Today we break down Kendrick Lamar's new surprise album "GNX" and everyone who was allegedly "dissed" on it.
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00:00It was just an ordinary Friday, hip-hop fans were peeping new releases from artists like
00:04Kenny Mason and Boldy James, but it seemed like a relatively low-key week when it came
00:08to new music.
00:09The only other real thing of note that was going down was J. Cole adding his legendary
00:14mixtapes to streaming services after years of longing from his fans.
00:18Until suddenly, a single post that came out of nowhere changed everything.
00:22This year, Kendrick Lamar's ex account has been on an unparalleled run where everything
00:26that's appeared on it has been of major cultural significance.
00:30And after using it to debut his famed diss tracks ranging from Euphoria to Not Like Us
00:35and announcing his Super Bowl performance on the same account, he once again brought
00:38hip-hop to a standstill with the release of a surprise new album titled GNX.
00:43But what does the album represent?
00:45And does its content tell us whether K-Dot is returning to peacetime or ramping up for
00:49another war with the people that he's shaded on the project?
00:53It's your boy Luista and let's break down Kendrick's new album, GNX.
00:57For starters, let's talk about the timing of the project.
01:00Just days after he was crowned Rapper of the Year by Apple Music, people wondered how this
01:03was possible without him releasing a full-length album.
01:07So just like he once silenced retirement rumors sparked by a Twitter user by kicking off the
01:11rollout for Mr. Morale, he's shut down his critics once again, this time by dropping
01:15an entirely new project.
01:17And when I say surprise, I mean it.
01:19According to industry insider Brian Zizouk, even his label found out on Friday morning.
01:24Now, the record has made such an immediate splash that many believe it will dethrone
01:28the Wicked soundtrack from claiming the top spot.
01:31Named after the 1987 Buick Grand National Regal GNX, which came out the year he was
01:36born, this album could have easily just been a victory lap for K-Dot after a wild 2024.
01:42But instead, he decided that he wasn't taking his foot off of anyone's neck.
01:46In fact, he took plenty of shots at both familiar enemies and even some new foes.
01:51So let's decode the project.
01:52Although it's essentially the intro to the album, the song Whacked Out Murals proved
01:56that Kendrick was ready to go to war from the outset.
01:59And after witnessing it happen from the shadows, he finally decided to speak out about Lil
02:03Wayne's grumbling about the Super Bowl.
02:05On the track, he references his Wayne fandom, as well as the response he received from Toonchi
02:10about his upcoming halftime show performance in New Orleans.
02:16This is a direct reference to everything that's gone down since it was revealed that
02:22K-Dot was scheduled to perform over the hometown hero, Lil Wayne.
02:46As opposed to doing that work on himself that he alluded to, Weezy has continued to
02:57grow increasingly bitter over not receiving this opportunity and almost blaming K-Dot
03:02for it.
03:03Even as he was handed the key to the city, he controversially claimed that he had been
03:06robbed at WeezyanaFest.
03:08That moment I said to myself, I want to be on stage for the Super Bowl one day in front
03:14of my mom.
03:15And I worked my ass off to get that f***ing position and it was ripped away from me.
03:22But this f***ing moment right here?
03:25They can't take that, man.
03:27They can't take that from me.
03:29Ladies and gentlemen, make some noise for yourself for being amazing.
03:34As if that wasn't enough to try Kung Fu Kenny's patience, Wayne decided to rock
03:37his OVO owl pendant in support of Drake while referencing Not Like Us at one of his shows.
03:48After all this victim mentality from Weezy and refusing to be happy for a kid who was
03:52a disciple of his, K-Dot finally had enough.
03:55On top of those bars, let's not act like the cover art might not be a little allusion
04:00towards the Carter II, right down to the black and white photo.
04:03Clearly, the whole situation deeply bothered Kendrick.
04:06After all, this is one of his heroes who have been gracious towards him when he's shown
04:10nothing but love.
04:11That moment in the studio with Wayne, me and J-Rock in the studio with Wayne.
04:15I never told Wayne this.
04:16That changed my perspective about work ethic.
