As debate continues over modern hip-hop’s capacity to high the charts, producer Sean Momberger reached into the previous to assist the style regain its pop dominance — and rating his first Billboard Sizzling 100 No. 1. “Lovin on Me,” which borrows from a Nineties Detroit hit, grew to become Jack Harlow’s third Sizzling 100 chief, persevering with the Louisville, Ky., rapper’s success with sample-driven compositions that began in 2022 along with his debut chart-topper, “First Class.”
On this case, Momberger sourced the “Lovin on Me” hook from Cadillac Dale’s 1995 hit, “No matter (Bass Soliloquy).” The 33-year-old producer says he wasn’t too aware of the track, however as soon as he heard the “whips and chains” half, he instantly put it into Professional Instruments and began constructing the observe. As Momberger says, “I’m an enormous sampler. I all the time love beginning concepts with outdated tracks. I used to be making an attempt to interrupt the mildew of utilizing tremendous well-known samples and dive into older R&B and ’90s songs.” Initially, he was aiming to craft an R&B track for an artist like Chris Brown, with whom he had beforehand labored. However as soon as co-producer Oz (Travis Scott, Future) put his hip-hop handprint on the rhythm, these plans modified.
The making of “Lovin on Me” was a worldwide affair. The track’s roots grew in Detroit due to its pattern, and Momberger then chopped it up in Los Angeles earlier than sending it by means of Dropbox to Oz in Switzerland so as to add some drums. (The drums introduced a little bit of Bay Space bounce, which invited comparisons to Drake’s “The Motto.”) By final July, the track arrived in Harlow’s fingers in Louisville.
Based on Luminate, “Lovin on Me” has logged 207.4 million official on-demand U.S. streams by means of Jan. 11. The track debuted at No. 2 on the Sizzling 100 in late November and rose to the chart’s apex the next week, surviving because the most-consumed nonholiday single and returning to No. 1 by Jan. 13. As irresistible because the hook and beat are, Momberger credit Harlow for serving to the track join. He first heard the artist rap over the observe in a Oct. 23 TikTok snippet that started the track’s promotional marketing campaign. As Momberger remembers: “After I heard how he tied the pattern to his lyrics… he simply will get it. I knew then it was successful.”
This story initially appeared within the Jan. 27, 2024, problem of Billboard.
