Simply over 9 years in the past, within the “Alright” music video, Kendrick Lamar and his Black Hippy compatriots bounced in a broken-down lowrider whereas Kendrick spit a freestyle over a cool Sounwave beat that lasted simply 30 seconds. The snippet stands because the most-replayed part of a video with over 180 million YouTube views, and doesn’t in any other case exist in public kind: not on To Pimp a Butterfly, nor stowed away on the glorified mixtape of B-sides, untitled unmastered. Misplaced within the pantheon of viral teasers, it’s endlessly a “what may have been” second.
There was worry the phenomenon would repeat when Kendrick dropped the “Not Like Us” video within the midst of his summer season of vitriol towards Drake. It opened with one other snippet, a black-and-white shot of Kendrick rapping in a hallway, dropping Kamasi Washington references whereas sounding eerily paying homage to the late Drakeo the Ruler. “squabble up,” the second observe on his new shock album GNX, represents the total model of this previous summer season’s prelude. It’s a satisfying entry level to a report the place Kendrick drapes himself in parts of his California rap heritage, oscillating fluidly between G-funk, hyphy, and even mariachi. Gone are the furrowed bars and deeply meditative manufacturing from the diss tracks; as an alternative he bounds over a cool bassline that mutates Debbie Deb’s “Once I Hear Music” into an ‘90s membership hit powered by a mountain of Tony Montana. It feels as if he’s channeling the ghosts of West Coast rap royalty to spit with nonetheless extra freedom and carelessness—he even references 2Pac’s notorious loogie hawk on the paparazzi.
Kendrick’s lyrical hatred on this observe is far-reaching, which makes it all of the extra enjoyable. “Inform me why the fuck you niggas rap, if it’s fictional/Inform me why the fuck you niggas fed, if you happen to legal,” he growls, after doling out threats of violence like he’s dealing playing cards. Not obligated to the attack-response sample of beef, Kendrick sounds as if he’d strolled out to the city sq. and declared that he’s taking all challengers. His myriad voices, octave adjustments, and shrieks generally appear as if he’s on the precipice of shedding management. However as long as you aren’t the one caught in his crosshairs, you’re grateful that “squabble up” is free to dominate automotive audio system in Compton somewhat than rotting in a vault.