Kendrick Lamar's GNX will go down as one of the biggest cultural moments in hip-hop history as time passes. It arrived well after he decisively took out Drake in their beef. Moreover, it's sudden release was such an incredible surprise, especially with it dropping two months after he was announced as the act for the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Additionally, you can also point to just the pure hype and chatter around it. Overall, it's pretty difficult to deny the impact of GNX and there's a good chance it will be a future classic. It's sure to scoop up plenty of awards when the next wave of shows arrives later this year.
Despite it being such a great record, fans were still a little shocked when "Not Like Us" didn't make the tracklist. With how massive it became; it had all the makings of lead single. But there's now an official explanation as to why it remained a single. According to Billboard, Lamar's former boss TDE Punch participated in some light Q&A with users on X.
TDE Punch Could Only Take One Question About Kendrick Lamar
One of them presented Punch with the burning question, writing, "Hey @iamstillpunch do you have some education for us as to why Dot didnt include the mega smash on the album?" He hit back, "Integrity. That record was for the battle. The album was a separate thing. Could have put it on there to boost overall sales but choose to leave it for what it was. Integrity."
Another fan was curious as to when Lamar was working on his sixth studio LP: "Was he working on the album prior to the battle?" However, Punch decided to leave that up for the artist to answer. "Lol. That’s all I got champ. He can speak on that if he ever choose too." Overall, we can agree with the thought process. If he were to include "Not Like Us" there's a chance it would have taken away from the greatness this record possesses. J. Cole learned that the hard way after putting his Kendrick "diss" "7 Minute Drill" on Might Delete Later and then removing it.
