Kendrick Lamar - Somebody That I Used To Know -...

Many fans searching for this keyword are tracking down a specific piece of hip-hop history. In 2012, around the rise of Kendrick Lamar's landmark album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City , an official remix emerged titled Somebody That I Used to Know (Remix) on underground mixtapes like Slight Work 5 .

It proves that great art is malleable. In the hands of Gotye, the song is an introspective indie ballad; in the hands of Kendrick Lamar, it becomes a fiery, ambitious declaration of independence.

While the remix never became a massive commercial radio hit—largely due to the nature of unofficial, copyright-heavy unauthorized remixes in the early 2010s—it served a vital purpose in Kendrick’s discography.

The search for ""Kendrick Lamar" "Somebody That I Used to Know"" brought up some interesting items. Result 0 is a Genius annotation for a track called "Girl, I know you want this dick" which appears to be a freestyle over the Gotye beat. This is highly relevant. Result 1 is an article mentioning that T.I. recorded a track with Kendrick Lamar and B.o.B that samples Gotye's song. That's a significant piece of information. Result 2 is a blog post about a Scoop DeVille remix of Gotye's song, which might involve Kendrick Lamar. Result 3 is a page for a freestyle. Result 5 is an article about T.I.'s "Memories Back Then" featuring Kendrick Lamar and B.o.B, which is the same track mentioned in result 1. This confirms a high-profile, official connection. Kendrick Lamar - Somebody That I Used To Know -...

Fast forward to the mid-2010s. Kendrick Lamar releases To Pimp a Butterfly and DAMN. , albums obsessed with severance. Critics began comparing Kendrick’s track (where he screams at himself in a hotel room) to the raw self-loathing of indie rock. YouTube algorithms, notorious for mislabeling fan edits, started suggesting "Kendrick Lamar - Somebody That I Used To Know (Remix)."

The magic of the original track relies heavily on its minimalist composition. Gotye built the backbone of his hit by sampling Luiz Bonfá's 1967 instrumental track "Seville" . This classic bossa nova guitar loop provided a melancholic, hollow space perfectly suited for a narrative about emotional estrangement.

The original track was slated to appear on the deluxe edition of Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head , T.I.'s eighth studio album. It was essentially a remix of Gotye's song, with the original instrumental largely intact and fresh verses from T.I., B.o.B, and Kendrick layered on top. "Aside from a few extra kicks and snares, it's essentially a remix with new verses from K.Dot, Bobby and Tip," one report noted. Many fans searching for this keyword are tracking

Would you like me to:

Kendrick Lamar’s greatest trick is making you search for a version of himself that no longer exists. He killed K. Dot. He buried the good kid in a m.A.A.d city . The man holding the Pulitzer is not the boy who wrote Section.80 .

: He raps, "Hold up, is that you? / With them big ol' thighs after school?" and contrasts his success with her overdue car notes. In the hands of Gotye, the song is

: Kendrick whispers a final thought on how success creates a "necessary distance."

That is the real song. Go listen to it.

The intersection of indie pop and elite hip-hop rarely yields a moment as fascinating as the unofficial connection between and Gotye's generational anthem, "Somebody That I Used to Know" . While never released as a formal global radio single, the existence of Kendrick Lamar's verses over this iconic sonic backdrop remains a crucial artifact for music historians. It captures a hyper-specific era in 2012 when Kendrick was transitioning from a Compton underground hero into a mainstream titan.

: The verse ends with a harsh dose of reality, looking at how the girl who once overlooked him ended up trapped in local cycles ( "Fast forward... And your three kids and three baby daddies same car note that's overdue?" ). The Legacy of the Remix

The influence of "Somebody That I Used to Know" continues to appear in the hip-hop world: