"Saying it's his best album is insanity": Fans react as Anthony Fantano gives Kendrick Lamar's new album a 9 

Music critic and YouTuber Anthony Fantano seemingly gave a shocking rating to Kendrick Lamar’s latest album, GNX. To fans’ surprise, the former rated the chart-topping album a “light 9.” Many have since taken to X to react to the rating.

Following Kendrick Lamar’s lengthy rap battle with Drake, he released his album GNX on November 22, 2024. This comes after the former’s single and Drizzy diss track Not Like Us went on to break records, including a Spotify streaming record. The music streaming platform named the track the most-streamed American hip-hop song streamed in a single day, boasting numbers like 6.59 million.

As many celebrate the unexpected drop of a new album, Anthony Fantano shared how impressed he was with K. Dot’s creation, as he rated it a “light 9.” In his video where he critiqued the album, on his official YouTube channel (theneedledrop), Fantano added:

“I think it’s [the GNX album] great. I’m loving the hell out of it. It’s impressive, it's hard-hitting, it's catchy, it's direct and to the point. It is loaded with personality and wit and charisma, memorable beats and choruses and narrative concepts, passionate performances too. I really truly thing this is Kendrick’s best and most focused and most cohesive work since T-Pab.”

Fantano further said:

“This new record over here is still incredible on its own merits. It’s not like you know Kendrick as an artist who’s running out of gas, running out of steam, trying to recreate the same magic of a past success on this album. He’s pushing forward, he’s trying new things, he’s experimenting and making waves in the process.”

Several netizens had mixed reactions to the album being rated that highly by Fantano. One X user stated:

"Really? It’s a good album but saying it’s his best album is insanity."

Meanwhile, some opined that the high score of nine was well deserved. Comments online read:

“About the right score,” an X user said.

“I agree with him it’s in the 9-10 range,” another user stated.

“Fair score. It’s a solid album didn’t blow me away like GKMC or TPAB but I’m still listening to it,” a netizen remarked.

On the other hand, Pitchfork rated the album a 6.6 out of 10, which left fans disappointed, as Travis Scott’s Utopia album was given a score of 5.7, which was reportedly the lowest score the publication had given an album. Many opined that GNX was deserving of a higher score, perhaps similar to that of Fantano’s. Meanwhile, other reactions read:

“I think it is a great album deserving of a high rating but it is not really “cohesive and focused.” It’s just a bunch of good songs fr,” an X user opined.

“I mean, Kendrick did snap on it,” a netizen commented.

As the YouTuber’s review went viral online, others opined that the rating was too high. Some comments read:

“It’s great but a 9? Seems high imo, a solid 8 for me,” an X user stated.

“He was paid off lol,” another user alleged.

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Anthony Fantano’s rating for Kendrick Lamar’s GNX comes after his feud with Drake

Anthony Fantano made headlines back in September 2022 after he revealed on his second YouTube channel (fantano) that Drake had messaged him after he reviewed the rapper's Honestly, Nevermind album. In June of the same year, Fantano scored the album an official “Not Good” out of 10, leading to Drake telling Fantano in a message:

“Your existence is a light 1. And the 1 is cause you are alive. And cause you somehow wifed a Black girl. I’m feeling a light to decent 1 on your existence.”

Anthony Fantano also seemingly reiterated the p*dophilia accusations Kendrick Lamar had launched against Drake. Fantano said in the September 16 YouTube video, “Why is Drake messaging me? I’m not 18 years of age.”

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Earlier this year, Anthony Fantano also took to X amid Kendrick Lamar’s feud with Drizzy and put Champagne Papi on blast by saying that he did not understand Kendrick’s song mother i sober, among other allegations.