Here's How Kendrick Lamar & Rihanna's "Loyalty" Happened
As told by Terrace Martin.
Rihanna was one of the three guest features spotlighted on Kendrick Lamar‘s latest album, DAMN. She was featured on the Terrace Martin, DJ Dahi and Sounwave-produced track, “Loyalty,” a Bruno Mars’ “24 Magic”-sampling song which found the two artists talking about faithfulness and sincerity. In an interview with The FADER, Martin reveals that “Loyalty” was conceived after producer Khrysis sent him the “24K Magic” sample.
“I was like, ‘Whoa, that sounds crazy.’ I said, ‘I wanna replay it, reverse it, change the key, add a third harmony—do all these things to it. But still make it sound just like the sample, but with a different edge.’ I turned the sample around, set it up, and then hit Sounwave. From there, me, Sounwave, and DJ Dahi got in the studio and started to put drums on that motherf*cker. Right there, on my mama, Kendrick said: ‘Imma get Rihanna on this.’ That day. Right when the drums started, he looked at me saying, ‘Aye, I’m gonna get Rihanna on this record.’ [...] When ‘Loyalty’ was done, I looked at Dahi and Sounwave, and told them that I was happy that we were all a part of a composition. I was just happy that we all saw that seed grow. The best feeling is when you’re next to your brothers and you listen to a record, and everybody got they eyes closed, and everybody kind of look at each other on their own time, and everybody’s in the zone […] We tryna change sh*t. Like, let’s not do nothing we did. Let’s just go back to the essence […] Let’s go back to the point of direction and find a new way.”
Check out the full interview on The FADER and learn more about all the contributors on Kendrick’s album here.
