GNX

Surprise-released on 22 November 2024, GNX arrives with the force of something both instinctive and carefully honed: a lean, 12-track record that turns Kendrick Lamar’s attention back to Los Angeles, to West Coast rap, and to his own place inside that lineage. Named after the Buick Regal model, and released as his first album following his departure from Top Dawg Entertainment and Aftermath Entertainment, it feels like a reset in name only. In practice, it is another sharp consolidation of his powers.

At 44 minutes and 20 seconds, GNX is the shortest studio album of Lamar’s career, but it rarely feels slight. Much of that comes down to how precisely it is built. Lamar works primarily with Sounwave and Jack Antonoff, alongside Mustard, Sean Momberger and Kamasi Washington, shaping a record that draws from both classic and current West Coast hip-hop. G-funk runs through it prominently, but so does something more restless: a sense of motion, of Lamar testing how much intensity, humour, tenderness and menace he can fit into a compact frame.

The album opens with “Wacced Out Murals”, a fiery and confrontational statement that immediately sets the tone. From there, GNX moves with real confidence. “Squabble Up” is all twitching energy and vocal shape-shifting, while “TV Off” hits with a theatrical jolt, its clipped strings and sudden eruptions making it one of the record’s most memorable turns. “Dodger Blue” and the title track root the album more firmly in Los Angeles, while “Peekaboo” brings a wiry, eccentric swagger. Even when the record is steeped in braggadocio, it remains musically nimble.

What gives GNX extra weight, though, is the contrast Lamar allows himself. “Luther”, featuring SZA, offers one of the album’s most tender moments, imagining a better future with unusual softness. “Man at the Garden” turns inward, framing ambition and survival as something earned through endurance. “Reincarnated” is among the most striking pieces here, with Lamar moving through the perspectives of John Lee Hooker and Billie Holiday before ending in conversation with God. And “Gloria”, which personifies his pen, lands as an ode to writing itself, intimate and unexpectedly moving.

The guest list is broad but purposeful, with appearances from SZA, Roddy Ricch, AzChike, Dody6, Lefty Gunplay, Wallie the Sensei, Siete7x, Hitta J3, YoungThreat and Peysoh. Rather than diluting the record, those voices deepen its regional identity. The inclusion of Deyra Barrera on the opening track, “Reincarnated” and the closer adds another texture again, giving the album a wider emotional and cultural scope.

Critics hailed GNX as a successful reimagining of West Coast hip-hop and one of the best albums of 2024, and it is not hard to hear why. It went on to top charts in numerous countries, became Lamar’s fifth US number one album, and later picked up major Grammy wins, including Best Rap Album, with “Luther” winning Record of the Year and Best Melodic Rap Performance, and “TV Off” taking Best Rap Song. Those achievements matter, but more impressive is how unforced the album feels. After a year in which Lamar often seemed framed by spectacle, rivalry and public narrative, GNX works because it sounds locked back into craft.

This is not his most sprawling record, nor his most overtly conceptual. Its strength lies elsewhere. GNX is a tightly controlled, highly musical statement of regional pride, self-belief and technical command. It does not need to explain Kendrick Lamar’s stature. It simply sounds like someone who knows exactly where he stands.