04:19Knocked out about 12 verses and this is feature Wayne at the moment.
04:22And these not no motherf***ing fly by night verses.
04:25This is set right there and thought out right in front of your face.
04:28And smashing him and he's excited about it and he's loving music and he loves what
04:32he's doing.
04:33That gave me a whole nother appreciation.
04:35And we took that same intensity and that work ethic and we applied it moving forward from
04:40having that feature for all my life.
04:42Let's not forget that Kendrick is such an avid supporter of Wayne's that he even went
04:45out of his way to try and stop him from throwing his career away when he fell on hard times.
04:50Nigga talking about retiring and shit nigga.
04:52F*** that nigga.
04:53I'm in the motherf***ing studio nigga doing motherf***ing features nigga.
04:57Nigga I seen you nigga 2007 nigga 2008 nigga.
05:01I seen you knock out motherf***ing 10 motherf***ing features in a row nigga.
05:05Back to back nigga.
05:06Now it turns out that Wayne is ready to go to war with Kendrick too over his recent bars
05:10on Whacked Out Murals.
05:11In a tweet posted at 1am on Saturday, Weezy said,
05:14Man what the f*** did I do?
05:16I just be chillin and they still come for my head.
05:18Let's not take kindness for weakness.
05:20Let this giant sleep.
05:22I beg you all.
05:23No one really wants destruction.
05:25Not even me.
05:26But I shall destroy if disturbed.
05:28And once again, the community have begun to call him out for acting oblivious and claim
05:32that he would get smoked by Kendrick if he had a rap battle with him.
05:35As upset as he was about Weezy's behavior, Kendrick soon revealed that he wasn't the
05:39only person that switched up.
05:41And this time, the culprit was a lot closer to home than New Orleans.
05:45In that same verse, Kendrick takes some time to express his hurt at Snoop Dogg for sharing
05:49Drake's tailor made freestyle.
05:51A track which sampled not only an AI version of DOW's voice, but Kendrick's hero Tupac's
05:56as well.
06:03Now, Kendrick has made it known how shocked he was.
06:11And to clarify, K.Dot isn't paranoid.
06:13It really happened.
06:14For Dot, this must feel like a far cry from the days where he literally handed the torch
06:18of the west coast to him in 2015.
06:21At that moment, a young K.Dot shed tears on stage for how happy he was to receive it.
06:26I'ma say this and I'ma mean this.
06:28Nigga, you got the torch, nigga.
06:29You better run with it.
06:34You better run with it, nigga, cause it's yours.
06:47However, in recent times, Snoop has taken a neutral stance that Kendrick might perceive
06:52as disloyalty.
06:53For instance, when asked about Kendrick headlining the Super Bowl, Snoop refused to firmly endorse
06:58him, opting for a non-committal response.
07:24And it became a great moment for all of us.
07:26So at the same time, Lil Wayne is the GOAT of New Orleans rap.
07:29Remember, I was at No Limit Records for three years and I watched his whole career come
07:33to life and then watched him become the biggest.
07:36I watched him get bigger than me.
07:37You feel what I'm saying?
07:38And I was gigantic at the time and I loved seeing his growth.
07:41And me and Wayne is family to this day.
07:43Me and Kendrick is family to this day.
07:44And me and Jay-Z and me and Roger Goodell.
07:46So I don't know who is the decision maker.
07:49All I know is that I'll be home watching the Super Bowl and when the halftime show
07:53comes on, I'll be watching that as well.
07:55But it seems like Snoop might have really been impaired when he shared that infamous
07:58story.
07:59Because when pressed, he immediately backpedaled and let K-Dot know that he's the ruler of
08:03the coast.
08:04K-Dot knew album GNX.
08:05It was the edibles.
08:07West West King.
08:08Snoop's endorsement of Taylor Made wasn't the only way Kendrick clapped back at Drake's
08:12appropriation of West Coast legends.
08:14On the track Reincarnated, K-Dot sampled Tupac's Made Brothers from Gang Related.
08:20It was done in a way where he seemed to be reiterating that he was the heir to Tupac's
08:27throne.
