SAMPLEDEvery sample and interpolation on Kendrick Lamar's GNX
From Debbie Deb to Jon Hopkins to a 1979 Disney score — the full sample map of Kendrick's surprise sixth album, cross-checked against the credits.
Kendrick Lamar (opens in a new tab) doesn't really make sample-light albums, but GNX (opens in a new tab) — the surprise sixth LP he dropped on November 22, 2024 through PGLang (opens in a new tab) and Interscope (opens in a new tab) — leans into it harder than people gave it credit for. Co-produced largely with Sounwave (opens in a new tab) and Jack Antonoff (opens in a new tab), the record borrows from Miami freestyle, quiet-storm soul, '70s funk, ambient electronica, West Coast G-funk (opens in a new tab), and Latin balada — sometimes inside the same song.
Below is every sample and interpolation documented on GNX so far, pulled from the album credits (Tidal liner notes) and cross-referenced with WhoSampled (opens in a new tab) for the connections only their community has logged.
The full GNX sample map
"wacced out murals"
The opener stays on original production — no documented sample. It's Kendrick voicing the album's thesis statement clean, with no flip to lean on.
"squabble up"
Flips Debbie Deb (opens in a new tab)'s 1983 Miami freestyle (opens in a new tab) staple "When I Hear Music" (opens in a new tab) — the same dance-floor synth-bass riff that's been chopped by everyone from DJ Magic Mike (opens in a new tab) to UK garage producers. Kendrick slows the tempo just enough to let it sit under West Coast drums.
"luther" feat. SZA
A direct interpolation of "If This World Were Mine" (opens in a new tab) by Cheryl Lynn (opens in a new tab) and Luther Vandross (opens in a new tab) — their 1982 duet, itself a cover of the 1967 Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell (opens in a new tab) original. SZA (opens in a new tab) sings Lynn's part almost beat-for-beat. The title is the giveaway.
"man at the garden"
An interpolation of Nas (opens in a new tab)' "One Mic" (opens in a new tab) — the slow-build cadence, the "all I need is one…" pacing. It's Kendrick nodding to the East Coast lyrical canon while keeping the G-funk frame.
"hey now" feat. Dody6
Built around D4L (opens in a new tab)'s "Scotty" (opens in a new tab) (2005) — an Atlanta snap-rap reference that places the song firmly in regional dialogue. WhoSampled also lists the traditional folk rhyme "Eenie, Meenie, Miny, Moe" (opens in a new tab) and Metro Boomin (opens in a new tab)'s "No More" (feat. Travis Scott (opens in a new tab), Kodak Black (opens in a new tab) and 21 Savage (opens in a new tab)) among its threads.
"reincarnated"
The bones come from 2Pac (opens in a new tab) and the Outlawz (opens in a new tab)' "Made Niggas" (1996) — same loop, same Death Row (opens in a new tab)-era drum thump. Kendrick uses it to literally re-author Pac's voice for one of GNX's most-discussed verses.
"tv off" feat. Lefty Gunplay
A multi-source build. The horn loop comes from Monk Higgins (opens in a new tab)' 1968 rendition of "MacArthur Park" (opens in a new tab). The cinematic swell is John Barry (opens in a new tab)'s "The Black Hole – Overture" from the 1979 Disney sci-fi score (opens in a new tab). WhoSampled also logs YG (opens in a new tab)'s 2011 "I'm Good" in the chain, and Kendrick interpolates The Notorious B.I.G. (opens in a new tab)'s "Kick in the Door" (opens in a new tab) in one of the back-half flows.
"dodger blue" feat. Wallie the Sensei, Siete7x & Roddy Ricch
No documented sample. The dodger-blue palette here is West Coast collaboration, not chop-and-flip.
"peekaboo" feat. AzChike
Two soul records carry the weight: Little Beaver (opens in a new tab)'s "Give a Helping Hand" (opens in a new tab) (1972 Miami soul on Cat Records) and the more obscure Grille-Chemand cut "Blue Revery" (1984). The result is the most percussive track on the album.
"heart pt. 6"
A vocal-led flip of SWV (opens in a new tab)'s "Use Your Heart" (opens in a new tab) — the 1996 Pharrell (opens in a new tab) / Chad Hugo (opens in a new tab) production. The choice is pointed: "Heart Pt. 6" was, until GNX, the Drake response track from the beef (opens in a new tab). Kendrick reclaims the title and the lineage in one move.
"gnx" feat. Hitta J3, YoungThreat & Peysoh
The title track samples Jon Hopkins (opens in a new tab)' "The Wider Sun" from his 2009 album Insides (opens in a new tab) — easily the most left-field source on the record, a UK ambient producer chopped under three LA street rappers.
"gloria" feat. SZA
The closer pulls from Combo Impacto's "Amarga Tristeza" (1974), a Latin balada loop that gives the SZA duet its bittersweet outro shape.
What the sample list tells you about GNX
The selections trace a coherent argument: Miami freestyle, quiet storm (opens in a new tab) R&B, Atlanta snap, '70s soul, Death Row-era West Coast, a Disney orchestral score, and a UK ambient producer all sit on one album without ever sounding like a mood-board exercise. That's the Sounwave-and-Antonoff signature — using sample sources as language rather than texture — and it's why even the most explicit interpolations (Vandross, Nas, Biggie) feel like Kendrick speaking through the canon instead of leaning on it.
If you're digging, WhoSampled's GNX page (opens in a new tab) is the live document — community submissions keep pulling new connections out of the album months after release.