Kendrick Lamar’s ‘GNX,’ Drake’s Criminal Filings: ‘Billboard Unfiltered’

It’s Kendrick Lamar Week for Billboard Unfiltered following the Thanksgiving ruin. Lamar unleashed his GNX album with none kind of caution on Nov. 22, and the LP debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 319,000 similar devices earned.

Dot additionally took up a ton of actual property in this week’s Billboard Scorching 100, with seven out of the highest 10 and all the most sensible 5. He even introduced an accompanying 2025 North American stadium trek referred to as the Grand Nationwide Excursion, on which his “Luther” collaborator and previous Best Dawg Leisure working mate SZA will likely be becoming a member of him.

There used to be a blank sweep of approval from the quartet of co-hosts, with GNX launching Lamar into the album of the 12 months dialog and stamping his banner 12 months of rap domination.

Deputy Director of R&B/Hip-Hop Carl Lamarre believes K. Dot’s ’24 competitors one of the most nice years rap’s noticed within the remaining 25 years. “Him having the ability to land 3 No. 1s this 12 months at the Scorching 100 … Him pronouncing this excursion, him having a No. 1 album,” he stated. “I feel his run this 12 months is more than likely similar to what we’ve noticed from an ’08 [Lil] Wayne, an ’03 50 [Cent], a 2018 Drake with what he’s been ready to do.”

Editorial Director Damien Scott credited Lamar with “blanketing the tradition” and when put next GNX to Jay-Z’s The Blueprint with how direct and to the purpose the challenge is whilst freeing digestible hit information. “To me, this album appears like a Jay-Z album. It appears like The Blueprint. It’s very direct, it’s very to the purpose. Right here’s Jay on the peak of his powers being like, ‘I run this s–t. F–k all of you.’ Identical to Kendrick is at the opening observe,” Scott opined. “First it used to be f–k this one man, now it’s f–k all of you … It’s an incredible rap report.”

The Debbie Deb-sampling “Squabble Up” introduced at No. 1 at the Scorching 100, and Senior Charts Analyst Trevor Anderson didn’t be expecting to listen to successful report like that. “Coming off ‘Squabble Up,’ I used to be up there having a look like Jonathan Majors in my condominium doing the little civil rights dance,” he joked. “Something we overlooked with Mr. Morale used to be a blank Kendrick hit.”

In other places all through Billboard Unfiltered, the body of workers mentioned Drake making a couple of felony filings in opposition to Common Track Staff in November, alleging that his report label artificially inflated the recognition of Lamar’s “No longer Like Us.”

Workforce Creator Kyle Denis used to be puzzled to start with by way of the 6 God’s felony movements, however believes the primary pre-filing has an opportunity to be a landmark case if it certainly heads to trial and there’s a ruling in Drake’s prefer that shakes up streaming’s panorama. “If this does finally end up going to trial and we get a call that if truth be told affects the very type of streaming, this is able to be the most important case,” he said. “All of this is nonetheless coloured by way of the timing of all of it, and this arriving all through GNX week. It’s somewhat bit pathetic … It simply feels somewhat bit ‘Let me do what I will be able to to muddy up this man’s liberate week any manner that I will be able to.’”

Watch the whole episode above.