Mustard Reveals Kendrick Lamar "Felt Like Goku" While Recording "hey now"

BY Zachary Horvath 2.1K Views
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Kendrick Lamar accepts the award for best rap album for “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers during the 65th Annual Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023. © Robert Hanashiro / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Lamar was definitely in a different zone on this track.

There's no doubt that Kendrick Lamar's latest studio album GNX has become another smashing success. His sixth official LP continues to reach milestone after milestone and three tracks from it are already platinum eligible. Those include "squabble up," "tv off," and "luther," with all of them hitting the needed one million unit's threshold. These songs, as well as the rest of the stacked tracklist, have all helped GNX become the fastest to one billion streams on Spotify in 2024 in terms of rap albums. It's also one of the quickest ever in the genre to achieve that mark. You could really give credit to every single record thanks to Kendrick's zany, expressive, and versatile performances.

We think "hey now" is up there for the most dynamic offering on the tape. His angered and nasty delivery on it really sells the energy of the song and the opening lines of his first verse still live rent free in our heads. "Hey now, say now, I'm all about my Yen / Big face Buddha, get my peace from within / Send the kites to all my dirties in the pen / Let the honorary walk for the win, for the win." It just feels like Lamar was in some type of zone that no one was taking him out of.

Kendrick Lamar's Goku Comparison Is Quite Accurate

That's thanks to the ferocious and intimidating beat offered up by Mustard, who's really grown his rapport with his Californian contemporary. Speaking of the producer, he had a fun story to share with the Recording Academy, per Billboard. During his conversation with them, the hitmaker recalls being so blown away by Lamar's performance on "hey now." So much so that he had to ask him about it.

"I had heard ‘Hey Now’ during the ‘Not Like Us’ video shoot; he played me a snippet," Mustard began. "I asked him, ‘Man, what made you do that. And he said, ‘When I heard the beat, I just felt like Goku or something.’ I was like, ‘What?’ And he explained, ‘Yeah, when I hear certain s*** on your beats, it brings out something else in me, so I just did whatever I felt.’ I was like, ‘Wow, that’s crazy.'" Goku is one of the most unstoppable characters in all of television, which is something that can be applied to Lamar's dominance in rap right now.

About The Author
Zachary Horvath is one of the Music Freelance News Writers at HotNewHipHop and has held that title since August 2023. Prior to this position, he held another freelance gig covering local high school football, girls and boys varsity basketball, in addition to recapping Cleveland Cavaliers games remotely. He's taken the previous experience and used it to become a jack of all trades at HotNewHipHop. Zach has thoroughly enjoyed tackling some of the trending topics in sports, with a larger focus on hip-hop and pop culture. Some of those include Bronny James's draft stock, a multitude of angles swirling around the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef, as well as Diddy's arrest and lawsuits. Separate from the headlines that everyone wants to hear about, he was fortunate enough to help spread Zaytoven's current thoughts at the time around mid-December in 2023. Even though being able to give his expertise on these stories is fulfilling, being able to share his passion for releases trumps that ever so slightly. Having the chance to express his excitement indirectly about what he thinks our readers should be checking out/revisiting grows his passion for writing that much more.