Kendrick Lamar performs during the Festival d’ete de Quebec in Quebec City, Canada, on July 7, 2017. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)
LOS ANGELES — Kendrick Lamar gave music listeners an early holiday present Friday, Nov. 22, with the surprise drop of a new album.
The Grammy winner’s 12-track “GNX” is his first release since 2022’s “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers” and his sixth studio album overall. It also comes just months after his rap battle with Drake.
Article continues after this advertisementLamar first teased the album with a cover art and video snippet of “GNX,” which features multi-instrumentalist Jack Antonoff as a co-producer on every track except for “Peekaboo.” Other notable producers include Sounwave and DJ Mustard, who both contributed production on the hit “Not Like Us,” the ubiquitous diss track emanating from the Drake feud.
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On the opening track “Wacced Out Murals,” Lamar raps about cruising in his Buick GNX (Grand National Experimental) car with listening to Anita Baker. He brings up Snoop Dogg posting Drake’s AI-assisted “Taylor Made Freestyle” diss track on social media and Nas congratulating Lamar for being selected to headline February’s Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show in New Orleans.
Article continues after this advertisementLamar also shows admiration for Lil Wayne, who expressed his hurt feelings after being passed over as the headliner in his hometown.
Article continues after this advertisementLamar, 37, has experienced massive success since his debut album “good kid, m.A.A.d city” in 2012. Since then, he’s accumulated 17 Grammy wins and became the first non-classical, non-jazz musician to win a Pulitzer Prize for his 2017 album “DAMN.”
Article continues after this advertisementThe surprise release caps a big year for Lamar, who was featured on the song “Like That” with Future and Metro Boomin — a track that spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this year.
Lamar is up for seven Grammys, fueled by “Not Like Us,” which earned nods for record and song of the year, rap song, music video as well as best rap performance. He has two simultaneous entries in the latter category, a career first: “Like That” is up for best rap performance and best rap song, too.
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