Just over nine years ago, the “Alright” music video featured Kendrick Lamar and his Black Hippy compatriots bouncing around in a broken-down lowrider as Kendrick spit a freestyle over a groovy Sounwave beat that lasted just 30 seconds. The clip is the most played part of a video with more than 180 million YouTube views and does not otherwise exist in public form: not on To pimp a butterflynor filed away on the glorified mixtape of B-sides, untitled unmastered. Lost in the pantheon of viral teasers, it’s forever a “what could have been” moment.

There were fears the phenomenon would repeat itself when Kendrick dropped the “Not Like Us” video in the middle of his summer of vitriol against Drake. It opened with another clip, a black and white photo of Kendrick knocking in a hallway, dropping references to Kamasi Washington while eerily reminiscent of the late Drakeo the Ruler. ‘squabble up’, the second song on his new surprise album GNXrepresents the full version of last summer’s prelude. It’s a satisfying entry point for a record that finds Kendrick wrapping himself in elements of his California rap heritage, fluidly swinging between G-funk, hyphy and even mariachi. Gone are the grooved bars and deeply meditative production of the diss tracks; instead, he skips over a funky bassline that mutates Debbie Deb’s “When I Hear Music” into a ’90s club hit driven by a mountain of Tony Montana. It feels like he’s channeling the spirits of West Coast rap royalty to spit with even more freedom and carelessness — he even references 2Pac’s infamous loogie hawk to the paparazzi.

Kendrick’s lyrical hatred on this song is far reaching, which makes it all the more enjoyable. “Tell me why the fuck you niggas rapping, if it’s fictional / Tell me why the fuck you niggas getting fed, if you a criminal,” he growls, after handing out threats of violence like he’s dealing cards. No longer beholden to the attack-reaction pattern of beef, Kendrick sounds like he walked into the town square and declared he can take on all challengers. His numerous voices, octave changes and screams sometimes seem as if he is about to lose control. But as long as you’re not the one in his crosshairs, you’ll be grateful that “bickering” has the freedom to dominate car speakers in Compton instead of rotting in a vault.