Albums Kendrick Lamar - GNX (Official Album Thread)

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:damn: This album is so West its not even funny.
 
Rekkapryde

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Jards said:
Just finished my first run through and it’s disappointing off the first listen. I think the audience has sold Kendrick the okey doke here….the success of NLU has pressured him into putting this out - this is the first time he’s let expectation determine the direction of his project, instead of him standing on what he wants to put out which is disappointing. The reason we hold him in such high regard is because he’s usually bold and confident in his creative direction, regardless of what the landscape looks like at the time.

I actually like most of the production on here - I just don’t like Kendrick on it because he doesn’t sound comfortable on these type of beats. I think he knows it too which is why he starts leaning heavily into his Eminem bag with the crazy voices to mask the awkwardness. I have actually always wondered what a Kendrick project would sound like with this type of production but I’d rather he leaves it to the G Pericos, AZ Chikes, etc now that I’ve heard it as they’re the ones that can comfortably be flag bearers for that sound.

This might actually be his worst project next to D@Mn which is telling as the two times he’s tried to fit in with the mainstream has resulted in the two bodies of work that rank lowest in his discography. I think Morale & The Big Steppers not performing as expected has taken him in this direction (I think initiating the whole tussle with Drake was also a move to shift public sentiment after MMATBS but that’s a conversation for another day). It’s a shame because Morale is a dope project, regardless of the commercial performance to it. Hopefully he’s just put this out though as something light to give the casuals after NLU and the project with the real substance comes out in and around the Super Bowl.
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DrunkerThanAMotherfukker said:
I don’t agree that this feels rushed or pressured. If Kendrick was under pressure from the label executives, I think we would gotten a lot more big name features and maximalism. Instead we got a bunch of random ass local features with no Wikipedia pages (lol) and fairly stripped down production. And apparently the label only found this morning it was shipping today.

This is the opposite of reaching for more mainstream appeal IMO. This is West Coast hip hop expressed in Kendrick’s vision. And I expect this to be a polarizing LP.
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I think it’s pressure in the sense of public expectation - he’s put this out this to satisfy the casuals he’s picked up from NLU that probably aren’t even Kendrick fans like that. If he put out an album in the vein of TPAB or Big Steppers with the heavy topics after dropping NLU the mainstream audience would’ve most likely been confused/disappointed.

As far as the label, he’s had the ability to put this out on his own terms - Interscope probably have little to no say at this point in terms of rollout or creative direction as the main label is PG Lang and Interscope is just a partner for distribution purposes. Ironically, I don’t think he would’ve put this type of album out if he was still on TDE as Top, Punch, Moosa, etc would’ve had more of a say.
 
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