Like many hip-hop fans in Los Angeles, I spent the last weeks of 2024 listening to Kendrick Lamar’s GNX. While listening, I couldn’t help but review the Kendrick-Drake battle that erupted after years of bubbling tension.

There was one thing in particular that incensed Kendrick (and Tupac fans like myself). That was Drake’s use of AI to create a rap verse as Tupac Shakur on Drake’s “Taylor Made Freestyle.”

To those of us who grew up with Tupac, it was a slap in the face. It was disrespectful, illegal, and ignorant on Drake’s part. The real Tupac of the 90s would not have taken Drake’s side in this battle.

From that moment, Kendrick went on a vicious tear reminiscent of Shakur’s most aggressive moments. And he didn’t do it behind a veil, he let it be known that he was channeling and claiming Tupac for his side of the battle.

“You think the Bay gonna let you disrespect Pac, n****? / I think that Oakland show gon’ be your last stop, n****.” Later, he also says, “It’s all eyes on me and I’ma send it up to Pac.”

---

Then came the surprise release of GNX. As I listened, something about it kept pushing me to the last album Tupac put together himself, The Seven Day Theory.

This album was Shakur’s declaration of war on several rappers of the time and people he felt had crossed him one too many times. It stands as an exclamation point on a life that was cut short and still had much more to say. And I’m now convinced Kendrick was blasting this album everywhere as he was making GNX.

Wacced Out Murals

In Seven Day Theory’s final track, “Against All Odds,” Shakur states in the chorus:

“Hopin’ my true motherfuckers know / This be the realest shit I ever wrote / Against all odds, up in the studio gettin’ blowed / To the truest shit I ever spoke.”

And in the verses, Pac calls out Diddy, Nas, Dr. Dre, and more. He even goes after a few people outside the music industry. Everyone knows about the Tupac and Biggie beef but by the time this album was recorded, it was much bigger — at least it was in Pac’s eyes.

On “Wacced Out Murals,” Lamar goes beyond the Drake battle: “It used to be fuck that n**** but now it’s plural / Fuck everybody. That’s on my body / My blick first, then God got me / I watch ’em pander with them back-handed compliments / Put they head on a Cuban link as a monument.”

The song goes on to call out Lil’ Wayne, Snoop Dogg, and even drops in a muted Diddy mention. But the lines drawn between the two songs don’t end at name drops.

At the end of “Against All Odds,” Tupac explains why he’s speaking out now.

“Against all odds, I don’t care who the fuck you is. You touch me, I’m at you. I know you motherfuckers didn’t think I forgot. Hell nah, I ain’t forgot. I just remember what you told me. You said don’t go to war unless I got my money right. Well, I got my money right, now I want war.”

Kendrick has long battled with how rap has changed, each year seemingly moving farther and farther away from its roots in the streets to become a more accepted form of music. He could’ve played it like 50-Cent did, calling out people by name from the start of his career. Instead, he waited for the right time.

GNX is Kendrick’s sixth studio album. Was he taking Tupac’s words at the end of Seven Day Theory as advice? “Against all odds I squabbled up for the dividends / Against all odds I showed up as a gentleman.”

“Wacced Out Murals” also takes two themes from “Against All Odds.”

Old Rappers

Tupac: “All you old rappers tryin’ to advance / It’s all over now, take it like a man / N****s lookin’ like Larry Holmes, flabby and sick / Tryin’ to playa-hate on my shit — can eat a fat dick!”

Kendrick: “All these n****s agitated, I’m just glad they showin’ they faces / Quite frankly. Plenty artists but they outdated / Old-ass flows, tryna convince me that you their favorite.”

---

Losing Real Ones

Tupac: “I’ve seen too many real players fall to let you bitch n****s beat me.”

Kendrick: “I done lost plenty friends, sixteen to be specific.”

Squabble Up

If “Wacced Out Murals” aligns with the last track of Seven Day Theory, GNX‘s second track, “Squabble Up,” comes from “Bomb First.” This first song on Shakur’s album includes a subtitle in parentheses, “My Second Reply.” He could very well mean it’s a continuation of “Hit ’em Up.” Or perhaps this song was actually written after “Against All Odds.”

“Squabble Up” is the second track on GNX, so you might say it is Lamar’s second reply on the album. This of course is all speculation but you can’t mistake the themes of the songs. Both songs are confrontational from the jump and the titles themselves let you know the intent behind each album — it’s on.

