See moreKendrick Lamar’s GNX—his surprise-release sixth studio album—marks a monumental shift in his career. It is his first album to be released outside of the Top Dawg Entertainment umbrella and follows a high-profile feud with Drake.
If there were any remaining doubts as to hip-hop's MVP, consider the decision stamped: Kendrick Lamar officially won 2024. There were whispers that Compton's finest was working on an album in the wake of his feud with Drake, a once-in-a-generation beef that kept jaws dropped for months. (Perhaps you've heard of a little song called "Not Like Us," an immediate entry into the canon of all-time great diss tracks.) After a sold-out celebration at the Kia Forum, an armful of Grammy nods and streaming records, and the headlining slot at next year's Super Bowl, Lamar ties up his biggest year yet with a bow with his sixth album, GNX, the most legitimately surprising surprise drop since BEYONCE in 2013.
Named for his beloved classic Buick, GNX finds Kendrick wielding a hatchet he's by no means ready to bury, still channeling this summer's cranked-to-11 energy. On "wacced out murals," he's riding around listening to Anita Baker, plotting on several downfalls: "It used to be fuck that n***a, but now it's plural/Fuck everybody, that's on my body." (Yes, there's a nod to his Super Bowl drama with Lil Wayne.) If you've been holding your breath for Jack Antonoff to link with Mustard, wait no more—the seemingly odd couple share production credits on multiple tracks, the explosive "tv off" among them.
Still, K.Dot keeps you guessing: It's not quite 12 tracks of straight venom over world-conquering West Coast beats. SZA helps cool things down on the Luther Vandross-sampling "luther," while Lamar snatches back a borrowed title on "heart pt. 6" to remember the early days of TDE: "Grinding with my brothers, it was us against them, no one above us/Bless our hearts." He cycles through past lives over a flip of 2Pac's "Made N****z" on "reincarnated" before getting real with his father about war, peace, addiction, and ego death, and on "man at the garden," he outlines his qualifications for the position of GOAT. Here's another bullet point to add to that CV: On GNX, Lamar still surprises while giving the people exactly what they want.
What does GNX have to do with Kendrick Lamar?
The term “GNX” has a specific meaning – it stands for Grand National Experimental, which was a special edition version of the 1987 Buick Regal T-type. This was during Buick’s golden age in the 1980s.
The year 1987 is significant to Kendrick as his birth year. Several fan accounts allege that his family had a Buick GNX at the time, and reportedly used this vehicle to transport him home after he was born.
GNX debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 for the chart week ending November 28, 2024, moving 319,000 equivalent album units.