OPINION: Kendrick Lamar’s video for the first single from “GNX” is a Los Angeles bonanza full of pop culture references, Easter eggs and nods to legends.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
When I was a kid in the ‘80s and ‘90s—you know, back in the 1900s—when you did something amazing, somebody would always say, “he must have eaten his Wheaties today!” alluding to the breakfast cereal that has long been billed as “the breakfast of champions.” Famous athletes have often found themselves on Wheaties boxes, to the point where the physical, unopened boxes themselves have become collector’s items.
Kendrick Lamar has been eating his Wheaties. Not only have the e-streets decided that 2024 is the year of Kendrick Lamar; apparently Kendrick has accepted the mantle and been on our necks since March. On Friday, November 22, he dropped the album “GNX,” which has literally been the talk of, well, everything since it hit the ‘net. And then, to continue his barrage of artistic dominance, he dropped the first visual from the album, “Squabble Up,” a song that was first teased at the beginning of the video for the indisputable song of 2024, “Not Like Us.”
“Squabble Up” continues where “Not Like Us” left off; the video is full of West Coast — heavy on the Los Angeles — imagery and pop culture references, culture and homages, and Kendrick Lamar doing that little Kendrick Lamar dance. Seriously, I’ve watched the video at least 10 times as of this writing because I’ve been trying to place some of the references in the background.
I would imagine folks from Los Angeles have been feeling super-duper seen lately with the way Kendrick has been putting on so heavily for Los Angeles. This video takes some of that to the next level. For instance, there is a nod to Ice-T’s “Power” album cover where a woman in a bathing suit is seen holding a sawed-off shotgun. There is a kid on a Big Wheel wearing the same outfit as Anthony, the son of Ronnie, Jada Pinkett-Smith’s character in “Menace II Society,” wore in the final scenes of the movie, right before Caine was gunned down by the only person missing from this video, Samuel Monroe, Jr., a villain so thorough that if I saw him in real life today, I’d cross the street. There’s a nod to the cover for Isaac Hayes’ 1971 opus, “Black Moses.” There’s a “Soul Train” Scramble Board scene and David Hammons’ African-American flag. Also, rest in peace to Nate Dogg.
And frankly, “Squabble Up” includes a ton of references to things I don’t even know because I’m not up on all of the Los Angeles or California cultural touchpoints. Most important is a book Kendrick is reading titled “How to Be Like Kendrick Lamar for Dummies” and I swear I hope that gets released, even as a joke book. I’m sure some enterprising soul will print up some of those joints and sell them before the cease-and-desist comes; that’s how I got my Snoop-On-A-Stoop doll!
I’m sure some enterprising soul will do a TikTok that points out every single reference utilized in the video and I’m looking forward to that. For now, though, I just continue to be impressed with this mission that Kendrick Lamar has found himself on. While his beef with being associated with Drake was the catalyst for the past nine months of Kendrickpalooza, it’s admirable to witness the way his focus seems to have shifted to uplifting and (to whatever extent it’s working) uniting the West Coast. Kendrick is locked in and this video for “Squabble Up” is more proof of that point. Similarly, he has me curious about what’s next; that unpredictability from an artist hasn’t existed for a long time in hip-hop. I’m glad we’re here now.
West, West y’all.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Dear Culture” on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said “Unknown” (Blackest).
