longtime collaborators Terrace Martin, SZA, and Schoolboy Q confirmed that he would be releasing new music. [25] [26] [27]
GNX consists of 12 songs and has a running time of 44 minutes and 20 seconds; the shortest studio album of Lamar's career. [28] Although no tracks from his feud with Drake are included, its sentiment "still looms over the album", according to Vulture . [29] It is a West Coast hip-hop album, [30] [31] drawing on both classic and contemporary conventions of the genre. [32] According to Rolling Stone, the album is a tribute to Lamar's native Los Angeles, prominently infusing G-funk throughout its compositions. [33]
The Mexican singer Deyra Barrera is featured on both opening and closing tracks of the album, as well as in "Reincarnated", after Lamar saw the singer perform at a Los Angeles Dodgers game. [34] The production team played Barrera the instrumentation arrangements, and gave her a description of the emotions Lamar wanted to evoke throughout the album. [35] "Reincarnated" sees Lamar present himself in the perspectives of musicians John Lee Hooker and Billie Holiday [a] before the lyrics transition to him having a conversation with God. [31] "TV Off" features "clipped strings" that "dissolve into Viking-berserker horns" halfway through. [38] As the percussion of the second part fades in, Lamar is heard "animatedly" screaming Mustard's name; this has since became an Internet meme. [39] [40] On "Heart Pt. 6", he recounts his history with TDE and the supergroup Black Hippy, acknowledging his role in the group falling apart due to creative differences. [41] Ben Sisario of The New York Times noted that it is an "implicit rejoinder" to Drake's diss track of the same name, which in itself was taken from Lamar's "The Heart" song series. [42] The title track, "GNX", is a posse cut with Los Angeles rappers Peysoh, Hitta J3 and YoungThreat. Lamar does not have a verse, instead providing a hook questioning "who put the West back in front of shit?" [31] [43]
On November 22, 2024, Lamar unexpectedly premiered a one-minute teaser for GNX on YouTube and Instagram. [42] [44] The album was surprise released through PGLang and Interscope 30 minutes later. [45] [46]
On December 3, 2024, Lamar announced the Grand National Tour, co-headlined with SZA, in support of the album. [47] The tour is scheduled to begin on April 19, 2025, in Minneapolis and conclude on June 18, 2025, in Landover. [48]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 8.5/10 [49] |
Metacritic | 87/100 [50] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [36] |
Clash | 9/10 [51] |
Consequence | B+ [52] |
Dork | [53] |
Exclaim! | 9/10 [32] |
The Guardian | [37] |
NME | [54] |
Paste | 9.1/10 [55] |
Pitchfork | 6.6/10 [56] |
Rolling Stone | [57] |
Upon release, GNX received widespread acclaim from music critics. [58] [59] [60] On the review aggregator website Metacritic , GNX received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 87 out of 100 from 19 critics. [50]
Various reviews considered it a victory lap for Lamar after his hip-hop feuds throughout 2024. [51] [57] [61] [62] Critics who praised the album's tributes to West Coast hip-hop and Lamar's abilities to distill various elements to create a cohesive record include Exclaim! 's Wesley McLean [32] and Variety 's Peter Berry. [63] Paste's Matt Mitchell upheld the album as a reimagination of rap's future and Lamar's past, [55] and NME 's Kyann-Sian Williams was impressed by the warm storytelling that acted as a palate cleanser after the diss tracks and loathing that had dominated the hip-hop scene. [54] Williams contended that GNX is an "easy contender for the rap album of 2024", [54] and Tom Breihan of Stereogum hailed it as the year's best record and Lamar's "greatest work" yet. [38]
Many critics focused on Lamar's self-depiction as a driving cultural force in hip-hop. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian commented that GNX found Lamar at his most confrontational, "deferring only to God". [37] In The Line of Best Fit , Matthew Kim described it as "a concise statement of regional pride, braggadocio, and non-conformity", crediting Jack Antonoff's production for making the album feel "lush and expansive". [31] Rolling Stone's Mosi Reeves felt that GNX provided more than sufficient explanations for why Lamar is the "GOAT of 2024" but not answers to a bigger cultural question of structural changes in hip-hop, labelling the album "yet another treatise on hip-hop corporatism". [57] Concluding the review for AllMusic, David Crone made several claims about the album, calling it, "a pillar of reflective realness, a flag planted in the lineage of Black musical visionaries, a silhouette of the West Coast in the high beams of fame -- and Kendrick's most speaker-knocking set to date." [36]
