Dave Free

Kendrick Lamar Teases New Music By Way Of Chanel’s Short Film ‘The Button’ Trailer Starring Margaret Qualley

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Kendrick Lamar Met Gala 2023
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Kendrick Lamar usually waits a few years between releasing new work. But thanks to the “Rich Spirit” rapper’s creative service company, PgLang, which he runs with Dave Free, he’s making an exception. On January 20, in a joint upload to Instagram, the company unveiled their latest creative endeavor with high-fashion house Chanel.

Chanel shared the official trailer for their forthcoming short film, The Button, starring Margaret Qualley, Anna Mouglalis, and Naomi Campbell, which is written and directed by Free. The ad features what seems to be an unreleased track from Lamar.

As Qualley searches for her missing fastener, Lamar’s record hypes up the viewer as they prepare to join the actress in her quest. On pgLang’s official Instagram, the company provided a synopsis of the collaboration:

At the invitation of Virginie Viard, Kendrick Lamar, and Dave Free meet the world of Chanel Haute Couture for the first time, bringing to life a story about time and transmission. Actress and House ambassador Margaret Qualley plunges us into the tale ‘The Button’ alongside actress and House ambassador Anna Mouglalis, as well as friend of the House, Naomi Campbell.

According to a note posted online, the film will be revealed in its entirety during Chanel’s spring/summer 2024 haute couture show on Tuesday, January 23, at 2 p.m. Paris time. View the full trailer below.

When Does Baby Keem’s ‘The Melodic Blue’ Movie Come Out?

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The Hillbillies, more or less an alter-ego duo of cousins Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar, headlined Tyler, The Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival last weekend. Before their set, a mysterious trailer played on the stage’s screen for what we now know to be Baby Keem’s forthcoming The Melodic Blue visual. This morning, November 16, a press release confirmed that The Melodic Blue will be available to globally stream on Amazon Prime Video on December 5.

“Keem’s internal battle leads us through fragments of memory and temptation as he navigates the depths of The Melodic Blue,” the press release teased.

The Melodic Blue first arrived as Baby Keem’s major-label debut album in September 2021, which Uproxx’s Wongo Okon reviewed as “Baby Keem’s attempt to balance his individuality with a reduced dose of his trademarked chaotic energy.” Keem dropped a deluxe version in October 2022.

According to the press release, The Melodic Blue visual was directed by Savannah Setten. It stars acclaimed actress Amandla Stenberg opposite Keem, Shakira Ja’nai Paye, Francis Lovehall, and Séréna Sy. The visual presented by Eerie Times, pgLang, and Amazon Music was co-executive produced Keem, Kendrick Lamar, and Dave Free. Jamie Rabineau and Cornell Brown are also credited producers.

See the official poster below.

Baby Keem The Melodic Blue poster
Copyyright to pgLang/Amazon Music

How To Watch Baby Keem’s ‘The Melodic Blue’ Movie

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In September 2021, Baby Keem released his major-label debut album, The Melodic Blue. A deluxe version followed in October 2022. And Keem still isn’t finished with The Melodic Blue, as an accompanying visual was announced today (November 16).

As per a press release, The Melodic Blue visual will be presented by Eerie Times, pgLang, and Amazon Music to stream globally on Amazon Prime Video on December 5. Information is sparse, other than the fact that it stars acclaimed actress Amandla Stenberg. “Keem’s internal battle leads us through fragments of memory and temptation as he navigates the depths of The Melodic Blue,” the press release teases.

Last Saturday, November 11, The Hillbillies — comprised of Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar — headlined Tyler The Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival (newly labeled “The Best Festival In America” by Uproxx’s Aaron Williams and Philip Cosores). Before the set’s start, a trailer for Keem’s The Melodic Blue visual played.

Someone in attendance captured the trailer on video, later circulating on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Along with Stenberg, the Savannah Setten-directed visual will co-star Baby Keem, Shakira Janai Paye, Francis Lovehall, and Séréna Sy. The press release confirms that it was co-executive produced by Keem, Kendrick Lamar, and Dave Free. Jamie Rabineau and Cornell Brown are also credited producers.

See the poster below.

