Kendrick’s “HUMBLE.” Beat Was Originally for Gucci Mane, Mike WiLL Says

Mike WiLL Made-It has revealed that his beat for Kendrick Lamar’s No. 1 single “HUMBLE.” was originally made for Gucci Mane. In a new interview with NPR he said, “With ‘HUMBLE.,’ I knew that beat was going to capture a moment. It just felt real urgent. I made that beat [last year] when Gucci Mane was getting out of jail; I made it with him in mind. 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.” He decided to play the beat for Kendrick, however, because “it kind of has an N.W.A./Dr. Dre feel, an Eminem kind of feel.” Kendrick was then going to give the track to Mike for Ransom 2, but when Kendrick started thinking about using it for DAMN., Mike assured him, “Bruh, you definitely should keep it, and you should use it as your single.” Read the full interview here.

Later in the interview, Mike WiLL discussed DAMN.’s “XXX.,” which he produced and features U2. “That was Dot’s vision. I’m definitely a fan of U2,” he said. “I kept trying to imagine U2 on the first half of that beat, ’cause at first that was the only part to the song. And I was like, ‘Dang, he put U2 on that?’ I couldn’t figure out what that would sound like. But when he let me hear the whole thing with the different sections, it came out dope.”

Although “HUMBLE.” was not on Ransom 2, Mike WiLL did get Kendrick on the record’s “Perfect Pint,” which also features Gucci and Rae Sremmurd. In addition, Mike supplied Gucci with the beat for his first song after he got out of prison in May 2016, “1st Day Out tha Feds.”

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via Matthew Strauss