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Kendrick Lamar launches new artist-friendly company, pgLang
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Kendrick Lamar performs during the 2018 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Field on April 13, 2018 in Indio, California. (AFP/Larry Busacca)
T
he Compton rapper announced his latest business endeavor in a four-minute visual mission statement, in which he appears alongside Baby Keem, Jorja Smith and Yara Shahidi.
The short film was notably written and directed by former Top Dawg Entertainment president and Lamar’s longtime collaborator, Dave Free.
“When you are identified with something that you are not, it always leads to suffering and unhappiness,” a distorted voice says in the video, which also features new music by Baby Keem, Florence Welch and Kamasi Washington.
Welcome to pgLang. https://t.co/IucgqwEiG0 pic.twitter.com/pooIBPEWl0
— Kendrick Lamar (@kendricklamar) March 5, 2020
Free is also credited as the co-founder of pgLang, which is described in a manifesto as “focused on using our experiences, and nurturing our many collaborators, to build stories that are equally accessible and engaging then fitting them within the best media.”
“Our community speaks music, film, television, art, books, and podcasts — because sometimes we have to use different languages to get the point of our stories across. Stories that speak to many nations, many races, and many ages. That is why our writers, singers, directors, musicians, and producers break formats when we build ideas and make them real for the curious,” the text continues.
Although detailed about the “at service company” are still scarce, Free further explained that “[i]n this overstimulated time, we are focused on cultivating raw expression from grassroots partnerships.”
On the heels of his collaboration with Lamar for the “Black Panther” soundtrack, 19-year-old rising star Baby Keem has been announced as one of the first artists to partner with pgLang.
Read also: In rap milestone, Kendrick Lamar wins Pulitzer for music
In addition to launching pgLang, Lamar is reportedly working on his much-anticipated fifth studio album.
Details about the follow-up to 2017’s Pulitzer Prize-winning DAMN are scant, although Billboard’s former editorial director Bill Werde recently tweeted that the full-length will include more “rock sounds”.
Did anyone not named Beyonce release better, more meaningful back-to-back albums last decade than Kendrick Lamar? Are you interested to know that I hear from several friends that recording on the new album may finally be done? And that he’s pulling in more rock sounds this time?
— Bill Werde (@bwerde) January 11, 2020
Speculation that Lamar would release a new studio project arose when the musician announced that he will appear at several summer festivals in the coming months, including WOO HAH!, Lollapalooza Stockholm, Open’er Festival and Bilbao BBK Live.
While waiting for Lamar’s fifth studio album, discover the visual mission statement for his newly-launched pgLang.