Baby Keem The Melodic Blue poster
Copyyright to pgLang/Amazon Music

Here’s What We Know About Kendrick Lamar And pgLang’s ‘LightPhone’

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In 2021, Kendrick Lamar shocked hip-hop heads when he revealed that his Grammy Award-nominated album, Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers, would be his final on Top Dawg Entertainment. Since then, the“The Heart Part 5” rapper has poured his creative efforts into his company PgLang.

Kendrick and his business partner, Dave Free, have been busy, cranking out music videos with Baby Keem, film projects, artist signings, and brand partnerships (i.e., Calvin Klein). On Monday, October 30, they announced their latest venture: the Light Phone, their collaboration with Lang.

pgLang, in partnership with tech company Light, will release 250 Light Phone II phones that aim to reduce users’ screen time, described as: “A premium minimal phone designed to be used as little as possible.”

According to Light’s website, the device will not feature social media applications, email, or an internet browser. But it will contain essential phone functions such as phone calls, text messaging, and hotspot capabilities. The devices will be exclusively available for purchase on November 2 via the pgLang official website.

In a statement, the three spoke about the inspiration behind the product. “As humans, we’ve become habitually overwhelmed, unconsciously opening and re-opening smartphone apps,” the note read. “Part of the ethos at pgLang is to embrace the present with less distractions. Built with the essential utility of our modern smartphones without the distractions, the Light Phone II is ‘just a phone.’”

Watch the official commercial above.

Reason Got Into A Heated Back And Forth With TDE’s President Moosa, Who Clowned The Rapper For His Label Comments

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Artists and their labels have never traditionally gotten along all that great, but sometimes, the struggle between art and commerce boils over, leading to public outbursts and occasionally even legal action. This has especially been the case for indie label Top Dawg Entertainment, courtesy of a tendency to sign ornery, outspoken artists who aren’t afraid to vent their frustrations with the label like SZA or take their time recording new music like Isaiah Rashad.

And while TDE has been pretty patient in the past, leading to some of the more successful releases in recent years like albums from the aforementioned artists and former artist Kendrick Lamar, apparently, even they have limits. Moosa Tiffith, son of the titular Top Dawg and one of the managers at the label, finally reached his during a live interview with Del Amo rapper Reason, calling in during the rapper’s appearance to refute his complaints live.

During Reason’s appearance on the podcast BACKONFIGG, he vented about the rollout for his upcoming album, Porches, saying, “We had certain features lined up that could’ve went through. We had the budget, we had the feature lined up, takes too long to get pushed through, feature price ended up going up or something goes away. Content ideas lined up, not executed. Rollout ideas lined up, not executed.” Reason specifically pointed to an attempt to secure a feature from EST Gee, but before it could be finalized, the Louisville rapper had released a song with Future, increasing his popularity and driving up the feature price.

When Moosa called in, though, things got heated as the manager asserted that former co-president, Dave Free, didn’t even want to sign Reason, who he called a “substitute teacher.” He also challenged the show’s hosts to name 10 Reason songs, and mocked the rapper when they couldn’t. “Dave never wanted us to sign Reason,” Moosa declared. “He called him a substitute teacher. Dot only said Reason had talent, but it’s gon’ take more than just talent in this game right now and everybody know that.”

You can check out the full episode above and see the argument in question below.

Kendrick Lamar-Signed Tanna Leone Drops The ‘Death N’ Taxes’ Video To Announce His Debut Album

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Last year, Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free’s new media company, PgLang, found instant success with its first artist, Baby Keem. Keem’s debut album, The Melodic Blue, debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, while the rapper himself garnered a Best Rap Performance Grammy Award alongside his cousin Kendrick for the album’s single “Family Ties.” This past weekend, they capped Keem’s successful rookie season with a performance at Coachella, where Kendrick joined the younger rapper onstage to perform their Grammy-winning hit.

Now, the LA-based label/production studio will aim to repeat its first success with its next artist, Tanna Leone, who made his PgLang debut last month on “With The Villains” and “Lucky.” This week, he announced the release date for his own debut album, Sleepy Soldier, which is due Friday, April 29. To accompany the announcement, he dropped the video for his latest single, “Death N’ Taxes,” which sees him standing stoically in front of scenes from a chaotic life. From schoolyard fights to funerals, Tanna reviews the moments that have left the biggest impacts on him, subtly revealing who he is by depicting what he’s been through.

