Imagine for a moment that the track did exist. A legitimate studio collaboration where Kendrick Lamar rewrites Gotye’s verses. How would it play out?

This imaginary track would not be about a boy and a girl. It would be about a boy and his shadow. It would be Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers condensed into three minutes and forty seconds.

If you’ve spent any time on the lyrical side of the internet—specifically the murky waters of YouTube comments, Reddit forums, or Spotify’s "Song Radio"—you have likely stumbled upon a phantom track. It sits in the uncanny valley of music discovery. The title is tantalizingly familiar: Kendrick Lamar - Somebody That I Used to Know.

For the uninitiated, a frantic search yields confusion. You find the Gotye track featuring Kimbra—the 2011 indie pop anthem about a bitter, dissolved relationship. You find the three-part rap epic Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst from Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city, which famously samples the phrase. But you do not find a studio recording of Kendrick Lamar rapping over the xylophone plucks of Gotye’s hit.

And yet, the search persists.

Why? Because in the collective imagination of hip-hop fans, this song should exist. The phantom "Kendrick Lamar - Somebody That I Used to Know" is not a real track; it is a Rorschach test for thematic obsession. It is the sound of two disparate artistic universes colliding to describe a uniquely modern condition: the haunting realization that the person you have become is a stranger to the person you were.

This article dissects why this mashup exists only in our heads, how Kendrick Lamar has actually addressed the theme of fractured identity, and why Gotye’s 2011 anthem is the perfect, albeit accidental, skeleton key to unlocking the Compton rapper’s darkest lyrical corridors.

The most direct answer to your search is the title track from Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. Here, Kendrick addresses family members and friends he has had to leave behind.

Sometimes fans confuse this track with "Walk On By," which is a real collaboration between Kendrick Lamar and Baby Keem (released on Keem's album The Melodic Blue). That track features a similar vocal style but is a completely different song.

The Ghost in the Machine: Kendrick Lamar’s History with “Somebody That I Used to Know”

In the early 2010s, Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” was inescapable. But while the world was humming that xylophone hook, Kendrick Lamar was busy transforming it into something entirely different. Whether through official remixes or unreleased leaks, the DNA of this track has haunted Kendrick’s discography for over a decade. 1. The Official Remix (2012)

Before good kid, m.A.A.d city changed everything, Kendrick jumped on an official remix with DJ Reflex . This version isn’t just a simple guest verse; Kendrick uses the haunting backdrop to paint a vivid picture of a relationship deteriorating through fame and changing priorities . The Vibe: Gritty and introspective.

Key Lyric: "Tried to make you mine / Tried to make some time / But I ain’t got the time or the patience to stop and wait in line". 2. The "Memories Back Then" Near-Miss

Perhaps the most famous "almost" in Kendrick's history is the track "Memories Back Then" with T.I. and B.o.B. Originally, the song featured a direct sample of Gotye’s hit, but clearance issues forced T.I. to remove it .

The Shift: The final version replaced the sample with a new melody to avoid legal trouble, though the "ghost" of the original arrangement remains in the song's structure. 3. The 2019 Leak: "Somebody"

Fans were sent into a frenzy when a Kendrick track titled simply "Somebody" leaked online in 2020. Recorded around 2019, the song features a vocal style Kendrick later refined for Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.

The Evolution: While it doesn't sample Gotye directly, its chorus was repurposed for the powerful "Mother I Sober" . It explores his deepest fears—being "just a puppet on stage" and the worry that his art won't live forever. 4. The Modern Successor: Doechii’s "Anxiety"

The legacy of this sound continues today through Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) labelmate Doechii. Her hit song "Anxiety" prominently samples the same instrumental from Gotye’s 2011 classic . This direct lineage shows how the "Gotye sound"—originally rooted in Luiz Bonfá's 1967 instrumental "Seville" —remains a staple in the TDE creative toolkit. Kendrick Lamar – Somebody That I Used to Know (Remix)

The connection between Kendrick Lamar and Gotye’s "Somebody That I Used to Know" stems from a 2012 T.I. track, "Memories Back Then," which originally sampled the hit before being reworked due to denied clearance. A separate, unreleased Kendrick song titled "Somebody" later emerged, which explores similar themes of fame and was later incorporated into his 2022 album. Kendrick Lamar – Somebody Lyrics - Genius

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 enduring search for "Kendrick Lamar - Somebody That I Used to Know" tells us something vital about how we consume music in the 2020s. We are no longer satisfied with a song simply being a song. We want a vibe. We want a theory. We want a mashup that bridges the gap between our indie-loving past and our hip-hop-analytical present.

The track doesn't exist because two record labels couldn't clear the sample. But emotionally? It exists every time Kendrick Lamar turns a mirror on his audience and asks, "Do you love me? Are you playing a role? Or are you just somebody that I used to know?"