Kendrick Lamar Felt Like ‘Goku’ While Recording ‘GNX’ Hit ‘Hey Now,’ Says Mustard

Kendrick Lamar went Super Saiyan on his GNX album as Mustard revealed that K. Dot channeled his inner-Goku while recording “Hey Now.”

Mustard caught up with the Recording Academy earlier this week ahead of the Grammy Awards, where he opened up about some of his conversations with Lamar surrounding GNX, who took things to Dragon Ball Z.

“I had heard ‘Hey Now’ during the ‘Not Like Us’ video shoot; he played me a snippet. I asked him, ‘Man, what made you do that,” Mustard recalled asking Lamar. “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.’”

“Hey Now” features fellow L.A. rapper Dody6 and serves as one of the album’s highlights with a snarling Kendrick at the helm having fun on the mic while powering up like Goku. The Mustard-produced track ended up reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In a separate interview with People, Mustard revealed that plenty of stars previously passed on the “Hey Now” beat, including close friends Ty Dolla $ign, YG and Quavo. The producer explained he was trying to make a “West Coast version of [Clipse’s] ‘Grindin.’”

“That’s why it’s so empty like that. That’s why it’s just weird sounds,” he explained. “[YG] didn’t end up doing it … I played it for Quavo, and I’m like, ‘Quavo man, if you get this if you can connect to this song, I’m telling you,’ he’s like, ‘What the hell you want me to do to it? You want me to whisper on the beat?’ And I’m like, ‘Alright.’ So I didn’t force it on him.”

Mustard is up for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical at the 2025 Grammy Awards, while K.Dot boasts seven nominations in total ahead of Sunday’s show (Feb. 2).