08:33Aside from commenting on Drake owning one of Pac's rings, this is one of the most
08:37explicit nods to Pac that he's made on Wax since he had a conversation with him on the
08:41conclusion of To Pimp a Butterfly on the track Mortal Man.
08:44But even after Drake seemingly bowed out of the beef, Kendrick made it clear that he wasn't
08:48done with Drizzy just yet.
08:49On Whacked Out Murals, Kendrick seemed to be hinting towards Drake's attempts to get
08:53dirt on Dot through financial means, only for his nearest and dearest incompetent to
08:57refuse to give anything up, even when the bag, or cryptocurrency, was waved in front
09:02of them.
09:09Plus, he seemed to let it be known that there would never be a ceasefire either, insisting
09:13that there would be no mediation that could get them on the same side ever again.
09:19Staying with Whacked Out Murals, even the song's title is a reference to the feud
09:26between himself and Drizzy.
09:27It alludes to this portrait of Kendrick that was displayed at the restaurant Misa Bore
09:31in Compton being defaced by Sour Drake fans.
09:34Today, they celebrated K.Dot saluting them, writing on IG that,
09:38A few months ago, our Kendrick mural got hit.
09:40Of course, we were pissed and wanted to fix it, but it just kept getting worse.
09:44Flash forward to today, and Kendrick drops a song about the situation.
09:48It doesn't necessarily make it okay, but it does feel good to have our hard work in
09:51the community immortalized in a song by one of the greatest to ever do it.
09:55Thank you at Kendrick Lamar for making the situation a little better today.
09:59But the subtle Drake slander and retracing of their beef didn't stop there.
10:02On Squabble Up, he kept at him, claiming that he still has beef and even referencing the
10:07fact that he brought Adonis into it with these bars.
10:17Among the most overt displays of shade towards Drake that the project features is that Kendrick
10:21still made the hard part 6 as if Drake's diss track of the same name never even happened.
10:26But rather than focus on hate, Dot used it to specifically salute his TDE brothers, firmly
10:31ending any speculation that there was some tension between them.
10:34Not only did he salute Ab Soul and his pen, claiming that he used to study his style,
10:38Dot also reserved bars for his PG Lang partner Day Free.
10:51By doing this, he made it evident that all of Drake's attempts at tearing them apart,
10:55with rumors of Dave being the real father of his son, didn't put a dent in their bond.
11:00Later, he explained why Black Hippie never materialized quite how they hoped.
11:11However, Kendrick decided to place the blame on himself and revealed why he decided to
11:15set up PG Lang in the first place.
11:24Heading back towards the realm of beef, Kendrick has made it clear that he is no longer playing
11:28it cool when it comes to the competition.
11:30After saluting Nas for acknowledging his Super Bowl performance when other legends ignored
11:34out of spite,
11:41he then invoked the spirit on one mic, on Man in the Garden.
11:44In the track, he let it be known that he wasn't even slightly fazed by the prospect of further warfare.
11:49Alongside that, he seemed to salute himself for how he handled the Drake beef, claiming
11:59before then saying,
12:05Then, it was back to straight up shade in Drake's direction on Hey Now, where he suggested
12:09that he eliminated him once and for all.
12:18As if this message wasn't clear enough, he really drove it home with the line,
12:24Drake is angrily throwing threes on his basketball court right now after that one.
12:28But alongside all of the hate, there is plenty of room for love here too.
12:31On Dodger Blue, he salutes the city of Los Angeles.
12:34And even then, he lets it be known that he's not to be played with.
12:41And after years of speculation, he seems to be finally willing to admit that he's really
12:46as affiliated to the streets as people have speculated.
12:49Because on this track, he let it be known that he's not a studio gangster.
12:53Instead, he's someone who's really grown up around the threat of violence and street politics.
13:03Here, Kendrick is basically referring to getting beaten up and coming back for his vengeance.
13:07And what's wild is that we literally have evidence of Kendrick trying to do just that
13:11to AD of Back on Fig.
13:13During his No Jumper days, he discussed Dot literally trying to press him over an apparent
13:17run in with a rival set in the past.
