Kendrick Lamar's "HUMBLE." Beat Was Intended for Gucci Mane
Mike WiLL had other plans for the ‘DAMN.’ hit.
The track that ended up giving Kendrick Lamar his very first no. 1 single as a lead artist could have ended up in the hands of another one of hip-hop’s reigning superstars. As revealed by Mike WiLL Made-It in a new NPR piece, Mike WiLL originally wanted to give Gucci Mane the beat for the lead DAMN. single “HUMBLE.” “I made that beat [last year] when Gucci Mane was getting out of jail; I made it with him in mind,” the Ear Drummers producer tells NPR’s Rodney Carmichael. “I was just thinking, damn, Gucci’s about to come home; it’s got to be something urgent that’s just going to take over the radio. And I felt like that beat was that.”
For whatever reason, the “HUMBLE.” composition didn’t end up in Guwop’s arsenal, and Kendrick Lamar ended up receiving an exclusive listening session. “I was thinking, if Dot gets on this it’ll be his first time being heard on some[thing] like this,” Mike WiLL explains. “At the same time, it kind of has an NWA/Dr. Dre feel, an Eminem kind of feel. So I thought, let me see if Dot f**** with it. And he heard the beat and he liked it. But he was about to give me ‘HUMBLE.’ for [my album] Ransom 2.”
You can check out NPR’s entire interview with Mike WiLL Made-It here. Earlier today, news emerged regarding DAMN.‘s complete takeover of the Billboard Hot 100.
