Kendrick Lamar ‘Felt Like Goku’ After Hearing “Hey Now” Beat, Mustard Says

Mustard revealed that several rappers turned down the beat for "Hey Now."

January 28, 2025

Kendrick Lamar wearing a black leather jacket and cap, next to an image of Goku from Dragon Ball in an orange gi, looking surprised.

(Photo by Arturo Holmes/MG23/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)

Kendrick Lamar felt like Goku when he first heard the beat for "Hey Now" off his latest album GNX, according to Mustard.

In a new conversation with GRAMMY.com, Mustard revealed that Kendrick told him the beats he sends over put him in a whole different mindset when he's rapping. Based on Mustard's words, the beat for "Hey Now" made Kendrick feel like Goku, one of the world's most iconic and strongest manga/anime characters.

"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?' And he said, 'When I heard the beat, I just felt like Goku or something'," said Mustard. "I was like, 'What?' And he explained, 'Yeah, when I hear certain shit on your beats, it brings out something else in me, so I just did whatever I felt.' I was like, 'Wow, that's crazy.'"

For those unaware, Goku handles his business in the Dragonball universe, and Kendrick has done the same throughout his entire career. Given the outcome of his beef with Drake last Spring, Kendrick surely turned Super Saiyan, one of Goku's power-ups, with the release of the Mustard-produced "Not Like Us." The song was the final blow in the highly-publicized beef, with many crowning Kendrick as the victor in the vicious battle.

Mustard also revealed in an interview with People that several rappers, including YG, Quavo, and Ty Dolla $ign, turned down the beat for "Hey Now." Kendrick grabbing it for himself and turning it into "Hey Now" proved successful, as it charted at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"I played it for YG … I was trying to make a West Coast version of 'Grindin'.' That's why it's so empty like that," the DJ said. "That's why it's just weird sounds. [H]e didn't end up doing it."

Mustard continued, "After YG, And 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."