Album review: Kendrick Lamar’s GNX a love letter to West Coast hip-hop culture
Full of raw moments and gloss, album No.6 is another standout release for the acclaimed American rapper ahead of his 2025 Super Bowl halftime performance booked for February.
Album reviews for week of December 27 2024:
HIP-HOP
GNX
Kendrick Lamar
pgLang / Interscope Records
The type of year Kendrick Lamar has in 2024 is, for hip-hop fans and lovers of the culture, one to be studied. Having spent the majority of last year touring and riding the final cresting waves of his 2022 album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, all seemed to be travelling smoothly for Lamar until he found himself embroiled in a song-for-song rap battle with Toronto superstar Drake. Arguably two of the most recognisable figures in popular music, the back and forth between Lamar and Drake kept hip-hop lovers fed for months on end in 2024; a masterful display of wordplay, rumours and cutting remarks that left the Canadian’s reputation largely in tatters, while Kendrick’s deft lean into West Coast hip-hop sounds that a whole generation of fans would ascribe to genre greats like Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre seemingly redefined the Compton rapper’s certified legacy. The surprise release of Lamar’s sixth album, GNX, landed as one final touch on what has been an ongoing victory lap. If Not Like Us was an example of Kendrick Lamar being able to easily dismantle a rap enemy, while also unifying his people on the West Coast and providing an anthem for Los Angeles in the same flow; this album is proof that he can balance the intuition and rich emotional intelligence of his previous material, with the fun and brash attitude that has marked his single drops throughout this year.
A record marked by tough West Coast beats and production, it also flows easily into the soundscapes that appeared on prior projects like his 2017 album Damn. Lamar is at his best when he is able to match a natural performance charisma with introspective lyrics and playfulness (Dodger Blue, Hey Now, Heart Pt. 6). It is why GNX feels like such an easily executed effort. Less of a structured studio album, more like a mixtape in its purest form. It is a project that feels like less of a straight up diss album, but more a love letter to the West Coast culture that raised Lamar into the dynamic and multifaceted artist he is today. The Tupac sample running beneath Reincarnated, through to the flamenco licks that enter moments of interlude are a nod to the fusion of Latin and African-American cultures and communities in Los Angeles; Lamar’s flow itself on tracks like Wacced Out Murals and Squabble Up are delivered with equal parts ego and snarl. For a listener and a fan, it’s a delicious experience to immerse oneself in. Featuring guests including SZA (Luther, Gloria) and locally known artists like Lefty Gunplay and Dody6, GNX is an album that doesn’t bother with a litany of big names to sell the vision. Here, Lamar lets the hunger of these contemporaries bolster his already tough presence on each track. Full of gloss, thumping, and raw moments, GNX is a landmark statement for Lamar that fans and newcomers (off the back of the feud) will remember as a standout release in a catalogue full of them.
Sosefina Fuamoli
ROCK/POP
Soda
The Rubens
Mushroom Music
There’s a solid argument to be made that the releasing of an album every three years is a nicely measured way in which to operate as a band, giving said records time to grow with their audience, while also allowing for a decent promotional period and then a substantial amount of time in which to create once more. And measured is perhaps an apt descriptor for Sydney quintet The Rubens’ fifth release in 15 years. Following on from 2021’s award-winning 0202, Soda is a record that marks a band now in its prime; a band that collectively knows what it wants, how it wants it, and how to portray it. Beginning in contemplative fashion with the yearning Death is a Friend, Soda then shifts to drive via Black Balloon; undulating and anthemic, it is the cornerstone of an album that utilises synthesised guitar and vocal effects to create an array of soundscapes that straddle the line between slow-burning rock and astute pop. Liquid Gold is hypnotic in its relentlessness; Sunday Night invites you into the band’s world via metronomic percussion, and Roll Away closes it out in a haze of late night bonhomie. Indeed, clear, concise and measured.
Samuel J. Fell
JAZZ/CLASSICAL
Crossing Paths
Ensemble Liaison /Tony Gould Trio
Move
This album contrasts pieces recorded by a classical trio Ensemble Liaison with tracks recorded by a jazz trio led by pianist Tony Gould. The former group includes Svetlana Bogosavljevic (cello), David Griffiths (clarinet) and Timothy Young (piano) while Gould works with Angela Davis (saxophone) and Ben Robertson (double bass). The common repertoire includes versions of Bach’s Ave Maria, and other comparable pieces from composers such as Faure, Satie and Schumann. The original idea here was for the jazz trio to provide improvised versions of the same compositions. This was not totally achieved owing to circumstances at the time that compelled Gould’s trio to record first, to find that when Ensemble Liaison recorded some time later, a slight change of repertoire occurred. Still, Crossing Paths provides an energising contrast between the classical musicians reading their scores, while the jazz musicians are expressing their thoughts in the moment. I see no reason why enthusiasts of both classical and jazz musics should not enjoy this juxtaposition of two equally valid approaches.
Eric Myers
DANCE/ELECTRONIC
In Waves
Jamie XX
XL Recordings
It has been interesting to watch the progression of the three members of British act The XX, who became global stars for writing incredibly intimate indie music while they were still teenagers. Jamie Smith, the band’s softly-spoken architect, was the first to indulge his club tendencies on In Colour, a prismic travel through dancefloors that achieved instant cult status upon its 2015 release, which may help explain why its follow-up took nearly a decade to materialise. The good news is In Waves is not only a worthy addition but enhances what Smith does best: marrying nostalgic samples with bass-forward grooves and mutating it into something endlessly replayable and futuristic. While his previous record skewed inward, bombastic, ‘90s rave-level floor fillers like Treat Each Other Right and Life (featuring Robyn in full Ibiza mode) are as outre as they get. In fact the entire album comes off as a celebration of nightlife culture, from the singalong Waited All Night that corrals his old bandmates on vocals to the unfurling 3am anthem Breather. In a culture awash with singles, it’s also exquisitely well sequenced and will easily keep fans going for another 10 years.
Jonathan Seidler
POST-ROCK/INSTRUMENTAL
No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Constellation
This group of press-shy Canadian post-rockers is notably more brooding on this, its eighth LP. It’s no surprise, too, judging by its choice of album title, which refers to the Gaza conflict death toll as of February 2024 – a toll that has almost doubled since. Given that heavy backdrop, it was unlikely this record was going to have any of the thrilling heights of 2021 outing G_d’s Pee at State’s End, nor the triumphant crescendos of Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000). Still, Raindrops Cast in Lead and Pale Spectator Takes Photographs both lumber along before eventually breaking out into hurricanes of violence, while Babys in a Thundercloud (sic) makes use of the band’s trademark slow-burning build to wonderful effect. However, the album bookends opening fanfare Sun is a Hole Sun is Vapors and Grey Rubble – Green Shoots, set the flavour for this listen: a sombre soundtrack to a year that has seen death visit far too many families around the world. As always, Godspeed You! Black Emperor are there with music to remind listeners that all is not right with the world – but at the very least, you can listen to post-rock while you watch it all burn.
Alasdair Belling
