“When I hear certain s**t on your beats, it brings out something else in me,” the producer recalled K. Dot telling him.
BY MALCOLM TRAPP / 1.28.2025
Kendrick Lamar “felt like Goku” after hearing Mustard’s beat for “hey now,” one of the many highlights from his surprise sixth studio album, GNX. On Monday (Jan. 27), the West Coast producer spoke about K. Dot’s reaction to the track during an interview with the Grammy Awards.
“He played me a snippet [before it came out],” Mustard told the Recording Academy before revealing that Lamar shared it with him during the “Not Like Us” video shoot. “I asked him, ‘Man, what made you do that?’ And he said, ‘When I heard the beat, I just felt like Goku or something.’” For those unfamiliar, Goku is the main protagonist in the iconic “Dragon Ball” manga series.
“I was like, ‘What?’ And he explained, ‘Yeah when I hear certain s**t on your beats, it brings out something else in me, so I just did whatever I felt.’ I was like, ‘Wow, that’s crazy,’” Mustard added.
Both Mustard and Lamar are expected to win big at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, with “Not Like Us” earning nominations for Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. The 10 Summers creator is also in the running for Producer Of The Year (Non-Classical).
Aside from “squabble up” and the SZA-assisted “luther,” Lamar’s “tv off” is easily one of the best songs to come from GNX. Fans were treated to the Compton MC shouting out Mustard — who also produced the record — midway through, Lefty Gunplay delivering a “crazy, scary, spooky, hilarious” outro and much more.
Earlier in his interview, Mustard revealed that the beat switch mid-song was actually Lamar’s idea. “The first half of ‘tv off’ and the second half are two different beats that he connected. I didn’t send it to him like that,” he shared. “It was just like, out of those five beats, he picked two.”
