And while the conspicuous absence of “Not Like Us” on “GNX” ultimately reads as cold-blooded, Lamar’s capillaries are still boiling here. On the album opener, “Wacced Out Murals,” he talks about building those pyramids in a previous life ...

but without an album. Key word: Was. On Friday, K.Dot took a break from intermittent Finsta posts to drop “GNX,” a surprise LP that immediately eclipsed every rap release this year. Combining vicious sincerity, kaleidoscopic California sounds ...