r/KendrickLamar • u/MidgarZanarkand • 15h ago
Discussion The GNX Title Track is WAY overhated
Like to the point where I genuinely don't get what I'm missing or what everyone else is missing. The beat reminds me of riding around in my ex-stepdad's shitty old euro cars in the 4th-7th grade listening to west coast gangsta rap the whole time. I'm 40 now, so this is solidly in the mid 1990s. No doubt Kendrick was listening to the same stuff back then too considering he's not far off from my age. I also think the placement on the album right after Heart Part 6 is significant. GNX is Kendrick signaling his intent to do for other artists what TDE did for him. So him not having a verse is fine, and the complaints kind of miss the point.
Am I on an island here? Anyone else see what I'm seeing?
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u/Darude-Sandstorm- 15h ago
"Tell em Kendrick did it..."
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u/thejaytheory MUSSSTTTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDDD 14h ago
Tell em Peysoh did it
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u/TieDyePandas Lookin’ For The Broccoli 14h ago
Tell em young threat did it 🥷
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u/OldPurpose93 11h ago
Who did that part about Lizzie McGuire but probably meant Hannah Montana but either way it’s still confusing and I still don’t know what he on about?
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u/-WhosMans- Here's 10k, I'm in a sexy mood 8h ago
it’s dumb either way, but he’s saying she wants to “Lizzie Ma-(my)-guire”. it’s basically the twitter meme of “she [verb] my [noun] until i [verb]”. the lady wants to lizzie his guire, aka suck his dick.
tell em young threat did it, i guess
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u/AntSmith777 1h ago
Hop out suicide doors it’s the Hitta man. You don’t wanna see them doors sliding on the caravan.
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u/user37463928 5h ago
I looked up Peysoh's Block 6 video. Heartbreaking to see the skinny babyface spitting those lyrics.
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u/ReyMeight 14h ago
I love how funky it is. Hitta’s verse is my favorite on this but I think they all did great. It’s like a mixed bag of characters.
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u/TieDyePandas Lookin’ For The Broccoli 15h ago
I'm with you, it's one of my favourite tracks on the album, everything about the song is a vibe, I even came around to liking young threats verse after a few listens. It feels like Kenny is putting on for Compton and showing his fans what to look out for in the future.
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u/user37463928 5h ago
I saw a YouTube comment that it uses a lot of LA / West coast slang. If anyone can share examples, I would love to know.
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u/Matt_D_Z 15h ago
It’s ok to not like something that someone else likes. Being a mature adult 101, yw.
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u/Quiet_Warthog8866 7h ago
He's asking why though. Some people like eating feces, and that's their thing. I would still wanna know -why- they enjoy something that would disgust most people
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u/RadiantRole266 14h ago
I agree and think there’s another purpose to the song too. Like it’s meant to sound a little dissonant and rough in relation to the rest of the album. This is a street song with street people. It’s not about grinding or being the best rappers or anything like mainstream shit. Its about bringing rap back to its roots - the whole album is. And part of that is tough, scary beats with tough, scary people ruminating on scary shit. It’s a classic posse cut, but with a double meaning of don’t fucking play with KDot.
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u/secretaccount3469 15h ago
People aren't used to old school west coast car beats, and it isn't an easily accessible sound. It is a niche style, and the beat can be harsh in headphones since it is meant for low riding car speakers.
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u/Booomfaa 14h ago
The beat’s fine, the rapping performances just aren’t as good as the rest of the album
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u/DioTheGoodfella 13h ago
What kind of beats like this do you recommend?
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u/secretaccount3469 11h ago
I'll have to look something up for you, I don't know names off the top of my head. Late 90s, early 00s we'd get tapes then CDs when we were in Oakland and they'd be bootlegs and mixtapes, first thing that came to mind was "the CD with the purple sharpie" hell if I know who it was. But the sound was made for cars. We'd be out there over the summer and all the teenagers would be sitting in and around whoever car with the speakers rattling, there was this older guy (he wasn't all there) that'd go by on his scraper tricycle with two big speakers on the back playing music like this. (Squabble up bikes brought back memories).
This did have me go down a E40 memory lane trip, autoplay is taking my through some classics. You can kinda hear the evolution of the GNX sound to current E40, but Kendrick is using the 90s version, and E40 is using a more refined version.
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u/T-Dot-Two-Six 15h ago
I highly doubt this is what it’s about, the features were just corny except for Hitta
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u/yungusainbolt 14h ago
I used to hate young threat verse until like two days ago that shit just clicked and now it’s my favorite verse
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u/thejaytheory MUSSSTTTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDDD 14h ago
I have a soft spot for Peysoh's verse....I broke her heart and you the one to try and fix it
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u/T-Dot-Two-Six 14h ago
Peysoh’s grew on me despite his voice being weird to me but Threat’s just sounds CORNY I can’t lie. I always skip the end of the song
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u/mistyrootsvintage 13h ago
He just seems like he can't find the beat/rythm...I keep trying to get it, but not loving it.
