Mustard Earns His First Hot 100 No. 1 as a Producer Thanks to Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’

Gary Trust
·2 min read
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As Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” launches at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated May 18), the rapper lands his fourth leader on the list as a recording artist. Meanwhile, its producer, Mustard, tops the Hot 100 for the first time in that role.

Mustard produced five previous Hot 100 top 10s, dating back over a decade. Here’s a recap of his top-peaking hits on the chart as a producer:

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  • No. 1, one week to date, May 18, 2024, “Not Like Us,” recorded by Kendrick Lamar

  • No. 5, July 21, 2018, “Boo’d Up,” Ella Mai

  • No. 6, Oct. 25, 2014, “Don’t Tell ‘Em,” Jeremih feat. YG

  • No. 7, July 2, 2016, “Needed Me,” Rihanna

  • No. 7, Feb. 18, 2012, “Rack City,” Tyga

  • No. 8, April 7, 2018, “Freaky Friday,” Lil Dicky feat. Chris Brown

As for Lamar, he solely wrote “Not Like Us,” the top-charting Hot 100 hit amid his fiery diss track battle with Drake. He co-wrote his previous three No. 1s as a recording artist.

Solely-written Hot 100 No. 1s have all but disappeared since the start of the 2000s. Here’s a look at the share of leaders authored by a single person over the past seven decades (following the survey’s 1958 start):

  • 1960s: 29%

  • 1970s: 44%

  • 1980s: 42%

  • 1990s: 24%

  • 2000s: 6%

  • 2010s: 4%

  • 2020s: 7%

This decade, just five of 76 songs to hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 for the first time have been written by one person (a 7% showing that, while diminished compared to much of the chart’s history, marks the highest since the ‘90s). Unexpectedly tying holiday cheer to Lamar and Drake’s chilly clash, “Not Like Us” is the chart’s first solo-penned leader since Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” led for three weeks beginning in December; Johnny Marks wrote the carol, which was originally released in 1958.

Before that, Oliver Anthony Music’s self-authored “Rich Men North of Richmond” ruled the Hot 100 for two weeks beginning last August. The other two solely-written No. 1s in the 2020s led back-to-back in 2022 (marking the first set of consecutive such leaders since 2000): the ensemble Encanto hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves,” penned by the group’s Dave Bayley.

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