Anita Baker Shows Love To Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX” After Shoutout

Of the many references, homages, addresses, and through-lines on Kendrick Lamar‘s new album GNX, one of its most crucial is his lyrical nods to Anita Baker. On the opener “wacced out murals,” he raps, “Riding in my GNX with Anita Baker in the tape deck, it’s gon’ be a ‘Sweet Love,’” and on the outro “gloria,” featured singer Deyra Barrera opens up the cut by singing “Sentado, Anita y tú” (“Sitting, you and Anita“). The soul singer showed love to the project on Twitter on Saturday (December 28), quote-tweeting the LP’s opener with a praying hands emoji, a gift emoji, and XO (hugs and kisses).

As such, it seems like Kendrick Lamar and Anita Baker are on a two-way street of admiration and appreciation, which is always great to see among beloved artists. Of course, she has crossed over with hip-hop various times before, whether in an official or sample-based collaborative way or through appreciative and loving interactions like this example. Considering the contrasts created on GNX between its more warm sonic corners and its grimy West Coast bangers, having a north star like Baker in addition to more confrontational inspirations makes perfect sense.

Beyond Anita Baker, though, Kendrick Lamar had many other influences and guiding forces on GNX, most obvious of which were rappers like Nas, Biggie Smalls, Nipsey Hussle, Drakeo The Ruler, and many more. But it also inspired other MCs to pick up the mic and give these instrumentals a shot, such as Tyler, The Creator. He recently released a freestyle over K.Dot and Dody6’s “hey now” beat, paying homage to his home of Hawthorne, Los Angeles and absolutely barring up and having fun in the process.

Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar continues to see massive success with GNX, as three of its biggest hits (“squabble up,” “luther” with SZA, and “tv off” with Lefty Gunplay and, of course, Mustard) are now platinum-eligible. Whether in a collaborative space or through inspirations like Anita Baker, there’s a lot of tributes to unpack on the record, and it helps that they’re bolstered by great songwriting and engaging production. Do your homework on the soul singer if you haven’t already!