Kendrick Lamar has decided to strike while the iron is hot. On Nov. 22 he released a brand new album, “GNX,” completely out of nowhere (listen to it below). It arrived just minutes after he posted this preview video online. This follows his 2022 album “Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers,” which won him a Grammy for Best Rap Album, his third win in that category from the Recording Academy.
This caps a year for Lamar that has been eventful to say the least. He became embroiled in a public beef with fellow rapper Drake that resulted in the two men trading diss tracks back and forth. That exchange of verbal shots culminated in Lamar’s single “Not Like Us,” which broke out to become one of the defining hits of the summer and one of the biggest hits of Lamar’s career. He went on to dominate the Grammy nominations with five noms for “Not Like Us” and another two for “Like That,” his collab with Metro Boomin and Future. Oh, and he was named the headliner for the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Lamar is beloved by the Grammys, by and large. He has now been nominated 57 times and won 17 trophies. So he already has to be considered one of the top contenders for Album of the Year in 2026. But can he finally take home that award? It’s much too early to tell, but hip-hop has had a hard time in the big four categories. The only rap album that has won Album of the Year was OutKast‘s “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below,” and Childish Gambino‘s “This Is America” was the only rap song to claim Record and Song of the Year.
But it’s not for a lack of trying. Lamar’s last four studio albums were nominated for the top prize: “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City” in 2014, “To Pimp a Butterfly” in 2016, “Damn” in 2018, and “Mr. Morale” in 2023. He was also nominated in 2019 for spearheading the “Black Panther” soundtrack, and in 2017 he was nominated as a featured artist on Beyoncé‘s “Lemonade.” That’s six Album of the Year noms without a win for K. Dot, despite him even winning a Pulitzer Prize for “Damn.” If he keeps being relegated to wins in the rap field, perhaps his next diss track will be about the Academy.
