It feels like there’s a thin line between coincidences and calculated moves, at least for Kendrick Lamar. He’s often a few steps ahead of most, and the release of his new album, GNX, has been one of the year’s most anticipated albums, even though no one knew whether it would drop in 2024. It marked his first official project since Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers and his first album release post-TDE.
Context is important for this album. His historical beef with Drake is at the fore of this feud, especially after “Not Like Us” dominated the summer. However, this album isn’t strictly about Kendrick’s grievances with his peers–he’s coming for what’s his and destroying anything in his path. It all begins with “wacced out murals,” the blistering intro track that serves as the “Bomb First (My Second Reply)” to Kendrick’s The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. The first line alone addresses reports that one of his murals in Compton had been defaced in the wake of his Super Bowl halftime show announcement but this stands as a metaphor for the backlash he received following the news. Regardless, Kendrick is out for blood, and below, we’re breaking down the lyrics for the intro to GNX.
The Compton Mural
(@unsexiest)Despite the overwhelming amount of unity and support on the West Coast these days, there may have been a few individuals who just weren’t feeling Kendrick’s “Not Like Us.” The defacing of the artwork at Compton’s Honduras Restaurant Mi Sabor was seemingly handled by an OVO supporter, who X’d out Kendrick’s eyes, wrote the letters T and F, along with “OK,” before finishing with the acronyms of Drake’s October Very Own brand, XXL reports.
Drake
Of course, much of “wacced out murals” addresses the aftermath of his beef with Drake as early as the first verse when he raps, “It used to be f*ck that n***a but now it’s plural,” and “Put they head on a Cuban link as a monument,” which is an undoubted declaration of his unanimous win in the feud earlier this year. Much of the contention in the song–and the album at large– is directed at Drake or at the very least, what the Canadian rapper represents. However, the third verse of “wacced out murals” directly addresses a few talking points from the beef including a callback to “6:16 In L.A.”:
“N***as from my city couldn’t entertain old boy
Promisin’ bank transactions and even Bitcoin
I never peaced it up, that shit don’t sit well with me
Before I take a truce, I’ll take ’em to Hell with me
If that money got in the hands of a crash dummy
Could jeopardize my family and burden the ones who love me”
These lines refer to the rumors that Drake tried to put money out in the streets for dirt on Kendrick Lamar. Alleged Kendrick affiliate, Coolee Bravo, claimed that he fed Drake false information for $150K. This has yet to be confirmed but Kendrick suggests that Drake was playing with fire, especially since someone could’ve taken things too far and caused physical harm to Kendrick’s family.
Lil Wayne
While many have debated whether or not Lil Wayne was dissed on GNX, Kendrick clearly had no issues taking his foe’s boss to task following the NOLA rapper’s complaints about the Super Bowl. “Used to bump Tha Carter III, I held my Rollie chain proud/ Irony, I think my hard work let Lil Wayne down,” he raps in the second verse. Not only a reference to J. Cole’s “Let Nas Down” but this line serves as a direct response to Weezy and co. (Nicki Minaj etc.) who leaped to criticize Roc Nation and the Super Bowl without congratulating Kendrick Lamar.
For obvious reasons, the Young Money crew didn’t feel compelled to acknowledge Dot’s success after he duked it out with Wayne’s most notable protegé. This probably stung even more considering Kendrick once released a whole mixtape in dedication to Weezy. In fact, the intro of the project includes a glowing endorsement from Lil Wayne.
A few lines later, Kendrick seemingly takes digs at Lil Wayne’s musical output as of late. “Quite frankly, plenty artists, but they outdated/ Old-ass flows, trying to convince me that you they favorite,” he raps. It’s unclear if this is a shot at Wayne but most would agree that Wayne is far from his prime these days.
In response, Lil Wayne expressed confusion in a post on X. “Man wtf I do?! I just be chillin & dey still kome 4 my head. Let’s not take kindness for weakness. Let this giant sleep. I beg u all. No one really wants destruction,not even me but I shall destroy if disturbed. On me. Love,” he tweeted.