Meanwhile, his formerly released singles “With The Villians” and “Lucky” won’t be among Sleepy Soldier‘s 14 tracks when it drops this Friday, but with a tracklist that doesn’t reveal any of the features, it’ll be worth checking out to see if there are any surprises. In the meantime, check out the video for “Death N’ Taxes” above.

Kendrick Lamar’s PgLang Signs Tanna Leone And Shares His First Single, ‘With The Villains’

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Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free’s new endeavor PgLang is rolling after the company’s initial launch was met with mostly confusion about what the company is and what it does. As it turns out, the answer is: “a little bit of everything.” Early last year, PgLang produced a Calvin Klein campaign, then released Kendrick’s cousin Baby Keem’s debut album, The Melodic Blue. This year, it was reported that PgLang would be teaming up with the creators of South Park to produce a comedy film, although that news was met with skepticism from fans due to its questionable premise.

However, the company’s next move may end up being more well-received as it returns to Kendrick’s area of expertise, music, in signing its third rapper, LA native Tanna Leone. To introduce the newcomer, PgLang posted a video interview covering some of the basics about the 24-year-old, like his birthday, favorite color, and favorite quote. The promising young rapper also dropped his first single with the label, “With The Villains,” along with his first music video. Check it out below. Tanna Leone is currently supporting Baby Keem’s tour, which runs through April 18 in San Francisco.

While Baby Keem’s debut was released in partnership with Columbia, Tanna’s will apparently be supported by Def Jam, instead. In a statement, new Def Jam CEO Tunji Balogun said, “We’re excited to welcome Tanna Leone and pgLang to the Def Jam family as valued partners. I’m lucky to have been able to connect with Kendrick and Dave during the early stages of my career as friends and collaborators, and I’m thrilled to be able to extend that relationship here at Def Jam. Tanna is a dynamic and multi-talented new voice and we’re honored to be a part of his development and success.”

Kendrick Lamar’s Upcoming Slave Intern Movie Was Absolutely Slammed By People On Twitter

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Earlier this week, Kendrick Lamar was announced as one of the creators of an upcoming film. It’s listed as a comedy and it has Kendrick’s longtime partner Dave Free as well as the creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, as collaborators of the film. So far so good? Well, here’s where things get sticky. The currently untitled film was described as follows: “a young Black man who is interning as a slave reenactor at a living history museum” … finds out that his white girlfriend’s ancestors owned his own ancestors.

This plot seemed to rub many the wrong way and it resulted in the film being absolutely torn apart on social media. One person wrote, “And it’s gonna be a… comedy? Oh this bad,” while another shared an image of Dr. Umar Johnson and wrote, “What is this plot?” A third person said, “This is easily, without hyperbole, the worst idea for a story I’ve ever heard.” Others pointed to how their recent requests from the rapper were for new music, his fifth album preferably, and not this kind of movie. “Mannn.. all we asked for was the J.Cole collab,” a user wrote.

The script for the upcoming film was written by MTV2’s Wonder Showzen creator Vernon Chatman, who also voiced a handful of characters on South Park. A director for the movie has not been selected yet.

You can see some more reactions to the upcoming film below.

Kendrick Lamar And Dave Free Partner With The Creators Of ‘South Park’ On A New Comedy Film

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A couple of years ago, Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free mystified the world with the announcement of their new company, PgLang. Nobody seemed to know what PgLang was or what it’d do, but in the intervening years, we’ve seen glimpses. In 2021, the company collaborated with Calvin Klein on a new ad campaign and backed the release of Kendrick’s cousin Baby Keem’s debut album The Melodic Blue on Columbia Records. According to Deadline, though, they’ve now got bigger plans, expanding into the world of film with the creators of long-running animated comedy South Park.

Kendrick, Dave, Matt Stone, and Trey Parker have teamed up to produce the live-action comedy with Paramount Pictures. The premise is probably par for the course for the provocative South Park creators, following “a young Black man who is interning as a slave reenactor at a living history museum” who finds out that his white girlfriend’s ancestors owned his (does this make them many-times-removed relatives? Probably!). The script was written by Vernon Chatman, who created the MTV2 comedy Wonder Showzen and voices a handful of characters on South Park, but no director has signed on yet, despite production being scheduled for this spring. The film will have theatrical distribution, as well as streaming on Paramount+.