Dodger Blue

Tupac’s anthem to Los Angeles is “To Live and Die in L.A.” He gives props to the city’s hustle culture and the coming together of black and brown to make up the heart of the streets of the city. He brings up the city’s music and cruising history.

---

Things may not be all great here but it’s still home and we wouldn’t have it any other way. “It’s the city of angels and constant danger / South Central L.A., can’t get no stranger / Full of drama like a soap opera / On the curb watching the ghetto bird helicopters.”

It’s no real shock that if you play them one after the other, “To Live and Die in L.A.” fades into “Dodger Blue” so perfectly. The slow beat of each song makes them feel like they were made to be played this way.

And reppin’ Los Angeles happens from the jump: “What school you went to? Gardena, Compton / Westchester, King-Drew, then we function.”

The song speaks to the hustle it takes to survive in L.A.: “Ain’t no sleeping in on Sunday / If it’s about money then my n****s on go.”

Of course, the lines that capture the mentality of real Angelenos are what you hear on social media and blasting out of car stereos around the city:

“Bitch, I’m from the LAnd / Don’t say you hate L.A. when you don’t travel past the 10 / Am I trippin’? Yes, I am / Meditate over some money. I see Franklin, I find Zen / Bitch, I’m from the LAnd / Don’t say you hate L.A. but live in L.A. and pretend.”

Every Los Angeles hater from here on out will have to listen to these lines. We Angelenos know the city is expansive. Only tourists would judge Los Angeles based on one neighborhood or a few popular spots.

Reincarnated

My wife, who seldom listens to new hip-hop, was in the car as I was listening to GNX one day. When this song came up, her immediate response was, “this one feels like a Tupac song.”

There’s no doubt about the sound because “Reincarnated” samples Pac’s “Made N****z.” Take this beat and add in lyrics exploring reincarnation, musical generations, addiction, and religion. It’s easy to understand why the song doesn’t just sound like a Tupac song, it feels like a Tupac song. The beat is “Made N****z” but the lyrics are pure “Blasphemy.”

Gloria

And then there’s “Gloria,” the final track on GNX. A song that made me smile the first time I heard it but has become more emotional each time I’ve heard it since.

---

Another standout song on Seven Day Theory is “Me and My Girlfriend.” It sounds like a guetto love song from Tupac to an unnamed woman, perhaps Pac’s ride-or-die girlfriend, as the two embark on various schemes and crime sprees. It’s the typical Bonnie and Clyde, outlaws on the run type of song. Or is it?

The song is not about a woman at all, it’s about guns. And it’s not even a gun with special meaning but rather a personification of guns in general. Below are just three of the many references you catch in the song.

• “My girlfriend may be 45 but she still live / One shot make a n****’s heartbeat stop.”
• “Picked you up when you was 9 / Started out my life of crime with you / Bought you some shells when you turned 22.”
• “I was too immature to understand your ways / Inexperienced back in the days / Caused so many arguments and strays.”

Some years after Tupac’s death, Jay-Z took a stab at remaking the song but missed the point completely by turning it into a song about his relationship with Beyonce. Leave it to Kendrick to write a new song that fully captures what Tupac was doing while not actually making it a remake.

“Gloria” is a song detailing a deep relationship of many years. It speaks of moments of ecstasy as well as moments of resentment. But like Tupac, Kendrick isn’t talking about a woman.

• “We started out young looking for some identity / Made a thousand mistakes but never did we lack chemistry”
• “Some n****s wanted you but weren’t committed / Preoccupied with playin’ John Madden and bullshittin'”
• “It takes some tough skin just to deal with you / Logical explanation don’t exist. Flippin’ pages / Chapter after chapter, probably remarry and head to Vegas”

If you’re not paying attention, you can easily miss the references on first listen. Kendrick explains it in plain language to close out the song to do away with any confusion: “My woman and my right hand, my saint and my sin / Ain’t no bitch like my bitch ‘cuz my bitch been my pen.”

A Few Last Words

GNX took over the final weeks of the year — certainly in Los Angeles. It pays homage to the city, its music, and its people. The album samples classics from multiple generations and Kendrick proudly claims his top rapper spot and presents his argument for it.

But GNX is also a shoutout to a rapper who influenced Kendrick throughout his life. GNX has the same number of songs as Seven Day Theory, takes inspiration from several of those songs, and takes the same offensive stance toward adversaries and haters.

Not only did Kendrick raise his own status in 2024, he may have also revived the interest into a rapper many of us know to be unique and legendary, but who was beginning to fade as new generations of rappers reached for a microphone.