Kendrick Lamar releases surprise new album GNX

Surprise! Kendrick Lamar has released a new album called GNX.

The 12-track record follows his acclaimed album Mr. 2022’s Morale & The Big Steppers and his high-profile feud with Drake, which many hip-hop fans believed Lamar won, culminating in his chart-topping smash Not Like Us.

GNX has a similarly harsh sound, referencing the Drake steak and his upcoming Super Bowl halftime show on the opening track Wacced Out Murals. Tracks like TV Off and Peekaboo continue the sonic aesthetic with parallel rap flows and production.

The second track, Squabble Up, was previewed in the music video for Not Like Us. And it looks like the 17-time Grammy Award winner is already pulling a similar trick.

A video teaser for GNX — released moments before the album hit streaming services early Saturday morning — features a one-minute snippet of music that doesn’t appear on the album.

Named after a car (actually the 1987 Buick rear-wheel drive coupe), GNX is Lamar’s sixth studio album, clocking in at 12 tracks over 44 minutes and featuring neo-soul luminary SZA, Lamar’s former Top Dawg Entertainment labelmate, who sings on Luther and later Gloria .

A-list pop producer Jack Antonoff (Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Lorde) has credits on every track but one, along with Lamar’s longtime producer Sounwave and Sam Dew.

Other notable co-producers include Mustard (who was behind Not Like Us), jazz virtuoso Kamasi Washington (who featured on Lamar’s acclaimed 2015 album To Pimp A Butterfly), as well as Terrace Martin and Dahi.

The record contains a track called Heart Pt. 6, the latest installment in a long-running string of tracks Lamar began in 2010, and the same title as one of the diss tracks Drake released in May.

The song sees the revered Compton rapper reflecting on his career, name-checking Black Hippy, his former rap group with ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Jay Rock, who briefly reunited at The Pop Out concert in Inglewood, California earlier this year.

“I’m jogging my memory, knowing that Black Hippy didn’t work because I/Creatively, I moved on with new concepts within reach,” he raps. “I think my motivation was the longing for independence / Now it’s about Kendrick, I want to develop, position my skills as a black leader.”

Kendrick Lamar was rumored to be working on an album amid his feud with Drake, with Lamar releasing four new tracks: Euphoria, 6.16 In LA, Meet The Grahams and Not Like Us.

Earlier this month, Lamar earned seven Grammy Award nominations, with Not Like Us being recognized in five main categories: Song of the Year, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, Record of the Year and Best Music Video.

Lamar’s take on Future and Metro Boomin’s Like That — the verse that sparked the Drake feud to begin with — is nominated for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.