A few months ago, Compton rapper Siete7x was in the Bay Area to shoot a music video. Around 4 a.m., he received a call from a mutual friend of Kendrick Lamar who told him to drop what he was doing and go to Conway Studios in Los Angeles. NOW.
“He said to me, ‘Kendrick wants you to stop.’ At first I didn’t believe it,” Siete said. “But me and my manager got in the car and drove six hours to Los Angeles.”
That nighttime stroll turned into a session in which Siete performed on “Dodger Blue,” a stirring anthem of hometown pride and a local favorite on Lamar’s surprise release “GNX.”
The album was a rich text on the history and invention of West Coast hip-hop, infused with the venom of his recent feud with Drake. In just one week, singles like “squabble up” and “tv off” redefined the year in rap, just in time for Lamar’s Super Bowl appearance next year.
But “GNX” is full of cameos from emerging SoCal actors, who Lamar considers crucial voices right now. The group of guests – coming from Compton to Baldwin Park and beyond – prove their ear is still close to the ground. For local artists who have suddenly profited, “GNX” feels like a piece of history — and a chance to show what they’re made of.
“I feel like this album will be a classic for a new generation,” Siete said. “Kendrick gave me a chance. Now I’m even more motivated to show the world what I can really do.
Rapper Siete7x, guest on Kendrick Lamar’s album “GNX”.
(EMPIRE)
In the hours since the release of “GNX” last week, fans have been scouring the lyrics for new twists and turns in the war against Drake and analyzing its samples of Tupac Shakur, Luther Vandross and SWV.
While SZA and saxophonist Mucus Washington are the only cameos on “GNX” that pop music fans are likely to recognize, the album is a full roster of beloved SoCal scene veterans like Wallie the Sensei, AzChike and Hitta J3, and local artists booming like Dody6 and YoungThreat.
When Lamar insists on “Dodger Blue” that you can’t “say you hate LA when you don’t go over 10 hours,” these are the artists you’re missing if you don’t venture out there.
“GNX” opens with the evocative mariachi vocals of singer Deyra Barerra, whom Lamar discovered during her concert at Dodger Stadium. But it also gave a nod to the city’s Latin rap scene, with guest bars from Maywood’s Peysoh on the album’s title track.
When Peysoh received the call, he said, “I was relaxing at home, half asleep, when (Lamar) FaceTimed us and said, ‘I need you later today. ‘ Even after the album’s surprise release, Peysoh said he was still a little dizzy from the experience. Earlier this year, he served a three-year prison sentence. To go from there to recording on a Kendrick album was dizzying. “I had been excluded and sidelined, and now it’s happening exactly like I told you,” Peysoh said.
Rapper Peysoh and Kendrick Lamar record for Lamar’s “GNX” album.
(EMPIRE)
Peysoh, known for the noirish viral hit “6 Block,” has a distinct Chicano voice, unmistakable in any mix. When Peysoh arrived in the studio, Kendrick played the delicate and technically difficult rhythm that became “gnx.” Peysoh got the first verse and the two lines swapped in the chorus. “Let ’em claim it, we’re the ones that’s really pop, bro,” he raps. “The opponents know it, let them piss him off and it’s a failure.”
“It’s so great that he embraced the culture and did right by us,” Peysoh said. “There’s a lot of controversy with Mexican rap, but he knows what he wants and he had a plan. He is a legend and I am very grateful for the chance he gave me to prove my loyalty.
For the young artists he called into the studio, “GNX” was a rare peek behind the curtain to see how Lamar works. Few rappers can write alongside a Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist.
“I didn’t know what I signed for,” Siete said. “It was a really different process for how to record, definitely higher than what I’m used to. I had to record certain bars five times to have different options in how I delivered my energy, different cadences that weren’t in my element to make it hit better.
“Kendrick came in with some crazy ideas,” Siete added. “Sometimes you have to be a student. »
Even for artists with very brief appearances, just getting your name on the credits of a Lamar album is a life-changing guarantee.
Lefty Gunplay, a relentless MC from the atypical rap neighborhood of Baldwin Park, has perhaps the shortest cameo on the album – repeating a four-word outro on the hit “tv off” in his trademark rasp.
While the song’s memes consisted solely of shouting “MUSTAAAARD,” listeners will leave the track wondering about the guy who was making fun of “Crazy, scary, scary, hilarious.”
“Four words were enough to have the best song,” he laughed. “All the other artists Kendrick features are real street dudes, and I’m so happy I got to be a part of this class. He sees something in us – he ran the room and gave me the lane.
Lefty Gunplay served nine years at the Pelican Bay State Penitentiary, being released last year. For guests whose careers experienced a shock of new fame on “GNX,” they’re hitting the pavement to make the most of it.
Many have said they’ve recorded more music with Kendrick beyond what appears on “GNX,” and while no one would talk about their projects, it’s clear Lamar has a lot more going on.
In the coming weeks, Peysoh has a concert at the Teragram Ballroom on Sunday, likely crowded with new “GNX” fans. Siete7x has a new album, “Stucc in the Hole”, which will be released on December 6th. And in a masterstroke, Lefty Gunplay released his new album, “Most Valuable Gangbanger,” the same day the “GNX” landed.
“This will open all the doors for me. I know I’m not the best lyrically yet, but every day I’m getting better and I have to capitalize on this moment,” Lefty Gunplay said. He’s still getting used to the idea that he’s already part of Los Angeles rap history.
“It still hasn’t hit me yet,” he laughed. “I’m on a Kendrick album. What a trip.
