“I didn’t hear till everybody else heard it”: DJ Mustard recounts listening to ‘Not Like Us’
Though it’s only July, and there is still half of the year to go, there is no doubt that the beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake will be one of the most talked-about events of 2024. For many hip-hop fans, it was the first time they had been part of a beef that would impact the genre as a whole, and the track to survive the plethora of disses released and that continues to top the charts is Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’.
A number of great songs came out in the span of a couple of weeks. ‘Euphoria’ is an exercise in lyrical excellence, ‘Family Matters’ is a masterclass in delivering a diss while maintaining a signature catchy sound, and ‘Meet The Grahams’ is one of the most sinister disses ever made. ‘Not Like Us’ is the biggest hit to come out of the feud, though, as Kendrick managed to top the charts and break records with his catchy, West Coast-inspired diss.
As someone who is often criticised for not having many bangers, Kendrick was able to create a diss track that didn’t only give him room to show off his lyrical prowess but also allowed him to show he could make club bangers just as much as any other rapper. Helping him create such a banger was DJ Mustard, whose trademark bounce is locked into every second of the track.
During an interview with Big Boy, Mustard recalled when he first heard the song, and he was just as shocked as everybody else when it came out. “I didn’t hear it till everybody else heard it,” he said, “I’m not knowing nothing. I don’t know what the fuck is going on, what Kendrick’s doing, I’m not texting him, like, I don’t know nothing. All I’m texting him is beats.”
The two spoke about music, and the majority of their correspondence was about the beats DJ Mustard was making for him. When it came to the beef between Kendrick and Drake, Mustard knew just as much as we all did. “We was never talking about that…” he said.
Mustard was driving to a baby shower when he first heard the track. On his way, his phone started blowing up with texts telling him Kendrick had dropped again and quoting the iconic “Mustard on the beat, hoe,’ tag. “That’s how I heard the song, on the fucking 405 Freeway, driving,” he said, “Ni**a, I start spazzing. I’m like, ‘Aah!’ I start screaming, I roll the window down, I’m telling my girl… I’m just listening to it over and over.”
Clearly happy with how the track sounded, when he got to the baby shower, he also got a taste of how big the track would be. “When I got to the baby shower, next door, they was already playing it, and it was only dropped for 20 minutes.”
Since then, the track hasn’t only proven to be the most timeless to emerge from the beef; it has also become a Californian anthem, acting as the closing song for Kendricks ‘Pop Out’ show and also getting circulated once again following the release of an easter egg heavy music video. When it initially dropped, though, there wasn’t much Mustard or Kendrick could do except enjoy the moment. “I Facetimed him, and we just start laughing. It was like, man, we got one.”