All of our favorite albums, we know inside and out: every lyric, the sounds of the skits, the transitions between songs. Little do we know, often, those records went through multiple incarnations before becoming the earworms we’d worship down the line. In a new interview, Kendrick Lamar revealed that he made multiple versions of his Aftermath/Interscope debut good kid mAAd city before the classic that dropped in October 2012.

Kendrick and his mentor/label head Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith cover the Hip Hop Power Players issue of Billboard magazine, dedicated to covering the industry’s biggest movers and shakers. In the interview, they discuss the roots of TDE, their early days grinding together, and future plans for the company.

Before deciding to use his real name, Kendrick Lamar had simply went by K. Dot for a rap moniker. He didn’t use his birth name until 2009’s The Kendrick Lamar EP – and believe it or not, he already had an early version of GKMC done by then.

“That was the initial idea: I’m going to give a small piece of my backstory before my debut album. Because good kid was already prepped,” Kendrick revealed. “We did _good kid _about three, four times before the world got to it. New songs, new everything. I wanted to tell that story, but I had to execute it. My whole thing is about execution. The songs can be great, the hooks can be great, but if it’s not executed well, then it’s not a great album.”

The in-depth interview also reveals that TDE plans to start a film and TV division, executive produced by Kendrick. So those who enjoy the provocative music videos that have come along with his latest album Damn should be in for a treat. Read the full interview for more.