Albums Kendrick Lamar - GNX (Official Album Thread)
- Thread starter H.J.Duck
- Start date
tbh and it will never be debated.
as much as I love gkmc, and that shyt is a classic masterpiece, TPAB makes GKMC sound like a 5/10 mixtape. Thats how far ahead TPAB is.
Not Crodie
Banned
Solid list.Btw, hiphopdx released their 20 best TDE albums just before gnx came out
TDE's 20 Best Albums: Ranked - HipHopDX
In honor of TDE's 20th anniversary, we ranked the powerhouse label's 20 greatest albums.hiphopdx.com
They have:
1. To Pimp A Butterfly
A jazz-rap masterpiece, To Pimp a Butterfly elevated Kendrick Lamar above anyone that could be billed as his contemporary with a ruthless interrogation of what it meant to be Black in America in the 21st century. The album was to Hip Hop what The Beatles’ Revolver was to rock ‘n’ roll and almost a decade on, it still swirls with a hypnotic surrealism. It’s not only the crown jewel of TDE’s catalog, but the best album of the 2010s.
2. Kendrick Lamar — good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012)
The West Coast was back and it was being carried on Kendrick’s diminutive shoulders. The blog rap star, coming in with the hype of a Dr. Dre co-sign, was the shot in the arm Hip Hop needed in the early 2010s as he mixed cinematic storytelling with stacked rhymes and radio-friendly hooks, without sacrificing authenticity. good kid, m.A.A.d city still sounds as fresh as ever.
3. SZA — SOS (2022)
The long-awaited sophomore album from TDE’s First Lady gave her the status deserving of her talents. The sultry-voiced singer went from cult queen to mainstream superstar seemingly overnight as women everywhere appeared to resonate with SOS‘s themes of female angst. It also spent a remarkable 10 weeks atop the Billboard 200.
4. Kendrick Lamar — DAMN. (2017)
Further developing some of the ideas and sounds he explored on To Pimp a Butterfly, DAMN. is a more personal project but no less vast. Aside from being Kendrick’s first album to sell over half a million units in its first week (603,000, to be exact), it wrote the Compton kingpin into the history books as the first ever non-jazz or classical musician to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music — just in case any Drake fans thought about doubting his credentials.
5. ScHoolboy Q — Blank Face LP (2016)
While Q has not quite kicked on commercially in the way that Blank Face LP promised back in 2016, the album remains a scorching, ominous and often psychedelic masterpiece. Q, at his best, has arguably the most engaging voice in Hip Hop as songs such as “Groovy Tony,” “Str8 Ballin” and “Ride Out” prove.
The rest of the top 20 on TDE's 20 Best Albums: Ranked
tehparadox
Banned
Drake should thank Kendrick for making it seem like his Heart Part 6 never existed
Kdot been doing shyt like that since day 1x.com
x.com
K Dot aint that diabolical, right?
They released new projections for the week after the one coming, TV off, Squabble Up and Lether will still be top 5/10.
can't get enough of Peakaboo
Dz just released their list as well 
They got:
8. OVERLY DEDICATED (2010)
7. DAMN. (2017)
6. SECTION.80 (2011)
5. UNTITLED UNMASTERED (2016)
They got:
8. OVERLY DEDICATED (2010)
If Kendrick is the undisputed king of the rap universe today, then Overly Dedicated was him competing in the rap regionals. Featuring Black Hippy co-collaborators Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Jay Rock, as well as local LA legends like Jhené Aiko and Murs, sonically the project sat within established trends rather than setting them on later releases. Still, in tracks like “Ignorance is Bliss” and “Average Joe”, there are glimpses of the senior social voice that Kendrick became as years went by.
7. DAMN. (2017)
Sit down, Damn., be humble. It slaps, don’t get me wrong – “Humble” and “DNA” are some of the biggest and most viral moments of Kendrick’s career. But, in terms of the experimental production and unparalleled storytelling that really made him a world-class artist, the project left a little to be desired. Sonically, it feels more on the nose compared to his other releases, and, thematically, lives ever so slightly in the shadow of “The Heart Part 4” single that immediately preceded it.
