Mustard Was “Trying To Make A West Coast Version” of “Grindin” for Kendrick Lamar’s “Hey Now”

Mustard has revealed how a certain beloved Neptunes beat was the inspiration for his “Hey Now” instrumental — and how the beat initially wasn’t made for Kendrick Lamar.

In an interview with People magazine, the producer shared that “Hey Now” was inspired by “Grindin’,” the popular Clipse song produced by Pharrell and Chad Hugo.

“‘Hey Now,’ I had the beat since 2019 or maybe a little bit earlier than that,” Mustard said. “And I made that beat by myself. I remember I played it for YG and I’m like, ‘Bro, if you do this song, I’m telling you if you can figure it out, I’m telling you it’s going to be like…’ I was trying to make a West Coast version of ‘Grindin’. That’s why it’s so empty like that. That’s why it’s just weird sounds. So when I made, ‘Hey Now,’ I played it for him, he was like, ‘Ah…,’ he didn’t end up doing it.”

“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,” he continued. “And then Ty [Dolla $ign], me and Ty were doing some stuff and he did it and it was a good song, but I never was all the way there with it.”

But the beat’s long journey to being picked was worth it, as Lamar ended up rapping over it and transforming it into the GNX cut we now know it as.

“I remember I was talking to Kendrick one day and I was just like, ‘Man, I got this really weird-ass beat, but I really love it. Like, I know that I love this beat.’ And I sent it to him and right away he said, ‘Oh yeah, I got it,’” Mustard recalled. “And I was like, ‘Alright.’ But still, I hadn’t heard it until I went to the ‘Not Like Us’ video shoot. He played me a little bit of it, but he just connected to it.”

Elsewhere in the chat, the beatmaker discussed “Not Like Us” being nominated for multiple awards at this year’s Grammys and more.