R&B/Hip-Hop

From the anthemic “EA” to the resilient “Pissy Pamper” — the latter of which never saw an official release due to sample clearance issues, but still thrived through repeated unofficial streaming uploads — Young Nudy has been helping drive the culture with his rap music for the better part of a decade. Between his idiosyncratic beat selections and bouncy cadence, Young Nudy has cultivated a sound that smartly balances ominous grit with genuine, unadulterated fun.

Currently, he’s enjoying his biggest hit to date, with “Peaches & Eggplants” becoming Nudy’s first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist. Boosted by its popularity on TikTok, its tongue-in-cheek take on sex-rap and “boaw boaw” ad-libs, the track from his February album, Gumbo, has spent six weeks on the all-genre songs chart.

“Peaches & Eggplants,” which features Grammy-winning rapper (and Nudy’s cousin) 21 Savage has reached a No. 61 best since its June entrance, tying for Nudy’s second highest-peaking Hot 100 hit. Previously, his first appearance on the chart came in 2019 as a featured artist on Dreamville’s Grammy-nominated posse cut “Down Bad” (No. 64); the following year, he returned with two more entries thanks to Lil Uzi Vert’s “Money Spread” (No. 89) and 21 Savage & Metro Boomin’s “Snitches & Rats” (No. 61); last year, Nudy reunited with Metro Boomin and 21 Savage on “Umbrella,” a track from the former’s Billboard 200-topping Heroes & Villains that gifted Nudy his highest Hot 100 peak yet (No. 23).

According to Luminate, “Peaches & Eggplants” has collected 78.9 million official U.S. on-demand streams and 3,000 digital downloads, as of July 18. As the song continues to build at radio, Billboard caught up with Young Nudy to chat about his Hot 100 success, the track’s music video and what comes next for the rapper.

Tell me a bit about the creative process for “Peaches & Eggplants.” 

I ain’t even gonna play like I was on some intentional s—t — it was just me playing around in the studio and being goofy. I was just being silly with my buddies. 

How did you know that 21 Savage was the right choice of collaborator for this song? 

Honestly, that was his choice! He wanted to hop on the motherf–ker. He heard it and was like, “What’s that lil “boaw boaw” song that you got? Let me hop on that s—t,” and we just made it happen.  

The song has had a relatively slow rise — did you always know that this was a special one? Or did this level of success come as a surprise to you? 

It was more a surprise for me. In my mind, when it comes to my music, I’m not really one of those types of people that’s concerned with numbers. I like to feed my fans, because I know I’ma do numbers regardless. When I seen how people were reacting to [the song], I was kind of shocked, like “Oh, this that radio type of music that they like.” 

Why did you wait to drop the music video? 

I don’t like to drop the song that everybody wants first. That wouldn’t make sense. I like to let my other songs get a little shine too. That’s why I dropped “Pancake” first, before I dropped “Peaches & Eggplants” — the one everybody was waiting on. 

The music video looked like a great time. How did that come together? 

That s–t ratchet! (Laughs.) That motherf–ker was lit though! It really wasn’t even that many people at first. I was like, “You know what? I’m finna make this s–t public for everybody to come.” Because I just want everybody to have fun. I’m a down-to-earth type of person, so I don’t really care about having a lot of people around me who just wanna kick it, when it comes to certain situations. 

What was your reaction when you first saw people using “Peaches & Eggplants” on TikTok? 

When I first saw it, it really ain’t hit me like that for real. When it first came out, I was getting videos with all my damn music, so I didn’t even really know when it first started to pop. 

Have you started eyeing your next single off Gumbo, or are you thinking of moving on to another project? 

I’ve probably got about two more videos I’m a shoot. I’m finna shoot “Passionfruit” and “Okra.” I just shot “Portobello” like two weeks ago. “Portobello” [is gonna] come out next after “Peaches & Eggplants,” then I’m a hit them folks with “Passionfruit” and “Okra.”

You pick really unpredictable, eccentric beats. How did you go about matching each beat to its eventual food-centric title? What was your process for crafting and sequencing Gumbo? 

When me and Coupe get together, we do magic. Really with any producer, I can lock in. If I don’t lock in with them, then s–t don’t come out the way I want it to sound or feel. 

How are you handling your profile rising even more thanks the success of “Peaches & Eggplants?” 

It’s really nothing that’s too new to me. I tell anybody — I been selling out shows, I been making a lot of money off this music s–t, so I ain’t even really tripping. But I’m grateful for it. 

“Peaches & Eggplants” sits alongside some other spicy rap hits like “Slut Me Out” and “Pound Town” where they’re sexy, but they’re also kind of funny. What do you think about this recent wave of songs? 

It’s a lot of freaky ass people out there in the world! [Laughs.] I been in the freakiness since “Yeah Yeah” though! 

What does the Billboard Hot 100 mean to you? And what does it mean that you now have your very first hit on the chart as a lead artist? 

I guess I’m really just grateful and thankful for it. I don’t really know too much what to say. I’m not trying to compete with no song or all that type of s–t. I’m a just keep making music and keep going hard. That’s all there is to it.  

Do you have any more goals you’d like to hit with “Peaches & Eggplants”? 

Hell yeah, I’m trying to get a No. 1! I wanna see how that feels. I get my No. 1, I might have a lot s–t to say to everybody on the Internet. [Laughs.]

A version of this story originally appeared in the July 15, 2023, issue of Billboard.