Kendrick Lamar had a lot of big moments on his GNX album, but there's nothing like a good old viral refrain for the memetic world. The "Mustard" yell on "tv off" quickly annoyed the haters and electrified listeners, so much so that Fortnite finally got around to jumping on it.
As caught by NFR Podcast on Twitter, one of the biggest video games for the zoomer generation now allows players to shout K.Dot and the West Coast producer out. An in-game emote makes your character mount a tub of mustard as the song plays out in the background.
For those fans and even artists who want Kendrick Lamar discourse to chill out, this is not the best news. It's also something many critics will clown on, as it's not exactly hard to diminish Fortnite as a pop culture phenomenon. Then again, it's even harder to discredit it.
At the end of the day, it's just one small part of Kendrick Lamar's massive media run ever since March of 2024. His tracks continue to dominate charts, streaming platforms, and currently live stages on his "Grand National" trek with Mustard and SZA.
Kendrick Lamar Concert
Also, it's important to note how frequent and massive Fortnite's music crossovers have been, particularly for hip-hop. Whether you see it as a meme or as a milestone, Travis Scott's virtual concert – as well as plenty of others from other artists – was massive.
The memetic quality of "tv off" makes it a no-brainer for something like this, as much as it puzzles fans who treat the Compton lyricist as more high-brow. But that's part of what's made him successful as an artist. After all, Kendrick Lamar's big recent hits got a lot of people to turn up or dig through layered bars.
So if you're a Kendrick fan looking for an excuse to boot Fortnite back up... Well, this might be your sign. It's just an emote, though, so maybe you should think of another excuse.
Jokes aside, Kendrick Lamar is still on tour and will probably have many more big moments soon. Seeing this victory lap wrap up, it's wild to look back at its path.
