Kendrick Lamar likes to leave clues. He knows that fans will take second and third looks and the things he says and does, and creates accordingly. Such was the case with his new album, GNX. The album has blown the bulk of the internet away with its meticulous rhymes schemes and bouncy production. The car that the album is named after has posed a bit of a mystery, though. Why that car? Well, fans did a little bit of digging and seemingly came up with the answer.
Kendrick Lamar talked about the importance of the 1987 Buick Grand National Regal GNX during a 2012 interview with Complex. The rapper was in the midst of promoting his label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, and he made explicit reference to the car that graces the cover of his sixth album. "When I was born," he explained. "I came home from the hospital in an ‘87 Buick Regal while my pops was bumping Big Daddy Kane." There you have it. GNX, an album largely built on the back of Lamar's eclectic throwbacks and meditations on the past, is named after a nostalgic relic from his youth.
Kendrick Lamar's Dad Used To Own A 1987 Regal GNX
The thing that makes Kendrick Lamar's album artwork and title even more astounding is the fact that he teased it again in March. He posted a lengthy tribute to the GNX model on his burner Instagram account. He waxed poetic about the specific car model. "The best thing you can do, is find a GNX," he wrote. The Compton rapper also spoke at length about the happiness that it has brought him, and the pride he takes in maintaining the car's mint condition. Given the emotional connection he has to the model, it makes a lot of sense.
Kendrick Lamar has a history of making cars part of his iconography. The deluxe album artwork for the aforementioned good kid, m.A.A.d city features the van driven by the rapper's mother. It's the same van he would often borrow to drive around with his friends. Drake, of course, mocked the iconography of the van by crushing an exact model during the music video for "Family Matters." It seemed like a W at the time, but given the glowing praise Lamar has received for his new car-centric album, he may have had the last laugh.
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