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Kendrick Lamar‘s GNX could’ve been a lot longer than 12 tracks.
During a recent interview in Variety with Grammy-winning producers Sounwave, Jack Antonoff, and Mustard, it was revealed that the Compton MC recorded “between 80 and 100” songs for the project, according to Sounwave.
“We have such a specific language between us, me and Sounwave,” Antonoff told the outlet. “And then we developed our own thing, the three of us. You have it or you don’t with people. When you have it, it’s really magical; when you don’t, you go home.”
Apparently, Lamar started working on his sixth album right after dropping Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers in 2022. “The beginning of it was throwing paint on the wall,” Sounwave said of their process in the beginning. “And it started to form this massive funky West groove that we love because [Kendrick and I are] from Compton. And in that, I started to realize the people who we should bring in to push it even further, like the Mustards, the Jacks. … I was very fortunate to have these friends who are very talented to push it to the next level.”
When it came to Mustard’s contributions, especially the beat switch on “TV Off,” the producer said that he made sure to send Lamar unique beats and never asked who decided to put two of his instrumentals together. “I knew that I couldn’t send Kendrick normal Mustard beats,” he said. “I was sending all types of s—t, anything that I thought sounded like something that I’ve never made before. That’s what I was going for, because Kendrick is different.” In regards to “TV Off,” he said that he “never asked” about the two seperate beats that were used, but Sounwave disclosed that it was Kendrick’s idea. “I care, but I don’t care. I was just like, that was great,” Mustard added.
They also spoke on how the No. 1 record “Luther” came together with Sounwave referring to the process as “spiritual.”
GNX, “TV Off,” and “Luther” have been nominated for a combined seven Grammys during the upcoming 68th Grammy Awards.
