In 2024, Kendrick Lamar became the master of the anti-rollout: since the start of the year, he’s turned twelve words of X-posts and a few songs, accompanied by still images, on Instagram into an era-defining rap beef, a number one single and a booking to perform at the Super Bowl LIX halftime show in New Orleans. Between his guest appearance on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” and his chart-topping victory lap “Not Like Us,” Kendrick grabbed the nation’s attention by lobbying diss after diss from rap’s most commercially dominant star, didn’t completely depose Drake, but he certainly left a permanent stain on his image, accusing him of sex trafficking, pedophilia, and cultural colonization.

The meat simmered after Drake’s half-hearted and sometimes confusing response to “The Heart Part 6,” while Kendrick strategically made his moves, showing up for his Pop Out concert, the “Not Like Us” video and the Super Bowl announcement. This morning, however, Kendrick uploaded a cryptic one-minute clip titled “GNX” to YouTube, and, even more unexpectedly, dropped his entire sixth studio album just before noon. The new LP is more accessible than the complicated one of 2022 Mr. Morale and the big stepsharkening back to 2017’s pop DAMN it. and indulging in bouncy West Coast club slappers and slick synth-pop over a relatively decent 45-minute experience. Further exploring the jittery, Drakeo the Ruler-inspired flow that made the punchlines of “Not Like Us” so memorable, he’s also brought a new generation of SoCal upstarts along for the ride, bringing in local emcees like AzChike, Peysoh and YoungThreat appeals to collaborations. Here are five takeaways that stood out during the run GNX the first few times.