Rapper surprises fans with new album GNX

American rapper Kendrick Lamar has released a surprising new album called GNX.

The 12-track album, which is the artist’s sixth studio release, dropped on his social media pages around 17:00 GMT on Friday.

It features contributions from, among others, the American R&B star SZA and Kamasi Washington.

GNX is Lamar’s first album since 2022’s Mr Morale & The Big Steppers, and comes ahead of his headlining performance at the Super Bowl halftime show in February.

Lamar, who has won multiple Grammy Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for music, had been rumored for months to be working on a new project.

Early reviews of the album have been mostly positive, with fans also taking to social media to praise his new offering.

“Whatever comes next, the Pulitzer Prize winner has written another exciting chapter in what remains the most fascinating long-form story in hip-hop.” wrote AP News.

The news outlet called Lamar “an ambitious and fieryly talented poet from Compton, working through his – and the world’s – contradictions on the biggest stage, forever uncomfortable with his crown”.

Rating Game Music said the album “reminds us why he’s one of the greats,” but added, “Overall, this album doesn’t feel like a monumental release—it’s more like a creative purge, a way for Kendrick to get a few ideas out of his system.”

“My guess? The right project is on the horizon”.

Some had speculated that Taylor Swift would make an appearance, but the pop sensation doesn’t seem to have panned out.

The pair have worked together before, when the rapper appeared on Swift’s track Bad Blood from the album 1989.

However, SZA lends her voice to two tracks, luther and gloria.

Lamar and SZA recently sat down for an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, which covered a wide range of topics from spirituality to mental health.

Other tracks include tv off, dodger blue, peekaboo and gnx.

On the opening track, Lamar references his upcoming Super Bowl performance.

The coveted concert takes place in the middle of the NFL season finale and has a massive audience among Americans. However, it caused quite a stir among Lil Wayne fans who believed he should have been chosen instead.

“I think my hard work failed Lil Wayne,” sings the Compton rapper.

“Won the Super Bowl and Nas the only one to congratulate me.”

The new album also follows a long-running feud with Drake that dates back years, but escalated to new levels earlier this year when the two rappers traded insults in a flurry of new songs.

The feud resulted in some huge tracks, most notably Lamar’s Not Like Us.

Driven by an irresistible DJ Mustard beat, Not Like Us broke Spotify records and became the hip-hop song with the most plays in a single day.

It topped the US charts and reached number six in the UK – making it Lamar’s biggest hit as a solo artist.