You Can't Sit With "Us": Here Are the Few Artists Featured on Kendrick Lamar's 'GNX'
Despite rumors, Taylor Swift isn't one of the artists featured on Kendrick's surprise album.
Published Nov. 22 2024, 3:35 p.m. ET
Many artists have followed suit since Beyonce forever changed music distribution practices with the surprise drop of her self-titled album on Dec. 13, 2013. We've seen Drake follow in Muva's footsteps with his 2022 surprise album, "Honestly, Nevermind." In November 2024, Drake's arch-nemesis, Kendrick Lamar, followed up by surprising fans with his highly anticipated album, "GNX."
Kendrick released the news of his album in the most demure way possible.
Kendrick's surprise album features several collaborations with his musical peers, including working with Mexican singer Deyra Barrera and his longtime producing partner DJ Mustard behind the scenes. But sorry Swifties, Taylor Swift didn't contribute to the album, despite rumors.
Rather than making you search for them while listening to the music, we have a rundown of all the GNX features.
Who's on Kendrick Lamar's 'GNX' features list?
"GNX" is Kendrick's sixth studio album. The 12-track songlist features several of the rapper's peers, many of whom he's worked with before. However, the album's summary on Apple Music states that his fans may think he has no friends due to the short feature list. But we'd like to believe Kendrick was intentionally selective in who he chose to work with on his project.
"wacced out murals" features vocals from Deya Barrera
Kendrick contributed with Mexican artist Deya Barrera on the intro of the first song on his album "wacced out murals."
"luther" and "gloria" feature vocals from SZA.
One distinct voice fans will hear on "GNX" is Grammy-winning singer SZA. SZA and Kendrick first collaborated on their 2018 song, "All the Stars." The west coast rapper apparently liked what he heard, as he enlisted the "SOS" artist to appear in two of the songs on his album.
The first song featuring SZA, "Gloria," is the first song on Kendrick's album. The track features vocals from SZA during the song's chorus and two of its verses. The musicians also co-wrote the song with singer-songwriter Sam Dew.
SZA also appears on "Gloria," which depicts a complicated relationship between a couple who has weathered many storms together. She sings on the chorus and in the interlude, which is a dialogue between her and Kendrick.
"dodger blue" features songs from Sam Dew, Ink, WallieTheSensei, Roddy Rich, and Siete.
Kendrick's eighth track on the album, "Dodger Blue," features several of his contributions from hip-hop and R&B artists. The song includes WallieTheSensei, Roddy Ricch, and Siete in the chorus, Kendrick and Ink in a verse, followed by Sam Dew and Ink in the outro. Sam and Siete also contributed to writing their verses and the chorus.
"peekaboo" features LA-based rapper AzChike
Anyone familiar with Kendrick's music knows the Compton-based rapper loves to represent his city and its artists. For GNX, he tapped AzChike, an LA-based rapper and one of the members of the city's AzCult. AzChike is featured in the first two verses of the song with Kendrick. Then, Kendrick takes over in the chorus and the rest of the track.
"gnx" features Peysoh, Hitta J3, and YoungThreat.
The namesake song is Kendrick's 11th GNX track. It includes rapper Peysoh in the first verse and chorus. Hitta J3 appears on the chorus later in the song, followed by another verse with Kendrick. "gnx" ends with a standalone verse from YoungThreat.
Kendrick's surprise album comes after his massive success in 2024. Amid his and Drake's ongoing beef, which worsened this year, he released several diss tracks, including "Meet the Grahams," "Euphoria," and the ultra-successful "Not Like Us."