How Discipline, Heartbreak & Hip Hop Fueled Mustard’s 120-Pound Weight Loss

Key Takeaways:

• Mustard’s health journey included quitting lean, changing his diet and embracing tennis.
• The death of Fredo Santana pushed him to take his health seriously.
• His transformation reflects a deeper shift in how Hip Hop artists approach wellness.

While Mustard (formerly DJ Mustard) gets to hear his name all over the world, his actual physical frame has been getting slimmer. The producer of Kendrick Lamar’s famed “Not Like Us” recently detailed how he lost 120 pounds and improved his overall health.

Speaking to Men’s Health for its Winter 2026 issue published last Tuesday (Jan. 6), Mustard admitted he was self-conscious while on stage during Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl halftime performance. Although he was then 220 pounds and far from what he said was his heaviest weight of 340 pounds, he still was worried about how he looked.

Mustard admitted that it was bad eating and a habit of drinking lean (prescription cough syrup mixed with soda) that got him to his heaviest around 2018. It was the death of his friend, rapper Fredo Santana — who reportedly died due to complications of heavy Xanax and lean use in 2019 — that got the “tv off” producer to change his lifestyle.

For Mustard, losing weight was a matter of life and death, and his doctor had been telling him where to start. “I’ve been trying to lose weight for my whole adult life,” Mustard told Men’s Health. “I’ve had five different trainers. I’ve done every diet you can think of… I remember the doctor would always tell me I have a fatty liver. So, I’d say, ‘How do I get rid of a fatty liver?’ He’d say, ‘Lose weight.’ How do I get rid of high blood pressure? Lose weight. I got tired of hearing that.”

The Los Angeles native started listening by walking (and eventually running) and eating better. He even got meal inspiration from his “super into health” camera guy. When he stepped on a scale in 2021, he weighed a svelte 215.

Now the 35-year-old reportedly hovers around 225, and he’s maintained his weight thanks to a newfound love for tennis he picked up after working with singer Ella Mai. “I’m just an extremist,” Mustard, who plays daily, said. “When I start to feel like I’m gonna be good at anything, I’m going to try to be better than all my friends.”

Mustard also revealed that besides working on his own album, he’s still sending Kendrick Lamar beats.