In a mixed review from Pitchfork , Alphonse Pierre wrote that the album's supposed authenticity was blemished by Lamar's "heavy-handed, brand-conscious narrative", highlighting the production that is "too clean and synthetic", although his delivery remained stellar and the musical guests were memorable. [56] In congruence, Will Hodgkinson of The Times shared his disappointment towards Lamar's self-aggrandizement that deviated from his intellectually provocative themes on past albums, despite the "frequently exceptional" production and flow. [64] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times considered Lamar's tribute to his California roots somewhat a retreat to his "comfort zone", calling the album "impressive but slight". [65]
GNX appeared on multiple publications' lists of the best albums of the 2024, including a top spot by Complex . [66] It was featured in the top 5 of The A.V. Club , [67] Billboard , [68] Dazed , [69] KTLA, [70] Stereogum, [71] and The Washington Post , [72] and the top 10 of BrooklynVegan , [73] Consequence , [74] DIY , [75] Esquire , [76] The Line of Best Fit, [77] The Ringer , [78] and Yardbarker. [79] GNX was also listed in the top 20 by Clash , [80] Exclaim!, [81] The Independent , [82] Los Angeles Times , [83] Loud and Quiet , [84] NME, [85] Paste, [86] and The Times, [87] while Rolling Stone, [88] Slant Magazine , [89] and The Quietus [90] placed the album within their top 50. Publications that featured GNX in unranked lists and as part of honorable mentions include Associated Press, [91] HuffPost , [92] Hypebeast, [93] KCRW, [94] NPR, [95] and Uproxx . [96] On individual critics' lists, the album was respectively ranked third, fifth and seventh by Jem Aswad, Steven J. Horowitz and Chris Willman, the critics for Variety, [97] whilst Dan DeLuca of The Philadelphia Inquirer numbered GNX at twelfth. [98]
Publication/critic | List | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
The A.V. Club | The 25 Best Albums of 2024 | 4 | [67] |
Billboard | Staff List: The 50 Best Albums of 2024 | 4 | [68] |
Complex | The 50 Best Albums of 2024 | 1 | [66] |
Consequence | The 50 Best Albums of 2024 | 10 | [74] |
Dazed | The 20 Best Albums of 2024 | 5 | [69] |
Esquire | The 10 Best Albums of 2024 | 6 | [76] |
The Line of Best Fit | The Best Albums of 2024 | 9 | [77] |
NME | The 50 Best Albums of 2024 | 12 | [85] |
Stereogum | The 50 Best Albums Of 2024 | 3 | [71] |
The Washington Post | The best albums of 2024 | 3 | [72] |
GNX earned over 44.2 million first-day streams on the global Spotify chart, averaging over 3.6 million streams per song despite being available only seven hours prior. [99] It also simultaneously occupied the top two slots on the American Spotify charts, with "Squabble Up" being at number one with 3.272 million streams. [100] GNX became Lamar's first number-one album on the UK Albums Chart since To Pimp a Butterfly (2015). [101]
In the United States, GNX debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 319,000 album-equivalent units, including 379.72 million official on-demand streams and 32,000 pure sales, despite only being available via streaming and standard digital downloads. It crossed 500,000 album-equivalent units by the second week. [102] It marked Lamar's fifth consecutive number-one album in the country and scored the sixth-largest opening week of 2024, among all albums. Furthermore, GNX logged the year's biggest streaming week for any hip-hop or R&B album, the second-biggest debut streaming week, and the third-largest streaming week overall, only behind Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department . [103] All 12 songs from GNX debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, occupying the entire top five simultaneously. [104] Lamar is the fourth artist in history to monopolize the premier spots, joining Swift, Drake, and the Beatles. [105]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Wacced Out Murals" |
| 5:17 | |
2. | "Squabble Up" |
|
| 2:37 |
3. | "Luther" (with SZA) |
|
| 2:57 |
4. | "Man at the Garden" |
|
| 3:53 |
5. | "Hey Now" (featuring Dody6) |
|
| 3:37 |
6. | "Reincarnated" |
|
| 4:35 |
7. | "TV Off" (featuring Lefty Gunplay) |
|
| 3:40 |
8. | "Dodger Blue" (featuring Wallie the Sensei, Siete7x, and Roddy Ricch) |
|
| 2:11 |
9. | "Peekaboo" (featuring AzChike) |
|
| 2:35 |
10. | "Heart Pt. 6" |
| 4:52 | |
11. | "GNX" (featuring Hitta J3, YoungThreat, and Peysoh) |
|
| 3:13 |
12. | "Gloria" (with SZA) |
|
| 4:47 |
Total length: | 44:20 |
Notes
Sample and interpolation credits
Musicians
Technical
Chart (2024) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [115] | 1 |
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA) [116] | 1 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [117] | 2 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [118] | 3 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [119] | 5 |
Canadian Albums (Billboard) [120] | 1 |
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI) [121] | 6 |
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) [122] | 1 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [123] | 1 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [124] | 7 |