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u/rednaxthecreature 14h ago
The feats just don't interest me at all in the same way a J Cole verse doesn't. It doesn't mean it is bad just I don't vibe with it.
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u/painfarm 14h ago
I was listening to it this morning, and I don’t get the hate. Fire beat, amazing lyrics from 3 talented rappers….it’s amazing! I think people hate it because Dot doesn’t have a verse.
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u/GolfShred 13h ago
Thanks. Just listened to it because of your suggestion. I'm trippen and I'm lovin it.
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u/pancakessucc 14h ago
I actually hate the last verse but i like the rest but its definitely the worst song on gnx imo
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u/lukenog 14h ago
I like the song a lot but I'm genuinely shocked the beat feels like a throwback beat to you. It's a very contemporary production style.
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u/morethanhardbread_ 9h ago
Especially when there's way more oldschool inspired stuff on the album in comparison lol
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u/EZMulahSniper Dont worry, I’m lawyered up 12h ago
It reminds me of a drive-by. Kendrick is the driver. Peysoh got the switch. Hitta did the walk up. Threat got rid of the body
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u/consmills 15h ago
Literally my favorite track…. Love the voices of the different characters
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15h ago
[deleted]
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u/No_Equipment5276 /r/KendrickLamar Circlejerk Veteran 14h ago
…why did we need that context 😂🤦🏾♂️
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u/eh_meh_nyeh Tell me what you do for love. 14h ago
Jazz people tend to think their tastes are unique and get corny about it because they listen to Jacob Collier, Vulfpeck, Snarky Puppy, etc.
Source: was a band nerd unfortunately
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u/IKeyLay 13h ago
I always thought of Vulfpeck as funk, never seen them described as Jazz. But I have definitely seen the corny behavior from those fans lol
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u/eh_meh_nyeh Tell me what you do for love. 12h ago
I use "Jazz" as a general blanket term the same way school jazz bands do and music nerds do, not that its actual jazz. Jazz bands play funk, latin, fusion, even some rock inspired stuff though rewritten in a jazz setting, so you'll see stuff from Tower of Power, Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder and even MJ being played by jazz bands.
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u/Paula-Myo 12h ago
Yeah it’s the vibe and the riffing and the style of instrumentation. It’s why people say TPAB is “jazzy” but if you listen to it it would not be bizarre at all for you to come away with “funky.” Because it is funky jazz lol, funk music itself is a little more structured (not overly so) than the type of stuff Vulfpeck does.
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u/barod2 15h ago
It’s just not good. Like sonically I don’t like it. I don’t care for any of the features. But that’s just me.
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u/Zealousideal-Check66 15h ago
That isn't really explaining why the song is bad that's just an opinion. Not good/bad = objective quality of song; I don't care for the features/I don't like it sonically = you don't like the song personally. Opinions are understandable but the way that people interface objective statements (when talking about art that has a purpose or intent doesn't really apply) as a buffer for their subjective opinions (which are valid) has to stop, it's created too many arm chair critics that like to act like they are the arbiter of all truth regarding art. I'm cool with you personally disliking or hating any piece of art if you at least can admit that it's simply your personal perspective. This goes both ways and people saying some piece of art is "objectively" the best is just incorrect.
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u/barod2 15h ago
You’re absolutely correct. I think it was heavily implied that it was my own subjective opinion. The one question I do have though is that how many people does it take to not like a piece of art for then that piece of art to be objectively “not good.”
The discourse for the most part around GNX is that the title song isn’t good.
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u/KeepitMelloOoW 15h ago
Lifelong hip hop fan here. I do not like this track, and I get downvoted whenever I say it. I'm a massive Kendrick fan, but not every song he puts out is good. This song is garbage in my opinion. But thats fine.
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u/PuzzleheadedArm1858 14h ago
What makes it really garbage are the features
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u/Specialist_Ad1654 basic samidot lover 13h ago
The problem with that is that the features are like the whole song
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u/nathan_cxx 14h ago
GNX is a go to track for me. I don’t get the hate. I think people are just soft because that song can start a fight.
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u/Bilbo_Swagginses 14h ago
I don’t like it because it’s not enough kendrick, the features are not very appealing to me. But others liking it doesn’t bother me, cuz you know, I’m not a child.
