So, as the whole hip-hop planet knows, the brilliant rapper from Compton released a surprise album at the end of November and… After a few listens, here’s my impression: not bad, not average, pretty good, but… the shortest of all albums turns out to be a bit… short. Unfinished, in my opinion, and weighed down by the climate of hatred we all know.
The title evokes the Buick Grand National Experimental, GNX , model 1987, acquired by the rapper last March. Are we in a car? GNX is not the game changer that Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, To Pimp A Butterfly, Damn were.
A mix of familiar Kendrick-style ambiences and unfinished quests. A transitional album, or perhaps an album released too quickly. Even if a bunch of renown producers/beatmakers have been involved – Jack Antonoff, Craig Balmoris, Bridgeway, Dahi, Deats, Noah Ehler, Frano, Juju, Kenny & Billy, Rose Lilah, Tim Maxey, Sean Momberger, M-Tech, Mustard, Rascal, Sounwave, Tane Runo, Kamasi Washington.
Kendrick highlights the orchestral Hispanic jazz-groove of reincarnated, the jazzy-soul hip-hop of heart pt.6, or the soul-pop duet of luther (with SZA), or the fictitious, choral self-proclamation of man in the garden on a G-funk background, as in tv off highlighting the talent of rapper lefty gunplay.., the choral Spanishades of wacced out murals – spotted on her performance at a Dodgers game, Mexico’s Deyra Barrera sings on the album’s introduction and conclusion, not to mention reincarnated. The album’s title track brings together a handpicked group of Los Angeles rappers: Peysoh, Hitta J3 and YoungThreat take up most of the space, except for a tirade by the employer: who put the West back in front of shit?
The virulence of the tone of these conversations with himself is dominant on GNX, nevertheless excluding any allusion to his public conflict with Drake. We won’t complain, but the interest is now altered. Has the power of influence and its maintenance perverted Kendrik Lamar’s greatness? Let’s talk after the SB intermission.
