“Not Like Us” producer Mustard talks success of song: “Never had a record with this kind of impact”

Kendrick Lamar‘s “Not Like Us” was created to be a Drake diss, but it appears to have also become a party-starter in the Black community. In an interview with XXL, Mustard says he first heard the track alongside the public, refuting rumors that he helped get the Drake diss together.

“I made that beat on my manager’s birthday [April 6]. I sent [Kendrick] maybe three [beats] that day,” he recalled. “He just hearted it. I didn’t hear it ’til [the song] came out.”

Mustard says he was on the freeway when he heard the track and instantly starting getting texts from people who realized he was behind the beat. He called his manager to ask what he missed, found out Kendrick had dropped a song over the beat he’d created and went to take a listen.

“I started going crazy. I had a f*****’ Vegas show that night, so I played that s*** all the way to the f*****’ plane, got to Vegas, played it that night,” Mustard said. “It was f*****’ crazy, man. That’s some crazy s***.”

Though Mustard has some big records under his belt, he says he “never had a record with this kind of impact.”

“I feel like I’m just living in it right now. … [I]t’s an unexplainable feeling,” he tells XXL of the song’s success, adding he attributes being part of this historic moment to his faith.

“I feel really good about what this did,” he continues. “And I do feel like it should make people respect who I am.”

Mustard turned up with Kendrick onstage at the Pop Out concert Wednesday, where K. Dot performed their song a total of five times.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.