That piano loop just came through the speakers on Hoodz Radio, and nobody in the room needed an introduction. Kendrick Lamar Humble is one of those records that changes the temperature the second it starts. Here is the story behind “HUMBLE.”: who built it, who it was meant for, and how it took over.

The Story Behind Kendrick Lamar Humble

Kendrick released “HUMBLE.” on March 30, 2017, as the first single from DAMN. The video dropped the same day. It came out on Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath and Interscope.

The beat was not originally meant for Kendrick. Mike WiLL Made-It said he made it with Gucci Mane in mind, around the time Gucci was getting out of jail. In his words: “I was just thinking, damn, Gucci’s about to come home; it’s got to be something urgent that’s just going to take over the radio.”

It did not end up with Gucci. Mike WiLL put it plainly: “I ended up not doing it with Gucci and I let Kendrick hear it.”

Who Made HUMBLE.: Mike WiLL Made-It and Pluss

The producers are Mike WiLL Made-It and Pluss. Kendrick Lamar, Mike WiLL and Pluss share the writing credits.

Pluss, born Asheton Hogan, met his childhood friend Michael Williams II, who produces as Mike WiLL Made-It, in high school in Atlanta. That is a real friendship story behind a No. 1 record.

The beat came together fast in a late-night session. Pluss has said it took 20 or 30 minutes. He did not find out Kendrick had recorded over it until months later, when the song came out.

From Mike WiLL’s Ransom 2 to the DAMN. Rollout

There was another twist. Kendrick was going to give the song to Mike WiLL for Mike’s project Ransom 2. Mike WiLL says Kendrick then told him his team felt he should keep it, and it landed on DAMN.

“HUMBLE.” was the first song recorded for the album and the starting point for Kendrick’s return to a harder sound. Mike WiLL also said ScHoolboy Q “really hooked us up” on the way there. About the beat itself, Mike WiLL said: “With ‘HUMBLE.,’ I knew that beat was going to capture a moment. It just felt real urgent.”

The Sound: Primal 808s and a Sinister Piano

The beat is built on primal 808 drums and a sinister piano loop. It is stripped, heavy and impossible to ignore. The track came after the jazzier To Pimp A Butterfly, so the trap-leaning production on DAMN. was a real change of pace. It also plays as a back-to-basics return to the bump of good kid, m.A.A.d city.

Pitchfork named it Best New Music within a day of release. The message was clear: Kendrick had stepped back into the lane that made the streets and the critics lean in at once.

How It Landed: Charts, Streams and a No. 1

“HUMBLE.” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. That was Kendrick’s highest debut and his highest-charting single as a lead artist. It was also the highest debut for a rap song since Eminem’s “Not Afraid” in 2010, which debuted at No. 1.

Then it climbed. The song rose from No. 3 to No. 1 on the Hot 100 dated May 6, 2017, unseating Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” after that song’s 12 weeks on top.

  • It was Kendrick’s second Hot 100 No. 1 and his first as a lead artist. His first came as a featured artist on Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” (chart dated June 6, 2015).
  • It led Hot Rap Songs for a third week and topped Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
  • It led On-Demand Streaming Songs for a third week with 43.5 million U.S. on-demand streams, the highest weekly total in that chart’s history at the time.
  • DAMN. entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1 with 603,000 equivalent album units.

Kendrick was also the first act to hold two spots in the Hot 100’s top five at once since Justin Bieber the previous October. The second spot was “DNA.,” which entered at No. 4.

The HUMBLE. Video: Last Supper, Cash and Grey Poupon

The visual was directed by Dave Meyers and The Little Homies, the Top Dawg Entertainment video team. It was produced by Jason Baum and edited by Greg Scruton.

The imagery stuck: a Last Supper recreation with Kendrick in Jesus’s seat, Kendrick lying on a stack of cash, and Grey Poupon passed from the back seat of a car. The clip pulled nearly 500,000 YouTube views in its first 90 minutes.

Grammys, Certifications and Legacy

At the 60th Annual Grammys on January 28, 2018, “HUMBLE.” won Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song and Best Music Video. Best Rap Song went to Kendrick over Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow,” JAY-Z’s “The Story of O.J.,” Rapsody’s “Sassy” and Danger Mouse’s “Chase Me.” The song was also nominated for Record of the Year, which went to Bruno Mars.

Kendrick took home five Grammys that night, including Best Rap Album for DAMN. A few months later, DAMN. won a Pulitzer Prize.

The song also topped triple j’s Hottest 100 of 2017, with Kendrick the first person of colour to top the countdown.

By February 2025, “HUMBLE.” had passed 20 million units and was eligible for double-diamond status. It would be only the second song to reach that mark, after Post Malone and Swae Lee’s “Sunflower,” and the first pure rap song. It sits among Kendrick’s songs over 10 million U.S. units, alongside “goosebumps,” “All The Stars” and “F**kin’ Problems.”

Who Sampled HUMBLE.

The record keeps echoing. It has been sampled in 38 songs, covered in 13 and remixed once, by Skrillex. Eminem’s “Greatest” (2018), Ne-Yo’s “Humble” (2017) and Beyoncé’s “Welcome (Homecoming Live)” (2019) are among the songs that borrowed from it.

For us, that is a full-circle moment. A beat made with Gucci Mane in mind, flipped by Kendrick, then picked up by Eminem and Beyoncé. That is the thread we follow here.

Why HUMBLE. Stays in Rotation on Hoodz Radio

Here is the station’s take. “HUMBLE.” stays in rotation because it does what the golden era always did: it strips hip-hop down to a beat, a voice and attitude, and it dares you to look away.

It also reminds us that the culture is built on friendships, long nights in the studio and a beat that finds the right rapper. Pluss and Mike WiLL, two friends from Atlanta, made a classic in under half an hour. That is the legacy we respect.

Sources

Respect the Legacy. Amplify the Movement. Listen live 24/7 on Hoodz Radio and keep “HUMBLE.” loud.