After uniting the West Coast with “Not Like Us” earlier this year, Kendrick Lamar has arrived with another anthem, “squabble up.” The standout track from K.Dot’s surprise new album, GNX, which hit streaming last Friday, is a funky flip of Debbie Deb’s freestyle classic, “When I Hear Music.” Its music video arrived Monday morning, and Lamar packed it with hip-hop culture (and history) references that lean heavily into his hometown of Compton, and also include an homage to the Bay Area.
In the video, Lamar posts up in an empty Victorian living room, rapping nonchalantly in a Dodgers-blue hoodie while scenes unfold around him, like Henry Taylor paintings brought to life. David Hammond’s red, green and black African American Flag hangs on the wall. Dancers c-walk; girls pose in front of a mall-style airbrushed backdrop; and a lowrider hits the hydraulics. Lamar also slips in references to Black pop culture staples, including Isaac Hayes, Soul Train and the 1993 film Menace II Society, which features the late Oakland rapper Saafir.