Kendrick Lamar, seen right here performing on the Discussion board in Inglewood, Calif. on June 19, dropped his sixth album, GNX on Friday, Nov. 22, with none advance warning.
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Timothy Norris/Getty Pictures
In 2024, Kendrick Lamar has put collectively one of many largest years of his profession: He was the undisputed winner of the highest-profile rap beef in years; he is had successful close to the highest of the pop charts for six months; he is nominated for extra than half a dozen Grammys, together with track and file of the 12 months; he’ll headline the halftime present at subsequent 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl. All of this with out releasing an album. At the very least till right now.
At midday Japanese Time on Friday, Lamar dropped his sixth studio album, GNX. He did it with out sharing a touch of its existence — no advance singles or movies or cryptic social media posts. (Not that it stopped followers from speculating.) GNX is Kendrick’s first full-length launch since 2022’s Mr. Morale and the Large Steppers. The 12-track album options performances from mariachi singer Deyra Barrera, SZA and Dody6; producers embrace Jack Antonoff, Sounwave and Kamasi Washington.
Even earlier than this shock drop, Lamar was already on a roll.
In Might, he capped his ferocious back-and-forth with rival Drake with the diss monitor “Not Like Us,” which topped the Billboard Scorching 100 chart twice — the week of its launch in addition to later, in July, when its video got here out — and earned him a number of nods from the Recording Academy. On June 19, he hosted The Pop Up – Ken & Mates, a live performance on the Discussion board in Los Angeles that was live-streamed by Amazon Music and featured cameos from a number of the West Coast’s largest rappers, from Roddy Ricch to Tyler, The Creator.
In September, it was introduced that Lamar will return to the Tremendous Bowl stage subsequent 12 months to headline the halftime present. “Rap music remains to be essentially the most impactful style thus far. And I will be there to remind the world why,” he stated in a press release. “They acquired the precise one.”
In 2022, Kendrick carried out “m.A.A.d Metropolis” and “Alright” on the Los Angeles hip-hop-focused halftime present led by Dr. Dre. That 12 months, he had damaged his five-year hiatus from the highlight following 2017’s DAMN, which gained the Pulitzer Prize for Music. GNX is Lamar’s first album since his departure from long-time label High Dawg Leisure. It was launched beneath his personal label, pgLang, by way of Interscope Information.