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Billie Joe Armstrong Says Green Day’s New Album Was Inspired by Kendrick Lamar

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 10: Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day performs during the “Hella Mega Tour” announcement show at Whisky a Go Go on September 10, 2019 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Timothy Norris/Getty Images for Live Nation)

Following the announcement of Green Day, Weezer, and Fall Out Boy‘s international Hella Mega Tour, the lead singers of the three bands—Billie Joe Armstrong, Rivers Cuomo, and Pete Wentz, respectively—sat down with Billboard to discuss the genesis of the idea.They also discussed their upcoming new albums, since the tour reveal yesterday was coupled with all three bands announcing new projects and releasing singles.

Weezer announced the first of two alleged upcoming LPs from the band, Van Weezer, and released the track “The End of the Game.” Fall Out Boy announced an upcoming greatest hits collection and posted a new one-off track that is set to be included on it: the Wyclef Jean collaboration “Dear Future Self (Hands Up).” Green Day also revealed that their followup to 2016’s Revolution Radio, entitled Father of All… (or rather, Father of All Motherfuckers), was on the way.

Armstrong spoke to Billboard a bit about his inspiration for the provocative project: a 10-song, 28-minute onslaught which he claims took stylistic cues from Kendrick Lamar…and Motown. “We wanted to create a dance groove with space between the drums and vocals [inspired by] the way Kendrick Lamar does things or old-school Motown music,” Armstrong explained, “where it’s leading with the rhythm.”

As for the brevity of the project, Armstrong seems to have finally fully come to terms with his own proclivities as a songwriter, and is taking things back to Green Days’ ethos in their early days. “I realized I hate long songs, anything over two-and-a-half minutes…even though I’ve written shit like fucking ‘Jesus of Suburbia,'” Armstrong said, referencing his nine-minute composition from 2004’s American Idiot.

Read the three pop-punk and emo heavyweights discuss playing festivals and stadiums, being labeled nostalgia acts, why Donald Trump is a bad point of musical inspiration, and more here.