Lauded rapper Kendrick Lamar surprised fans on Friday with the previously unannounced release of his sixth studio album, GNX. The LP marks the first full-length release from Lamar since his 2022 double album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.
Of note, the album features a track titled “heart pt. 6”, the latest in a series of songs that have traditionally preceded the release of new Kendrick Lamar albums but have not been included on the albums themselves. Past entries in Kendrick’s “The Heart” series have garnered considerable critical acclaim. At the 2023 Grammy Awards, rather than submitting a track from Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Lamar entered “The Heart Part 5” for consideration in the awards show’s biggest categories. The track received five nominations (including for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Music Video) and took home two wins (for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song). Kendrick’s “heart pt. 6” is not to be confused with Drake‘s 2024 track “The Heart Part 6”, a diss track he released amid a vicious back-and-forth with Lamar this past spring.
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While his last album arrived in 2022, Kendrick Lamar has had perhaps his biggest year yet in 2024 thanks in large part to his highly publicized feud with Drake and its resulting diss tracks—chief among them “Not Like Us”, the vitriolic anthem that became one of the summer’s biggest hits. On the back of the success of “Not Like Us”, Lamar was recently tapped to headline the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show in New Orleans in early 2025. Two days after the Super Bowl Halftime Show announcement, he also released a five-minute track exclusively via Instagram.
Listen to GNX the surprise new album from Kendrick Lamar, on the platform of your choice here of stream it via the Spotify player below.
Kendrick Lamar – GNX – Full Album
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