Mustard Recalls Kendrick Lamar Saying ‘We Got One’ After ‘Not Like Us’ Became an Instant Hit
Producer Mustard had been sending rapper Kendrick Lamar beats nearly every day for six months when he texted him the snapping instrumental for “Not Like Us” in early April. “It was literally just a normal day,” he recalls. “He hearted that one and was like, ‘This one is crazy.’ I didn’t think it was going to be ‘Not Like Us,’ but it ended up being that.”
The song arrived in May amid a feverish lyrical spar between two of hip-hop’s biggest titans — Lamar and Drake — and almost instantly grew from a searing dis track (with accusations of pedophilia) into a nationwide anthem promoting unity. It has been the soundtrack for everything from sporting events and graduations to Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign rallies. It also earned Mustard his first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — where it reigned for two weeks — and is the rare dis track to be nominated for several Grammy Awards.
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For Mustard, a 15-year veteran who has helmed massive hits for Rihanna and Big Sean, crafting the song came as part of his working routine with the track’s co-producer, Sean Momberger, who regularly supplies him with potential samples. On April 6, Momberger sent him a chopped-up version of Monk Higgins’ cover of Ray Charles’ “I Believe to My Soul” with additional piano. Mustard threw on some drums and pitched up the sample, shipping it off to Lamar for consideration. “It’s pretty simple,” says Mustard, “almost like a factory.”
Lamar played his cards close during the monthslong beef with Drake, surprise-dropping tracks on Instagram and YouTube. It wasn’t until “Not Like Us” arrived on May 4 that Mustard learned that not only had Lamar recorded to the instrumental, but it also slotted into the growing pantheon of disses the rappers were trading. “I feel like every song in that whole thing, everyone was waiting to listen,” he says. “This just happened to be the actual hit that was like, ‘Oh shit!’ I don’t know if any record can stand next to this one that I’ve done in the past.”
Funnily enough, Mustard learned that “Not Like Us” had been released while on his way to a baby shower at a friend’s home. He realized there was something exceptional about it when, just hours later, he heard it blasting from a party next door. A FaceTime between him and Lamar followed, with the rapper telling him, “We got one.”
The song spread rapidly and organically, thanks to its hyphy-adjacent sound and Lamar’s pointed yet self-empowering lyrics. Once the track exploded — it ironically broke Drake’s record for biggest single-day streams of a hip-hop song on Spotify — Lamar took a few victory laps, staging the “Pop-Out: Ken & Friends” concert at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum in June, where Mustard opened and Lamar concluded the show with five back-to-back iterations of “Not Like Us.” On July 4, he released the video for the song, which subsequently returned to the top of the charts.
Rarely do dis tracks reach the heights of “Not Like Us,” but Mustard thinks it’s already etched a place in the hip-hop hall of fame. “It’s just like Nas and Jay-Z — when shit like this happens, we go back and compare with those historic rap battles,” he says. “So when the biggest artists like Kendrick and Drake are rap-battling, years from now kids are going to be like, ‘Damn, remember when Kendrick and Drake battled?’ The whole story behind this shit is going to be a big part of history.”
SONGWRITERS: Kendrick Lamar, Ray Charles, Sean Momberger
PRODUCERS: Mustard, Sean Momberger
CO-PRODUCER: Sounwave
LABEL: pgLang/Interscope-Geffen-A&M Records
HITMAKERS:
Kendrick Lamar
Sean Momberger, producer
Mustard, producer
Sounwave, co-producer
PUBLISHERS: Kendrick Lamar– Kendrick Lamar Music (BMI), administered by Songs of Universal, Inc; Dijon McFarlane p/k/a “Mustard” – Mustard On The Beat Publishing/Songs Music Publishing (BMI); 10 Summers Publishing, LLC d/b/a Music of 10 Summers (BMI); Sean Momberger – Sean Mom Publishing / 300 RAINWATER MUSIC (BMI) c/o Songs of Universal; Mark Spears p/k/a “Sounwave” – Mark “Sounwave” Spears (BMI); Ray Charles – Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI
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