13:24With that, all of those who have been saying that Kendrick is maybe more connected than
13:41he let on are seeming to have more truth to their stories.
13:54This is also emphasized on the album's title track, simply for the fact that he added his
13:58longtime friend from the neighborhood and real life Piru, Hitta J3, who had been labeled
14:03his goon on the track list.
14:04Throughout the course of the beef, Hitta took up for Dot whenever he could.
14:08He was posting tweets like,
14:14He literally even tried to squabble with Aiden Ross for his Dot slander.
14:17That's exactly why you got took by at Playboi Carti.
14:20So come see what else get took playing in LA at Aiden Ross.
14:23To him, this felt like the natural thing to do for someone who had genuinely uplifted
14:27not just Hitta himself, who previously appeared on the album cover of To Pimp A Butterfly
14:31by K.Dot, but also countless others.
14:51And what I'm doing, and who I am as an artist, shine a light on me as an artist.
14:57You know what I'm saying?
14:58Away from the beef, Kendrick got conceptual on Gloria.
15:00One of several tracks featuring his former TDE label mate SZA, it seems like a love song
15:05and perhaps an ode to his fiancée Whitney Alford.
15:08But with the final line of,
15:15K.Dot reveals that he's actually talking about hip hop itself.
15:18In this sense, K.Dot is carrying on a proud tradition of rappers writing about hip hop
15:23in metaphorical terms as a woman.
15:25Way back in the day, Common did the same thing on I Used to Love Her,
15:28while Eminem did something similar on the song 25 to Life.
15:31Meanwhile, on TV Off, Kendrick spends a lot of the track saluting Mustard.
15:35Or as he said it,
15:42Sorry, but I had to.
15:43But interestingly, he did this just days after the producer kept the beef well and truly alive
15:48at Camp Floggnog, where he played Like That twice and hit the crowd with a bait and switch
15:53over Crew Love to Like That.
16:03So it's only fair that he gave him his flowers with that now iconic Mustard screen.
16:07But amid all of the smoke that Kendrick gives out on this project,
16:10it should be noted that it's not just rappers that got his wrath.
16:13Because in a surprising turn of events, he seemed to throw shade at a comedian too.
16:17To be specific, he dissed Andrew Schultz of all people.
16:23This likely refers to Andrew's controversial take on what he termed as the Black Girlfriend Effect,
16:28in which he spoke about black women in a derogatory fashion.
16:40They shave their hair because they start losing it.
16:42Because they're so stressed being around this black girl complaining about shit all the fucking time.
16:46That's why they gotta shave their hair.
16:48Nah, bro. White guys with black girlfriends, they step their dick up.
16:50They grow a beard because there's more cushion when they get slapped the fuck out of it.
16:58I think the Black Girlfriend Effect, it might be a protective instinct, bro.
17:03An album that's filled with love, hate, and everything in between,
17:06Dog gave us a lot to ponder on this project.
17:09But with so many beats coming from the Bay Area sound that made Not Like Us a smash,
17:13it's clear he's having fun with it too.
17:31And straight away, even some of his fellow rappers have been left in awe.
17:35After listening to it, IDK said,
17:41Soon, Russ also saluted Dot's incredible work.
17:44New Kendrick album is a leap.
17:46But not everyone is happy.
17:47Straight away, the OVO Avengers were trying to talk down on the record, only to get clowned for it.
17:52Such as the Akademiks owned X account that said,
17:57Meanwhile, on Akademiks' livestream chat, the majority of viewers agreed that the project was fire.
18:01While others decided to question how he heard a 44-minute album in 5 minutes.
18:06But it should be noted that Akademiks doesn't actually run that secondary account.
18:10Instead of jumping to conclusions, he actually listened.
18:31And I see some people say it's better than, or Untitled Unmashered is better than this.
18:35Well, Untitled Unmashered is a very intricate, like when, I always said to Pimple Butterfly,
18:40I ranked it high, but it had really low replay value.
18:43This is Kendrick trying to also find that good medium of songs you guys could listen to over and over,
18:50and then songs with the message that is probably deep or heavy that you might not listen to all the time.
