Kendrick Lamar didn’t take a breath between eras. According to longtime collaborator Sounwave, the moment Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers wrapped, Kendrick was already shifting gears into what would become GNX. In a new interview with Variety, Sounwave laid out the surprisingly fast and incredibly intense timeline behind one of the year’s most dissected albums.
He explained that Kendrick started sketching ideas for GNX almost immediately, entering what he called a “throwing paint on the wall” phase. Over the months that followed, that experimentation exploded into an archive of “80 to 100 songs,” giving Kendrick a massive catalog to carve the album from.
"The beginning of it was throwing paint on the wall,” Sounwave told Variety. "And it started to form this massive funky West groove that we love because [Kendrick and I are] from Compton."
That sonic identity became strong enough that Sounwave knew exactly who to bring in next. Mustard came aboard to deepen the L.A. feel, while Jack Antonoff joined later in the process to refine the evolving sound. “I realized the people who we should bring in to push it even further,” Sounwave said. “I was fortunate to have friends who are very talented.”
Kendrick Lamar's Creative Process
But the most chaotic part of the timeline came at the finish line. According to Sounwave, Antonoff was still working on the final mixes until four in the morning, just hours before GNX hit streaming platforms. Furthermore, the album was essentially being locked in real time as fans waited for it to drop.
This timeline paints a clearer picture of Kendrick’s process. Moreover, it involved nonstop creation, obsessive world-building, and razor-sharp editing down to the wire. Starting a new album the second the last one ends. Building a hundred songs just to choose a handful. Fine-tuning mixes in the middle of the night to meet the release window.
For Kendrick, the GNX era wasn’t a neatly packaged rollout. It was a relentless marathon. And somehow, the chaos made the final result feel even more intentional.
Read More: Kendrick Lamar "GNX" Review