French Albums (SNEP) [125] | 11 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [126] | 8 |
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [127] | 2 |
Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn) [128] | 3 |
Irish Albums (OCC) [129] | 1 |
Italian Albums (FIMI) [130] | 11 |
Japanese Combined Albums (Oricon) [131] | 45 |
Japanese Hot Albums ( Billboard Japan ) [132] | 52 |
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA) [133] | 1 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [134] | 1 |
Nigerian Albums (TurnTable) [135] | 4 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [136] | 1 |
Polish Albums (ZPAV) [137] | 4 |
Portuguese Albums (AFP) [138] | 2 |
Slovak Albums (ČNS IFPI) [139] | 5 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [140] | 8 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [141] | 1 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [142] | 2 |
UK Albums (OCC) [143] | 1 |
UK R&B Albums (OCC) [144] | 1 |
US Billboard 200 [145] | 1 |
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [146] | 1 |
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth is an American rapper and songwriter. Regarded as one of the most influential hip-hop artists of his generation, and one of the greatest rappers of all time, he is known for his technical artistry and complex songwriting. He was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first musician outside of the classical and jazz genres to receive the honor.
Good Kid, M.A.A.D City is the second studio album by the American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on October 22, 2012, by Interscope Records, Top Dawg Entertainment and Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment. The album features guest appearances from Drake, Dr. Dre, Jay Rock, Anna Wise and MC Eiht. It is Lamar's first major label album, after his independently released first album Section.80 in 2011 and his signing to Aftermath and Interscope the following year.
Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label. Specializing in hip hop and R&B artists, TDE is based in Carson, California. The label was founded in 2004 by record producer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, who is the chief executive officer. His son, Anthony "Moosa" Tiffith Jr., and Terrence "Punch" Henderson are the presidents of the label.
Solána Imani Rowe, known professionally as SZA, is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained recognition through her self-released EPs See.SZA.Run (2012) and S (2013), which helped her become the first female artist to sign with Top Dawg Entertainment. Her third EP, Z (2014), was her first project to be released to digital retailers and reached the top-ten on the U.S. Independent Albums chart.
To Pimp a Butterfly is the third studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on March 15, 2015, by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album was recorded in studios throughout the United States, with production from Sounwave, Terrace Martin, Taz "Tisa" Arnold, Thundercat, Rahki, LoveDragon, Flying Lotus, Pharrell Williams, Boi-1da, Knxwledge, and several other high-profile hip-hop producers, as well as executive production from Dr. Dre and Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. Guest appearances include Thundercat, George Clinton, Bilal, Anna Wise, Snoop Dogg, James Fauntleroy, Ronald Isley, and Rapsody.
"Untitled 02 | 06.23.2014." is a song by the American rapper Kendrick Lamar, featured on his compilation album, Untitled Unmastered. The song was produced by Cardo and Yung Exclusive.
Ctrl is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter SZA. It was released on June 9, 2017, by Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and RCA Records. The album features guest appearances from Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, James Fauntleroy, and Isaiah Rashad. Production was handled by Craig Balmoris, Frank Dukes, Carter Lang, Scum, and ThankGod4Cody, among others. The album was supported by five singles: "Drew Barrymore", "Love Galore", "The Weekend", "Broken Clocks", and "Garden ", all of which are certified Platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
"The Heart Part 4" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Kendrick Lamar. It was released on March 23, 2017, by Top Dawg Entertainment. The track features uncredited vocals from American singer Khalid. The song contains samples from "Don't Tell a Lie about Me and I Won't Tell the Truth on You" by James Brown and "I Love You" by Faith Evans. The song did not make the final cut on his fourth album DAMN. (2017).
"Humble" is a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on March 30, 2017, along with its music video, by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The song was written by Lamar and producers Mike Will Made It and Pluss. The lyrics are a call to humility. It was provided to rhythmic contemporary radio as the lead single from Lamar's fourth studio album, Damn.