18:55And I think the best ways to find a balance, I think he's trying to find a balance, if you ask me.
19:00So I know some Drake fans wanted me to like shit on it. I'm not gonna lie.
19:04I think it's good. I think it's a good tape, right?
19:08Now, if this was his album, I'd probably say it's a little bit above average,
19:13but it doesn't come nowhere close to how those albums are kind of being critically acclaimed, right?
19:18Although he tried to resist, he was ultimately forced to admit that it's great.
19:22Let's see what y'all are feeling about it.
19:24I can't sit here and in good conscience tell you this is whack.
19:29For me to say that would be me lying, and at the end of the day, I love music,
19:34even if I have my favorites on one side, and I don't think it's whack.
19:38I don't think it's whack, okay?
19:40It kept me interested. You do a few jabs, you're still saying some shit.
19:44Alongside the album being a musical triumph,
19:46Ak also had to acknowledge that this project addresses criticism that he didn't do enough for the West after the pop-out.
19:52After Not Like Us came out, Akademik said he had to make amends for using the hyphy sound,
19:57despite not being from the Bay or really putting on for local artists.
20:01He might need to give a feature. Ooh, he might need to give a feature too.
20:04How many features he might need to give?
20:06Because also, let me ask you a question.
20:08The song that some people believe that Kendrick just defeated Drake with, Not Like Us,
20:13is a song that definitely uses a Bay Area sound.
20:17Kendrick is not from the Bay Area, but that is still part of LA culture,
20:22it's still part of the West Coast, but with that being said,
20:25you know how many people have used that sound that never popped?
20:28Does Kendrick owe them a feature?
20:30Yo, you just won your beef or you just came up on your beef using our sound.
20:35Let's use the same logic, people.
20:37Yo, bro, yo, what's up with a feature?
20:39You're capitalizing off our sound.
20:41That's just like what Sauce Walker said with the Jersey City, Jersey Clubs shit, right?
20:45But now that he's had Dodie Six on Hey Now,
20:47AZ Shaik on Peek-A-Boo,
20:49Wally the Sensei on Dodger Blue,
20:51Hito J3, Peso,
20:53and Young Threat on this project,
20:55it's pretty clear that he's got his ear to the ground of what's occurring in Cali hip-hop.
20:59Before you ask a person a question, you gotta retract what you said.
21:02About what?
21:03You said, Dot wasn't gonna give none of them niggas on stage no features.
21:07He put all the young homies off on the city on the album.
21:09Well, this is what I would say. I think I would say something better.
21:12I think we encouraged him to do that.
21:15I don't care why he did it, but he did do it, so I give him credit for doing it.
21:18And I thought that was a great look.
21:20It was a great look, even though he could've still named them on the songs,
21:23because we gotta do some Googling, but fans do that anyway.
21:25But I do think that was a good look. That was a good look, Aidy.
21:27With GNX, we get an album from Dot that explores all sides of him,
21:31permitting his hate and anger to coexist with his desire for peace.
21:35In essence, it's a true Gemini's album, encompassing everything that's inside.
21:39In fact, he seemed to hint at the concept behind it in an interview from just last month.
21:44I don't believe I'm an angry person, but I do believe in love and war,
21:47and I believe they both need to exist.
21:49And my awareness of that allows me to react to things, but not identify with them as who I am.
21:54Just allowing them to exist and allowing them to flow through me, that's what I believe.
21:58Whatever you think about the record itself, it's clear that it stopped the world in its tracks,
22:02and once again proves that Kendrick is at the top of his game right now.
22:05Once again, these words relate to what he said as the Super Bowl announcement came to pass.
22:10Rap music is still the most impactful genre to date, Lamar said in a statement at the time.
22:15And I'll be there to remind the world why.
22:17They got the right one.
22:18On GNX, he can consider us reminded.
22:20And if DJ Head's recent tweet is anything to go by, this might only be just the beginning.
22:25It's your boy Luista, and if you guys like this video, you're definitely gonna like one of the two videos on the screen.
22:30Till next time my friends, peace.
22:47You