6. SECTION.80 (2011)
His first official album and following just one year after Overly Dedicated, Section.80 feels like the birth of Kendrick proper. Its title a portmanteau of American social housing scheme Section 8 and the 80s crack epidemic, the album unveiled his unique ability to embody different voices and perspectives in his storytelling. Combined with the incorporation of organic live jazz elements, Section.80 is a debut that has really stood the test of time.
5. UNTITLED UNMASTERED (2016)
Raw, unfiltered and dripping with funk, Untitled Unmastered is the sort of unorthodox classic that only Kendrick could have made. Taking chaos as its unifying theme, and lacking a standout track to tie it all together, it’s hard to rank this project against the rest of his releases (and, indeed, some argue that it isn’t an album at all), but it is underpinned by such an undeniable virtuosity that it can’t not be mentioned here.
4. GNX (2024)
Even looking back at GNX’s surprise release last Friday, I still get tingles. It felt like the world over was stopped in their tracks when it dropped, and the gloriously menacing energy of opening track “wacced out murals” only heightened this sense of a cataclysmic global event taking place. Sending shots at Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne and comedian Andrew Shulz over his most West Coast production yet, Kenny definitely seems riled up. This anger is incredibly compelling on tracks like “tv off” and “squabble up” but, as hinted on Tupac homage track “reincarnated”, I can’t help but feel that it is slightly unbefitting of a voice as refined as Kendrick’s. Ultimately, in contrast with his normally pensive discography, GNX emerges as rather reactive.
3. MORALE AND THE BIG STEPPERS (2022)
Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers is The Sopranos of the rap game, and equally as legendary. The hour-plus epic follows a series of developments in Kenny’s personal life – the deaths of Nipsey Hussle and Kobe Bryant, becoming a father and starting therapy. It’s painfully honest, sprawling and, in tracks like “Father Time” and “We Cry Together”, his most emotionally compelling release to date.
2. GOOD KID, M.A.A.D. CITY (2012)
If Overly Dedicated was Kendrick cementing himself as a leading figure of LA, then Good Kid, m.A.A.d City was him going truly global. Kicking off what would become characteristic of Kendrick releases to follow, the project immediately made hip hop fans everywhere turn their heads when it was released, standing out both sonically and lyrically from anything that had come before it. It slapped at the party and the walk home, and struck a balance between intensely personal and narratively ambitious subject matter. As an album, there’s only one other project that can beat it to the number one spot…
1. TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY (2015)
To Pimp a Butterfly isn’t just Kendrick’s best album, it’s not even just one of best hip hop albums – it’s one of the best albums of all time. Tying together elements of jazz, funk, neo-soul and G-funk, with the legendary fingerprints of Thundercat, Dr Dre, Knxwlxdge and more felt throughout, the album listens like a sonic tour through the prolific canon of African-American music, and sports the thematics to match. It’s fearlessly political, astutely self-aware and, at its core, is the unparalleled lyricism of one of this generation’s most respected voices.
Lil Wayne stans being delusional again
The Carter 2 cover is iconic for me. I damn have a t shirt of the damn thing.
BK The Great
Veteran
This album got some depressed 
Kendrick really shook the game up
Kendrick really shook the game up
Saysumthinfunnymike
VOTE!!!
Having 'Damn' as Kendrick's 7th best album is just doin way too much tryna be different Lol
Super Cheech
I Feel So Westcoast
up in here
Superstar
GKMC
TPAB
Section 80
DAMN
OD
Mr Morale
I never really listened to Untitled or KLEP so I can rate those.
At this point I'm putting GNX probably below TPAB but above Section 80, but I gotta give it more time to marinate. But having said that, GKMC and TPAB are both 5 mics to me
TPAB
Section 80
DAMN
OD
Mr Morale
I never really listened to Untitled or KLEP so I can rate those.
At this point I'm putting GNX probably below TPAB but above Section 80, but I gotta give it more time to marinate. But having said that, GKMC and TPAB are both 5 mics to me
