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Kendrick Lamar reveals inspiration behind 'GNX' and Drake feud: "I love when artists grit their teeth"
Kendrick Lamar revealed the inspiration behind the music he released in 2024, saying he aimed to bring back the "grit" in rap.
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Kendrick Lamar has shared the inspiration behind his latest album âGNXâ and the songs he made during his feud with Drake.
Ahead of his Super Bowl halftime performance in New Orleans this Sunday (February 9), the Compton rapper sat down with Apple Musicâs Ebro Darden and Nadeska Alexis to talk about his upcoming gig. They asked Lamar about his recent sweep at this yearâs Grammys, where we won five awards for the Drake diss song, âNot Like Usâ â making it the most celebrated rap song in the award showâs history.
âI was just thinking about the culture, really,â he said, explaining his inspiration behind the song.
âItâs always there for me first. When people talk about rap, the conversations I hear, they think itâs just rap and not an actual art form. So when you put records like that at the forefront, it reminds people that this is more than just something that came 50 years ago.â
AdvertisementReflecting on his career, Lamar told Darden and Alexis that his goal has always been to âbetter himself and the craftâ and give back to âthe cultureâ of hip-hop. This prompted Darden to ask if the music Lamar released last year â including last Novemberâs âGNXâ and a slew of Drake diss tracks amid their infamous feud â was intended to âdraw a lineâ between what is and isnât real hip-hop.
âMy intent, from day one, was to always keep the nature of [Hip Hop] as a sport,â the 21-time Grammy winner said. âI donât care how motherfuckers look at it as far as a collaborative effort. Thatâs cool, too, but I love when artists grit their teeth.â
RecommendedHe continued: âI still watch battle raps, I still watch Smack [DVD and the Ultimate Rap League] â from Murda Mook to [Loaded] Lux to Tay Roc to my bro Daylyt. This has always been the core definition of who I amâ â believing the grittier version of Kendrick people saw last year wasnât new, but rather âa continuationâ of what heâs always done.
âWhat I will say about this [past] year, it was more from a space where I think a lot of people were putting rap to the back and you didnât see that grit, you didnât see that bite anymore,â he told Darden and Alexis, before elaborating on the inspirations behind âGNXâ.
âGNXâ featured a bunch of hyphy-style hits like âSquabble Upâ, âTV Offâ and âHey Nowâ â which Kendrick said were inspired by legendary G-funk pioneers DJ Quik and Dr. Dre.
AdvertisementâI always had that DNA,â he explained. âYou heard that DNA a little bit on âGood Kid, m.A.A.d Cityâ but I wanted to tell my story first. Fast forward to âGNXâ, I just felt it was a perfect time because not only was the energy lost, but it was an energy that was bubbling inside of me as well.
âI wanted to go back to the bite and the grit of rap. Just all raps and hard-ass beats. Thatâs the basics for me. I thought about what I used to like when I was a kid: hard raps and good beats thatâs smacking.â
The pgLang co-founder also spoke about how different âGNXâ was from his critically-acclaimed 2022 album âMr. Morale & The Big Steppersâ, saying the change was a ânecessaryâ one.
âIt was a great transition from âMr. Moralâe because that was my most intimate album. I wanted to go inside of my own psyche and my own personal withdrawals and see how it connects with the public and see who could relate,â he shared. âSo this time around, I think it was necessary to come out of that cocoon and feel like, âI can spread my wins and show every state of who I am.ââ
Elsewhere in the chat, Lamar spoke about his Super Bowl performance: how he is prepping for the feat, hoping to bring his life-long passion for âstorytellingâ and Black culture to the forefront. âIâve always had a passion about bringing that on whatever stage Iâm on, whether itâs 500 people at Key Club,â he said. âIâve always had a form of that, so [itâll be] that sense of âmake people listenâ, but also see and think a little.â
Lamarâs headlining halftime performance at this yearâs NFL Super Bow LIX will take place this Sunday (February 9), with SZA due to appear as a special guest.
