Rich The Kid Landed Kendrick's Guest 16 Because He Was Recording Next Door

Collaborations come about in a variety of ways—through friendship, friends of friends, label A&Rs and even social media connections—but sometimes, they are just a product of right place, right time.

For instance, take Rich The Kid's Kendrick Lamar-assisted single, "New Freezer." Originally, the record featured guest spots from A$AP Ferg and MadeinTYO, but when Rich found himself next door to Kendrick at Interscope's in-house recording studio, he was suddenly presented with the opportunity to call an audible.

"He was working on his DAMN. album when I was working on my album at Interscope's studios," Rich The Kid explained during his interview on Ebro In The Morning. "He came in [to my studio] and asked me to hear some records. So I played him 'New Freezer,' I [had] recorded it two-three weeks [prior] at Quad [Studios] and I played it for him—it was the first record I played him—and he was just like, 'Yo, this is crazy, can I get on this?'  

Here is Kendrick Lamar, the biggest rap artist in the entire world, humbly asking Rich The Kid for permission to jump on his record with a 16. Imagine that. 

Though his recollection of when the original version of "New Freezer" was first recorded might be off—Rich The Kid first started teasing a collaboration with Kendrick in January—his decision to dump his original guests in favor of Lamar, whose participation also helped to land Dave Free of The Little Homies to co-direct the video with Jack Begert, turned out to be a great decision.

Sadly, despite Kendrick's participation, the record isn't very good.