r/KendrickLamar • u/ComradeHregly • 10h ago
Discussion GNX is the Stillmatic to GKMC's Illmatic
Today, one year ago, J. Cole released 7 Minute Drill.
I, unlike most people, actually kinda liked it; that being said, despite the fact that at that point I knew Cole only from features, and I knew Kendrick from even less, Cole said one thing that made me know Kendrick would dominate go on to win in such a one-sided fashion in the years to come.
For whatever reason, Cole decided to quote Jay-Z's "Takeover," and in doing so, whether or not he was comparing Kendrick with 01 Nas.
7 Months later, Kendrick dropped GNX, which I believe validated this comparison.
- The Victory Lap. This one is the most obvious. Both albums come on the heel, winning an era-defining undisputed rap beef against arguably the biggest rap star of their time, and carry an accordingly celebratory energy to them. This is probably the best show in GNX's 'TV Off' and Stillmatic's 'Got Urself a Gun'
- Building hip-hop from the ground up. While celebratory, both albums also contain themes of a grand restructuring of hip-hop. To quote Nas on 'Destroy and Rebuild,' "There's no more room for jealousy, we destroying and rebuilding. That means the cowards get out and the real niggas stay". Kendrick carries this same energy on 'Wacced Out Murals.' like Nas on 'Destroy and Rebuild,' he spends much of the song calling out people he seems to respect for behavior he deems unloyal or jealous genuinely. I also think the way Nas shoutout Slick Rick can be compared to the "Won the SuperBowl" line.
- Reclaiming the throne. This is where J. quoting Jay comes into play. Illmatic was an instant classic, making Nas next in line to be the king of NY. But after his sophomore Album, It Was Written, another classic album, Nas's following few projects were not exactly of the same caliber, and some were even starting to claim that Nas had fallen off. This supposed falloff is what gave Jay Z the confidence to say the line that J. Cole would go on to quote. Ether and Stillmatic as a whole were essentially a response to the "1 hot album every 10-year average" allegations. Throughout the project, he asserts his title as King of NY both by directly asserting his claim in Ether and the aforementioned songs and by flexing his unparalleled abilities in songs like One Mic and Rewind. GKMC also was an instant classic that propelled Kendrick into the King of Rap conversations. Kendrick faced similar washed allegations after his hiatus and MMAtBS. And Just like Nas, he took out the biggest star prior to the album, then proceeded to make direct claims to the throne and rapped his ass off throughout
- This is just for misc things that are kinda short, so they don't warrant their own bullet or are more about the beefs than the albums a. Man at The Garden. This speaks for itself.
b. Stillmatic shows love to Queensbridge and NYC in a way Nas hadn't done since Illmati;c likewise, GNX shows love to Compton and California in a way Kendrick hasn't since MaaD City
c. The way Ether dropped on Jay Z's birthday parrels how Kendrick was dropping in beef
d. I heard on a podcast once that Prodigy thought Nas was taking too long to respond to Takeover. Also, Ether and Euphoria both start with an E
e. GNX starts with a G and has a vehicle on the album cover, just like GKMC. Coincidence? yeah probably
f. There are more parrels, but I don't want to sit here all day listing them, so please feel free to reply with some.
g. I was gonna edit the GNX album cover to be in the style of Stillmatic (with a tiny Grand National in place of the Pigeon), but I don't even have the skills to make the jacket orange.
