From Drake to Lil Wayne: All direct and indirect references in Kendrick Lamar's Wacced Out Murals explored
Surprising his fans, Kendrick Lamar released his sixth studio album GNX on November 22, 2024. The record consists of 12 tracks, including Wacced Out Murals, Luther, Man at the Garden, Dodger Blue, Gloria, Squabble Up, Peekaboo, and more.
Among them all, the opening track Wacced Out Murals has gained significant attention, as several personal beefs, including Lamar's feud with Canadian rapper Drake, have been referred to in its lyrics. Furthermore, the rapper also spoke about the current state of rap in the track.
The opening verse referred to the incident where a mural of Kendrick Lamar was destroyed in September 2024. Lamar used the reference to imply how fragile his legacy was. In the first verse, he rapped:
"I’ll kill ’em all before I let ’em kill my joy/ I done been through it all, what you endure?/ It used to be f**k that n***a, but now it's plural/ F**k everybody, that's on my body."
Lamar implied that he wouldn't let others ruin his happiness, seemingly referring to Drake, and he then shifted his focus possibly from Drizzy to a broader perspective. Furthermore, GNX has a song titled Heart Pt. 6, which has the same name as a diss track that Drake released in May 2024.
Additionally, in the second verse of Wacced Out Murals, K.Dot referred to the betrayal that he felt from artists he once idolized, including Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne.
Lamar recalled the initial years of his career when he admired Lil Wayne. He further expressed how hurt he was after Wayne showed disappointment upon not being chosen to headline the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show, as Kendrick Lamar was ultimately chosen for it. He rapped:
"Used to bump Tha Carter III, I held my Rollie chain proud/ Irony, I think my hard work let Lil Wayne down."
Lamar further rapped:
"Won the Super Bowl and Nas the only one congratulate me/ All these n****s agitated, I'm just glad they showin' they faces/ Quite frankly, plenty artists, but they outdated/ Old-ass flows, tryna convince me that you they favorite."
Lamar further went on to refer to Snoop Dogg reposting Drake's Taylor Made Freestyle diss track. According to the rapper, he couldn't believe that Snoop actually reshared it. He rapped:
"Snoop posted 'Taylor Made,' I prayed it was the edibles/ I couldn't believe it, it was only right for me to let it go."
Kendrick Lamar released a studio album after more than two years since his last release in 2022
Rapper Kendrick Lamar last dropped an album in May 2022, which was titled Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. Meanwhile, the latest album that he dropped has a summarized version of almost all the events that happened this year involving the rapper.
Starting from his beef with Drake to his dynamics with fellow rappers, Kendrick Lamar made multiple references in the songs belonging to the album. On November 22, the rapper teased a one-minute snippet for the album on YouTube, before dropping all the tracks.
Fans seem quite excited with the surprise release of an entire album from the 37-year-old rapper after so long. Furthermore, GNX has been referred to as "the best album of 2024 and the greatest work of Kendrick Lamar's career" by Tom Breihan of Stereogum, in a 'premature evaluation' on November 22.
As of now, Wacced Out Murals and Squabble Up have been the most viewed tracks from the album on YouTube, with over 1.5 million views within 24 hours.
