A few months ago, Compton rapper Siete7x was in the Bay Area filming a music video. Around 4 a.m., he received a call from a mutual friend of Kendrick Lamar who told Siete to stop what he was doing and go to Conway Studios in Los Angeles. Now.
“He said, 'Kendrick wants you to stop.' At first I didn't believe him,” Siete said. “But my manager and I got in the car and drove six hours back to Los Angeles.”
That late-night drive turned into a session in which Siete performed lines from “dodger blue,” a rousing anthem of local pride and a local favorite on Lamar’s surprise release, “GNX.”
That album was a rich text of the history and invention of West Coast hip-hop, imbued with the venom of his recent feud with Drake. In just one week, singles like “squabble up” and “tv off” have emerged that have redefined the year in rap, just in time for Lamar's appearance at the Super Bowl next year.
But “GNX” is filled with cameos from emerging Southern California artists, whom Lamar considers crucial voices right now. The cast of guests, hailing from Compton to Baldwin Park and beyond, proves their ear is still close to the ground. For those local artists who gained sudden brilliance, “GNX” feels like a piece of history and a chance to show what they're capable of.
“I feel like this album will be a classic for a new generation,” Siete said. “Kendrick gave me a chance. Now I am even more motivated to show the world what I can really do.”
Rapper Siete7x, who appeared as a guest on Kendrick Lamar's album “GNX.”
(EMPIRE)
In the hours following the release of “GNX” last week, fans combed through the lyrics for new twists in Drake's war and analyzed his samples of Tupac Shakur, Luther Vandross and SWV.
While SZA and saxophonist Kamasi Washington are the only cameos on “GNX” that pop music fans will likely recognize, the album is a full roster of beloved veterans of the Southern California scene like Wallie the Sensei, AzChike and Hitta J3, and rapidly growing premises. He performs as Dody6 and YoungThreat.
When Lamar insists on “Dodger Blue” that you can't “say you hate L.A. when you don't go past 10,” these are the artists you're missing out on if you don't venture out.
“GNX” begins with the evocative mariachi vocals of singer Deyra Barerra, whom Lamar discovered when he performed 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 resting at home, half asleep, when [Lamar] He put us on FaceTime and said, 'I need you later today.' Even after the album's surprise release, Peysoh said he was still a little dazed by the experience. Earlier this year, he had finished a three-year prison sentence. Going from that to recording a Kendrick album was dizzying. “I had been written off and left out, and now it's happening just like I told everyone,” Peysoh said.
Rapper Peysoh and Kendrick Lamar record for Lamar's “GNX” album.
(EMPIRE)
Peysoh, known for the black viral hit “6 Block,” has a distinctive Chicano edge to his voice, unmistakable in any mix. When Peysoh arrived at the studio, Kendrick played the complicated and technically challenging rhythm that became “gnx.” Peysoh got the first verse and the two traded lines on the chorus. “Let them claim it, we who really stand out, brother,” he raps. “The opps know it, let them anger him and it will be a failure.”
“It's so cool that he embraced the culture and did right by us,” Peysoh said. “There is 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 opportunity he gave me to demonstrate my ability.”
For the younger artists he called into the studio, “GNX” was a rare peek behind the curtain to see how Lamar works. Few rappers get to write alongside a Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist.
“I didn't know what I signed up for,” Siete said. “It was a really different process in terms of how to record, definitely a level up from what I'm used to. I had to record certain bars five times to have different options for how I input my energy, different cadences that were out of my element so I hit better.”
“Kendrick came with crazy ideas,” Siete added. “Sometimes you have to be a student.”
Even for artists with very brief cameos, simply including their name in 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 record: he repeats a four-word conclusion to the smash hit “tv off” in his trademark raspy tone.
While the song's memes revolved around yelling “MUSTAAAARD,” listeners will leave the song wondering if the guy is making fun of “Crazy, Scary, Creepy, Hilarious.”
“Four words were enough to have the best song,” he laughs. “All the other artists that Kendrick features are real street guys and I'm so glad I get to be a part of that class. “He sees something in us: he directed the play and gave me the alleyoop.”
Lefty Gunplay served nine years in Pelican Bay State Penitentiary and was released last year. Guests whose careers received newfound fame on “GNX” are hitting the streets to make the most of it.
Many said they recorded more music with Kendrick beyond what appears on “GNX,” and while no one wanted to talk about their plans on the matter, it's clear that Lamar has a lot more in the tank.
In the coming weeks, Peysoh will have a concert at the Teragram Ballroom on Sunday, he will probably be mobbed by new “GNX” fans. Siete7x has a new album, “Stucc in the Hole,” coming out on December 6. And in a masterstroke of luck, Lefty Gunplay released their new album, “Most Valuable Gangbanger,” the same day “GNX” landed.
“It will open all the doors for me. “I know I’m still not the best lyrically, but I’m getting better every day and I have to take advantage of this moment,” said Lefty Gunplay. He's still getting used to the idea that he's already part of L.A. rap history.
“I haven't realized it yet,” he laughed. “I'm on a Kendrick album. What a trip!
