Kendrick Lamar talks about his inspiration for 'GNX' album

Kendrick Lamar's latest album GNX was another classic addition to his already flawless discography. It was released on November 22, 2024, and it capped off a huge year for the Compton artist.

One could say after beating Drake in their much-talked-about battle, the album served as a victory lap for Kendrick since he rapped a lot about defeating foes.

The 37-year-old talked about the inspiration for GNX during a press conference for the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show, explaining that he wanted to get back to basics. In other words, Kendrick said he based the LP on the type of hip-hop he liked when he was a kid growing up in Compton.

“My cousins were like DJ Quik and [Dr.] Dre. These are folks that my people was playing. So, I always had that DNA and you know, you heard that DNA a little bit on good kid, m.A.A.d city," Kendrick explained. "But I wanted to tell my story first, right? And fast forward to GNX, I felt it was just a perfect time because not only the energy was lost, but it was the energy that was bubbling inside of me as well."

He continued. “I wanted to go back to the forefront of just the bite and just the grit of rap … Hard a-s beats, and that’s like the basics for me. I thought about what I used to like when I was a kid. Hard raps, good beats, that’s smacking, right?”

As it's been widely reported, K Dot will be taking the stage at the halftime show at Super Bowl LIX this coming Sunday. There's been a lot of online discussion in recent months about whether he'd play the ubiquitous Drake diss "Not Like Us" during the performance. Especially since the OVO rapper is called a pedophile in the song, and he filed a lawsuit against the label UMG for defamation.

Kendrick didn't say whether he'd perform "Not Like Us" or not, but TMZ reported that he'll definitely be performing the cut. You can hear Kendrick talk about GNX above at the 39:04 mark.