If you were under the impression Kendrick was on the original radio hit, the "proper feature" credit actually belongs to New Zealand singer Kimbra. The correct format for the worldwide hit is:
Gotye – "Somebody That I Used to Know" (feat. Kimbra)
The most famous song titled “Somebody That I Used To Know” was released in 2011 by Belgian-Australian artist Gotye, featuring New Zealand singer Kimbra. It was a global phenomenon, winning Record of the Year at the 2013 Grammys.
Kendrick Lamar has never recorded or released a song with this title. He has no writing, production, or vocal credits on any version of that track.
In 2012, Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” was inescapable. The xylophone hook, the naked vulnerability, and the bitter back-and-forth between Gotye and Kimbra defined a generation of breakup songs. The lyrics—“But you didn't have to cut me off”—are universal.
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 “u” (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 truth? These are all unofficial mashups. A producer takes the acapella of Kendrick rapping about fractured relationships (from tracks like Pride. or Feel.) and lays it over the Gotye instrumental. The keyword stuck because the emotional Venn diagram is a perfect circle. Kendrick Lamar - Somebody That I Used To Know -...
If Kendrick ever remixed Gotye’s track, it might sound like:
You cut me off like a loose thread /
Now I’m somebody you used to dread /
Used to share toothpaste, now you spread lies instead /
How you know me? That version of me is dead.
In Gotye’s 2011 hit “Somebody That I Used to Know,” the central anguish comes from waking up to find that a once-intimate connection has dissolved into cold indifference. The lyric—“You didn’t have to stoop so low / Have your friends collect your records and then change your number”—captures the paradox of memory: we remember someone perfectly, yet they no longer exist in the present. If we apply that lens to Kendrick Lamar’s discography, a different but equally haunting picture emerges. Kendrick’s music is less about romantic estrangement and more about the fractures between his past and present selves, between fame and poverty, and between the man he is and the city that raised him. In that sense, Kendrick Lamar has spent his career singing about people he used to know—including himself.
The Estranged Self: “u” and “i”
On To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick stages a raw conversation between his current, successful self and his depressed, guilt-ridden self. In “u,” he weeps in a hotel room, drowning in survivor’s guilt over a friend who died and a cousin he couldn’t save. The voice he addresses is his own: “Loving you is complicated.” By “i,” he flips to defiant self-love, but the tension remains. He has become somebody he used to know—the hopeful kid from Compton, the hungry rapper before the Pulitzer Prize. The gap between those versions of himself is as painful as any breakup.
The City as a Lost Lover: “good kid, m.A.A.d city” If you were under the impression Kendrick was
Kendrick’s major-label debut is a concept album about losing innocence. The “somebody” he used to know is not a person but a version of his environment—before the peer pressure, before the van carrying Sherane’s cousins, before the drive-by. The album’s skits and voicemails from his mother ground the story in intimacy. By the end, when he raps “I pray my dick get big as the Eiffel Tower / So I can fuck the world for 72 hours,” the boy who just wanted a working stereo and a girl’s affection is gone. In his place is a scarred storyteller. Compton, too, becomes somebody he used to know: still beloved, still violent, but viewed from a tour bus rather than a back seat.
Friends, Enemies, and Ghosts: “The Art of Peer Pressure”
The most literal reading comes in songs like “The Art of Peer Pressure,” where Kendrick recounts committing crimes with friends who have since faded into prison, death, or estrangement. He raps, “Me and my nigga, we was scheming again / That’s all we knew, wasn’t nothing to it.” Those friends are now “somebodies he used to know”—not because of a dramatic falling out, but because survival and fame created an unspoken distance. The chorus of Gotye’s song insists, “We’re just somebody that we used to know.” For Kendrick, the tragedy is that both parties still remember the bond, but the context has rotted it away.
Conclusion: The Familiar Stranger
Kendrick Lamar has never covered Gotye, but their shared theme—the sorrow of recognition without reconciliation—runs through Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. When he confronts his uncle for molesting him as a child on “Mother I Sober,” or when he addresses transphobia in “Auntie Diaries,” he is speaking to people he used to know: not as insults, but as acknowledgments of change. To write a song called “Somebody That I Used to Know” in Kendrick’s voice would not be a bitter kiss-off. It would be a quiet, bruised admission that growing up means accumulating ghosts—of places, of friends, of who you swore you would never become. And the hardest part is that you still recognize them in the mirror.
The Mystery of the Kendrick Lamar “Somebody That I Used to Know” Remix If Kendrick ever remixed Gotye’s track, it might
If you’ve spent any time in the deep corners of Reddit or TikTok recently, you might have stumbled upon a track that sounds like a fever dream: Kendrick Lamar rapping over 2011 diamond-certified hit, “Somebody That I Used to Know.”
While it sounds like a modern AI experiment, the story behind this crossover is actually rooted in real musical history, unreleased leaks, and the ever-evolving world of fan mashups. 1. The Original 2012 Remix
Contrary to popular belief, Kendrick Lamar actually has an official connection to the song. Back in 2012, shortly after the release of good kid, m.A.A.d city , a remix surfaced featuring Kendrick alongside Gotye. The Lyrics:
Kendrick’s verse in this version focuses on the classic theme of a relationship turned sour, with lines like,
"You said I won’t ride until Kendrick drive a new Monte Carlo that cruise" The Sample: This specific version was later interpolated by for his track "Memories Back Then," which also featured and Kendrick. 2. The "Somebody" Leaks (2019-2021)
In recent years, "Somebody" has reappeared in Kendrick fan communities through various unreleased leaks. According to discussions on Reddit's Kendrick Lamar community , there are at least three distinct versions of this track: V1 (2019): A version that repeats a rap verse before the hook. V3 (2021):
A more polished version with a different beat and verses Kendrick later repurposed for a track titled "Abortion Money". The Beth Gibbons Connection: Some versions feature a hook sung by Beth Gibbons (of Portishead) rather than a direct Gotye sample. 3. The AI & Mashup Renaissance In 2024 and 2025, the track saw a massive resurgence on and YouTube due to the rise of high-quality AI.