Snoop Dogg
K dot new album GNX
It was the edibles
west west king
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) November 22, 2024
The West Coast’s never been as unified, though it seemed like Snoop felt like he was above the politics. Following the release of Drake’s “Taylor Made Freestyle,” where he used AI to replicate Snoop Dogg and Tupac and taunt Kendrick, the Doggfather seemingly crossed a line by posting the song on his Instagram and co-signing Drake’s effort, despite the backlash. “Snoop posted ‘Taylor Made,’ I prayed it was the edibles/ I couldn’t believe it, it was only right for me to let it go,” Kendrick raps on the song. Kendrick evidently felt some type of way about Snoop Dogg’s praise for Drake, especially since Snoop passed the West Coast torch to Dot. In response, Snoop tweeted, “K dot new album GNX 
It was the edibles 
west west king.”
Nas
In the midst of the Super Bowl halftime show fallout, only a few people emerged with congratulatory messages for Kendrick Lamar. One of which was Nas, who also congratulated Kendrick on the release of GNX shortly after its release. “Always inspired by my brother KL. Keeping the essence of this shit alive and at the forefront. Salute King!” Nas captioned his latest post.
Diddy
Though his name appears to be omitted, Kendrick seemingly acknowledged the reckoning that the music industry is currently facing.
“Okay, f*ck your hip-hop, I watched the party just die
N**gas cackling about— while all of y’all is on trial
N**gas thought that I was antisocial when I stayed inside of my house
You better off to have one woman, everything tricky right now”
Some interpreted this as a shot at Diddy while others speculated that Kendrick might be referring to Young Thug and Lil Durk. However, Diddy’s trial has produced several unsavory memes, such as the term “No Diddy,” the baby oil memes, or the speculation surrounding “Diddy parties,” which makes this more likely the reference. Moreover, his claims against Drake on “Not Like Us” and “meet the grahams” seemingly mirror some of the allegations against Diddy in his court cases.
J. Cole
In another one where names aren’t mentioned, Kendrick seemingly takes a few digs at J. Cole who has willingly taken more Ls than Drake this year. With the release of “Port Antonio,” Cole attempted to address his position in the feud and his fear of “losing a bro” while maintaining that he’s a formidable opponent in the booth.
Twice on “wacced out murals,” Kendrick seemingly addresses J. Cole’s attempt to both sides his way through the beef. First, he mentions, “F*ck apologies, I wanna see y’all geeked up,” which feels like it could reference Cole’s initial statements at Dreamville Festival where he vowed to pull “7 Minute Drill” off of DSPs and offered an apology to Kendrick. The second time in the song where Kendrick appears to reference the feud is in the third verse when he raps, “Ayy, fuck anybody empathetic to the other side, I vow/ A bitch n***a love bitch n***as, they exist with ’em in style/ Exterminate ’em right now.” Since “Port Antonio” was Cole’s attempt to thwart the narrative surrounding his decision to bow out, it appears that Kendrick isn’t giving J. Cole as much grace as he’d like.
Andrew Schulz
Andrew Schulz reacts to Kendrick Lamar seemingly dissing him on his new album ‘GNX’
“Is this guy too woke to understand a joke?” (Via Akademiks) pic.twitter.com/ejW5WKhLxG
— NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) November 23, 2024
Even Andrew Schulz caught a stray on “wacced out murals.” Toward the end of the song, Kendrick seemingly references Schulz’s controversy with James Duncan and Fuhad Dawodu, the British podcasters who apologized after engaging in some edgy misogynoir banter on the Flagrant podcast. “Don’t let no white comedian talk about no Black woman, that’s law,” Kendrick says. “Is this guy too woke to understand a joke?” Schulz said in response to the line, according to DJ Akademiks.
Katt Williams
Before the feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake exploded, Katt Williams set the tone for 2024, and it appears that Dot channeled that spirit. Katt Williams sat down with Club Shay Shay at the beginning of the year for an explosive interview where he aired out his grievances with the entertainment industry, calling out everyone from Steve Harvey to Diddy. So when Dot raps, “Make Katt Williams ‘nem proud, the truth ‘bout to get loud,” we can imagine that he’s readying the world for a rude awakening.
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