Of the various references, homages, addresses, and through-lines on Kendrick Lamar‘s new album GNX, one among its most important is his lyrical nods to Anita Baker. On the opener “wacced out murals,” he raps, “Using in my GNX with Anita Baker within the tape deck, it is gon’ be a ‘Candy Love,’” and on the outro “gloria,” featured singer Deyra Barrera opens up the reduce by singing “Sentado, Anita y tú” (“Sitting, you and Anita“). The soul singer confirmed like to the mission on Twitter on Saturday (December 28), quote-tweeting the LP’s opener with a praying arms emoji, a present emoji, and XO (hugs and kisses).
As such, it looks as if Kendrick Lamar and Anita Baker are on a two-way road of admiration and appreciation, which is all the time nice to see amongst beloved artists. After all, she has crossed over with hip-hop numerous occasions earlier than, whether or not in an official or sample-based collaborative approach or by means of appreciative and loving interactions like this instance. Contemplating the contrasts created on GNX between its extra heat sonic corners and its dirty West Coast bangers, having a north star like Baker along with extra confrontational inspirations makes good sense.
Anita Baker Shouts Out Kendrick Lamar
Past Anita Baker, although, Kendrick Lamar had many different influences and guiding forces on GNX, most blatant of which had been rappers like Nas, Biggie Smalls, Nipsey Hussle, Drakeo The Ruler, and lots of extra. However it additionally impressed different MCs to select up the mic and provides these instrumentals a shot, reminiscent of Tyler, The Creator. He lately launched a freestyle over Okay.Dot and Dody6’s “hey now” beat, paying homage to his dwelling of Hawthorne, Los Angeles and completely barring up and having enjoyable within the course of.
In the meantime, Kendrick Lamar continues to see large success with GNX, as three of its largest hits (“squabble up,” “luther” with SZA, and “television off” with Lefty Gunplay and, in fact, Mustard) are now platinum-eligible. Whether or not in a collaborative house or by means of inspirations like Anita Baker, there’s plenty of tributes to unpack on the file, and it helps that they are bolstered by nice songwriting and interesting manufacturing. Do your homework on the soul singer if you have not already!
About The Writer
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a workers author for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH whereas finishing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington College in the summertime of 2022.
Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop information protection, reminiscent of his evaluate for Unhealthy Bunny’s hometown live performance in 2024. However extra particularly, he digs for the deeper facet of hip-hop conversations, whether or not that’s the “dying” of the style in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the various transferring elements of the Younger Thug and YSL RICO case.
Past partaking and breaking information protection, Gabriel makes probably the most out of his live performance obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s additionally developed a robust editorial voice by means of album critiques, think-pieces, and interviews with a few of the style’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.
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