Mustard on Working With Kendrick Lamar on ‘Not Like Us’ & Its Impact | Billboard News

Mustard shares what it was like to work with Kendrick Lamar on “Not Like Us” and its cultural impact. Stay tuned for the full interview!

Mustard:

You see, people like Kendrick, you just like, man, I want to get a song with Kendrick. I had gotten to a place where I was just like, you know, what, I’m just gonna send five beats a day. He never responded until like 12 at night and was like, “This is fire.” 

Tetris Kelly:

Wow!

Mustard:

I didn’t know what that– I mean, he I said that about a couple other beats, but I was just like OK, cool.

Tetris Kelly:

What do you think about the cultural impact as well? Because you know, obviously with the lyrics talking about colonizers and “they not like us,” the people singing at the club, at the barbecues. I mean, it’s everywhere. 

Mustard:

I’m like, shocked myself, you know? When I look and I’m seeing this is just like — how big that song is. I don’t think I even understood how big it was until it was like No. 1 [on the Billboard Hot 100], and I was like, “This is the biggest song I’ve ever had in my life.” I was more just happy to have a song with Kendrick. 

Tetris Kelly:

He just wanted the Kendrick track.

Mustard:

You come from California and you from here, like I’m born and raised in Los Angeles, Compton is right up the street, it’s not far.

Tetris Kelly:

And then let’s talk about like West Coast Legends, you and Kendrick, and Juneteenth? Like this show at The Forum, man that’s gonna be crazy. 

Mustard:

It’s like in my backyard. This is gonna be a cakewalk. This is gonna be like one of them things, this feels like wow. Like finally, at the height of my career, at the height of, you know, this success with the song and you get to do it at the Staples Center and The Forum? It’s like in between Compton and Los Angeles is… I don’t even know how to describe it.

Katie Cao

Billboard