Damn is the fourth studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar, released on April 14, 2017, through Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. Lamar assembled numerous artists and producers to produce the album, including executive producer and Top Dawg Entertainment label-head Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, Sounwave, DJ Dahi, Mike Will Made It, and Ricci Riera, as well as further production contributions from James Blake, Steve Lacy, BadBadNotGood, Greg Kurstin, the Alchemist, and 9th Wonder, among others. It features guest appearances from Rihanna, Zacari, and U2.
"All the Stars" is a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar and American singer SZA. Written alongside Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith and producers Sounwave and Al Shux, the song was released on January 4, 2018, as the lead single to the soundtrack album of the film Black Panther. Its release coincided with Top Dawg Entertainment's announcement that Tiffith and Lamar would be producing the Black Panther soundtrack album. Marvel Studios confirmed the news and revealed that Lamar was hand-picked by Black Panther's director Ryan Coogler to produce the soundtrack album. The song appeared in the movie's end credits.
American rapper Kendrick Lamar has released six studio albums, one compilation album, one extended play (EP), one soundtrack album, and five mixtapes. His records have sold more than 17.9 million album-equivalent units worldwide, 7.5 million of which are certified in the United States. Throughout his career, he has earned four number-one albums on the US Billboard 200.
The American rapper Kendrick Lamar has released 72 singles and five promotional singles. 29 of those singles were as a lead artist, while 43 were as a featured artist. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Lamar's digital singles registered 41 million certified units, based on sales and on-demand streaming, as of June 2024. On the US Billboard Hot 100, as of December 2024, Lamar has garnered five number-one songs, 87 total chart entries, 57 top-40 entries, 38 top-20 entries, 22 top-10 entries, 17 top-10 debuts, 14 top-5 entries, and three number-one debuts.
"Wacced Out Murals" is a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released through PGLang and Interscope Records from his sixth studio album, GNX, on November 22, 2024. The song was produced by Sounwave, Jack Antonoff, Craig Balmoris, Dahi, Frano, and Tyler Reese, with additional production by M-Tech and Tim Maxey. The song features vocals by Mexican mariachi-singer Deyra Barrera.
"Squabble Up" is a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar from his sixth studio album, GNX, released by pgLang and Interscope Records on November 26, 2024 as the lead single from the album alongside the B-side "TV Off". Initially teased in the music video for Lamar's diss track "Not Like Us", released on July 4, 2024, a 15-second snippet of the song appeared as Lamar walked through a dark hallway. Lamar produced the song with Sounwave, Jack Antonoff, and Bridgeway, with additional production by M-Tech. The track gained additional attention after being featured in promotional material for Mercedes AMG's Formula One campaign and during an NBA broadcast, eventually going viral on TikTok.
"Luther" is a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar and American singer-songwriter SZA. It was released as the second single from Lamar's sixth studio album, GNX on November 29, 2024. The song was written by both Lamar and SZA, along with Atia Boggs and Sam Dew, while production was handled by Sounwave, Jack Antonoff, Bridgeway, Kamasi Washington, M-Tech and Rose Lilah. The song is titled after R&B and soul singer Luther Vandross.
"Reincarnated" is a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar, released on November 22, 2024 from his sixth studio album GNX. It contains a sample of "Made Niggaz" by Tupac Shakur and was produced by Sounwave, Jack Antonoff, Lamar himself, M-Tech and Noah Ehler.
"TV Off" is a song written and recorded by American rapper Kendrick Lamar for his sixth studio album, GNX (2024). It was released on November 26, 2024, alongside the A-side "Squabble Up", and features guest vocals by rapper Lefty Gunplay. It was produced by Sounwave, Jack Antonoff, Mustard, Kamasi Washington, and Sean Momberger.
"Heart Pt. 6" is a song recorded by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was surprise-released under PGLang and Interscope Records as the tenth track from his sixth studio album, GNX, on November 22, 2024. It serves as the sixth installment in "The Heart" song series, and the first to not be a promotional single released prior to a project. The song was produced by Lojo and Jack Antonoff, with additional production by M-Tech and Juju. The song features uncredited vocals from R&B trio SWV, sampled from their track "Use Your Heart", written and produced by Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams, as the Neptunes. The track also features additional background vocals from American singer Sam Dew.
"30 for 30" is a song by American singer-songwriter SZA and American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released as the third track from Lana (2024), the reissue of SZA's second studio album SOS (2022) on December 20, 2024.