Kendrick Lamar may have more new music in the works, if the words of DJ Hed are to be believed – fuelling further speculation after the surprise release of ‘GNX’.
- Read More: Kendrick Lamar – ‘GNX’ review: turning hatred into a teachable moment
On November 22, the Compton rapper surprised the world with ‘GNX’ – his follow-up to the Grammy-winning ‘Mr Morales & The Big Steppers’ and his first release under his new label, pgLang.
The record features his former Top Dawg Entertainment labelmate SZA as well as production from Jack Antonoff, Kamasi Washington, Mustard, Terrace Martin and Sounwave.
Last week (November 29), rapper Gunplay, who featured on the viral track ‘TV Off’, first suggested that more music by Lamar is underway, saying he’s sure the Pulitzer Prize winner has “some stuff in the chamber”. He added: “I know he’s got a deluxe version coming out. He’s very secretive.”
Now, DJ Hed, a radio DJ and friend of Lamar, has fueled further speculation. On a recent Instagram Live session with Lamar’s friend and former labelmate Ab-Soul, the duo talked about Lamar’s recent exploits.
“You see what Dot doing,” DJ Hed began. Ab-Soul interjected to say, “Unc, come on, man” as the DJ continued, “Dot going crazy right now,” before stopping himself. The radio host then suggested that the Compton rapper has plans to drop again.
“We ain’t gonna give them too much,” he teased. “I will say this: the homie ain’t done and this what ni**as is on right now, so you could take that however you want.”
‘GNX’ debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 with 291,000 equivalent album units in its first week – marking it Lamar’s fifth consecutive chart-topping album. That makes it the highest first-week sales of any rap record released this year, beating out Eminem’s ‘The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)’ and Future and Metro Boomin’s ‘We Don’t Trust You’. Lamar featured on ‘Like That’ from the latter, which started his infamous high-profile rap battle with Drake this spring.
‘TV Off’ with Gunplay has sparked a new trend online. During the song’s beat change, Lamar screams “Mustard” as a nod to the track’s Grammy Award-nominated producer, and it has been used as a sound bite for many viral social media videos (via Today).
The LP came after Lamar dominated the charts with the anthemic ‘Not Like Us’. Originally a vicious diss track calling Drake a “certified paedophile” amid their feud, it became Lamar’s fourth US Number One and a unifying track for the West Coast.
NME awarded ‘GNX’ a full five stars, praising it for “turning hatred into a teachable moment”.
“After a year full of scathing diss tracks and unfiltered loathing, Lamar converts that energy into the purest emotion of all – love – while carrying the West Coast on his back,” it added.
In other news, Drake is suing Universal Music Group – the parent company of his label OVO Sound, and the distributor for pgLang – over the release of ‘Not Like Us’. He claimed they “artificially inflated” the song’s streaming numbers and knowingly allowed the release of a defamatory song targeted at one of their signees.
Lamar also shared the music video for ‘Squabble Up’, and Questlove publicly thanked the rapper for referencing The Roots in the visuals.