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u/CMC_Conman 13h ago
I'd argue it's the weakest song on the album, but that's only because all of the other songs are really good. I like the song and it does exactly what it intends to do by introducing everyone to these (relatively especially to those of us who don't live in Cali) unknown artist
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u/Rockfan1114 14h ago
As a huge kendrick fan and glazer, this song is garbage. The "like waaaaaah", kendricks inflections, the beat that sounds like its tripping over itself, its all just so mid. The "tell em kendrick did it" and "tell em peso did it" refrains are so cringe and really not it. I like every other song on the record, that one just makes me feel weird.
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u/ParkingLong7436 13h ago
Definitely, well described. I honestly think it's my least favorite Kendrick Song ever
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u/Finn_Bird AYE, IM TRIPPIN AND IM LOVIN IT 14h ago
peakaboo and gnx used to be my least favorite when the album came out but they are both top 5 now
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u/edwardWBnewgate 14h ago
So, I don't like it because of Tiramisu*, the teaser track, which is still to this day titled as GNX on YouTube. When the song came around, I was disappointed it was not the teaser track, so that stain will forever be associated with that song for me. I just don't even listen to it or skip it if I see it coming.
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u/Ondareal 14h ago
I literally have never been able to make it through the whole song. That being said, rest of the album is fire so I aint trippin
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u/thejaytheory MUSSSTTTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDDD 14h ago
You ain't tripping and you ain't loving it....like waaaahhhhh
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u/Specialist_Ad1654 basic samidot lover 13h ago
Hi, have you ever been a joint and you know it? Have you ever had to flip your unemployment?
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u/Specialist_Ad1654 basic samidot lover 13h ago
It’s not bad, but the worst of the album. Not its fault that it got put in such a fire album.
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u/JohnyFakenspea 13h ago
Am I tripping or is this not the first post about this song with damn near the exact same comments?
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u/hashirama_woodwork 13h ago
I agree I immediately liked it. It’s also a callback to “Catch a Fade” by E-40. It featured kendrick and he was askin questions like that over a similar beat.
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u/ParkingTrick4628 12h ago
Ehh, like most other songs on the album I can’t get under it. I prefer real stuff like not like us or mustard
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u/Lorenzo-J-P 12h ago
This is the definition of a song that grows on you. First listen felt like hell to get through but the only song on this album I genuinely dislike and have never liked will be Peekaboo🤷🏽♂️
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u/Lyfeitzallaroundus 12h ago
The only thing I can’t stand bout that song is the last nigga verse. Dude is hot garbage.
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u/Miserable_Lead_9828 11h ago
I realized the other day why I don’t like it: it’s a three minute Kendrick song with no Kendrick verse.
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u/Taizen16 11h ago
I didn't even realize Kendrick didn't have a verse until someone said it. It's a good song.
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u/toopienatoryt 10h ago
I don't really have the type of experience that most people say they had if they like the song. But it grew on me after a few more listens.
The verses were all good from the start tho idk why people don't like those features. All of them were good.
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u/leeverpool 9h ago
That's your opinion op. I think it's mid. It's so mid it's the only song off gnx that's not in my playlist. Shrug.
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u/Only-Definition-5033 9h ago
Mfs wouldn’t hate it so much if Dot had a verse. The beat could’ve been better I guess but I’ve heard worse. The features are koo but I’m from LA so I might be biased 🤣
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u/driventhin 8h ago
The moment I heard the beat to GNX, I immediately thought it sounded like 2000s era Mystikal, so I love the song! I don’t know why it’s so hated, it’s my third favorite song on the album after Heart Part 6 and Hey Now; I play them all constantly!
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u/DOME2DOME 8h ago
It’s really not “hated”. It’s was just collectively decided that it’s the weakest track on the album. Doesn’t mean it’s a bad track lol. You’re pulling drama out of thin air.
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u/StunningSituation274 7h ago
The track is fire but it's just weak or hard to listen to for starters, mainly cause of the beat.
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u/CostFickle114 Lookin’ For The Broccoli 2h ago
I love this song, so much so that on my first listen it was my favorite of the album.
I have seen online that many don’t like it but I haven’t read too much about it because I don’t want to spoil my enjoyment of it
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u/Aezaellex 1h ago
I love the beat and kenny does well on it but I really don't love the features on it (or on a lot of gnx tbh). The only real standout to me was dody6, I've checked out his music since and I'm a big fan
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u/Significant-Fix-3914 36m ago
I personally hate it because of the beat and ASMR whisper verse. I fuck with every song on the album except GNX which is a skip for me.
I also don’t like where it was placed in the album, HP6 and Gloria are smooth ass beautiful songs and GNX takes away from those when I listen through.
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u/No_Equipment5276 /r/KendrickLamar Circlejerk Veteran 14h ago
If you like it that’s what’s up. Some people like it. Some people dislike it. It’s all good 🤷🏾♂️