Kendrick Lamar recorded around 100 songs for ‘GNX’ album
It’s been revealed that Kendrick Lamar recorded around 100 songs for his GNX album, which was released in November 2024.
GNX topped the Billboard 200 chart upon its release, which included hit singles like ‘Luther’, ‘TV Off’ and ‘Squabble Up’.
Three of the album’s primary producers, Sounwave, Mustard, and Jack Antonoff, recently sat down with Variety to reflect on the making of the project a year later.
Sounwave claimed that between 80 and 100 tracks were recorded during the sessions for the album. In the end, only 12 songs made the final cut.
Speaking on the project, he said, “The beginning of it was throwing paint on the wall. And it started to form this massive funky West groove that we love because [Kendrick and I are] from Compton.”
He continued, “And in that, I started to realise 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.”
They took risks, with Antonoff working on final mixes until 4am on the day GNX was released, but the reward paid off.
“It basically shows that there’s no boundaries,” Sounwave said. “We hate to just keep doing the same thing over and over. It’s something we kind of thrive off of, just reinventing yourself. Do stuff that makes it exciting, and the people who supported you will be excited with you.”
He added, “I kid you not: yesterday there was a 60-year-old woman driving down the street rapping a ‘GNX’ song word for word. Just to see that my home is still playing it as if it just came out … that’s special.”