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Kendrick Lamar Announces “Oklama Presents… The Big Steppers Tour”

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Kendrick Lamar is hitting the road this Summer — in support of the release of his new album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers — as he announced on Friday morning (May 13) dates for his upcoming Oklama Presents… The Big Steppers Tour featuring K.Dot’s proteges Baby Keem and Tanna Leone — brought to you by Amazon Music, Cash App and Rotation.

MORE: Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers’ Album Is Here

Kicking off in Oklahoma City July 19, the 65-city tour runs nationwide all summer long with its last U.S. stop in Los Angeles on September 15 before heading for international terrains from October to December with stops including Amsterdam, London and Sydney. General admission tickets go on sale worldwide May 20 at 12 PM local time via the Oklama website. The same website Kendrick used to announce Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers would be his “final” album with Top Dawg Entertainment.

For U.S. dates, the first tickets to the tour will be made available via an exclusive Cash App presale starting one day earlier at 10 AM local time.

See complete 2022 tour dates below.

Tue Jul 19 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center

Thu Jul 21 – Austin, TX – Moody Center 

Fri Jul 22 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center

Sat Jul 23 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center

Sun Jul 24 – Miami, FL – Rolling Loud

Wed Jul 27 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena

Fri Jul 29 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center

Sat Jul 30 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena

Sun Jul 31 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena

Tue Aug 02 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center

Thu Aug 04 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena

Fri Aug 05 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center

Sat Aug 06 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center

Sun Aug 07 – Long Island, NY – UBS Arena

Tue Aug 09 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center

Wed Aug 10 – Boston, MA – TD Garden

Fri Aug 12 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena

Sat Aug 13 – Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena

Sun Aug 14 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena

Tue Aug 16 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center

Thu Aug 18 – Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum

Fri Aug 19 – Chicago, IL  – United Center

Sat Aug 20 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center

Sun Aug 21 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center

Tue Aug 23 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena

Wed Aug 24 – Salt Lake City, UT – Vivint Smart Home Arena

Fri Aug 26 – Portland, OR – Moda Center

Sat Aug 27 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena

Sun Aug 28 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena

Tue Aug 30 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center

Wed Aug 31 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena

Thu Sep 01 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena

Tue Sep 06 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena at San Diego State University

Wed Sep 07 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center

Fri Sep 09 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena

Sat Sep 10 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center

Tue Sep 14 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena

Wed Sep 15 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena

Fri Oct 07 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome

Mon Oct 10 – Prague, CZ – O2 Arena

Tue Oct 11 – Berlin, DE – Mercedes-Benz Arena

Thu Oct 13 – Hamburg, DE – Barclays Arena

Sat Oct 15 – Copenhagen, DK – Royal Arena

Mon Oct 17 – Stockholm, SE – Avicii Arena

Wed Oct 19 – Oslo, NO – Telenor Arena

Fri Oct 21 – Paris, FR – Accor Arena

Mon Oct 24 – Stuttgart, DE – Scheleyerhalle

Tue Oct 25 – Zurich, CH – Hallenstadion

Wed Oct 26 – Laussane, CH – Vaudoise Aréna

Fri Oct 28 – Antwerp, BE – Sportpaleis

Sun Oct 30 – Cologne, DE – Lanxess Arena

Mon Oct 31 – Frankfurt, DE – Festhalle

Wed Nov 02– Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro

Thu Nov 03 – Leeds, UK – First Direct Arena

Fri Nov 04 – Newcastle, UK – Utilita Arena 

Sat Nov 05 – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena 

Mon Nov 07 – London, UK – The O2

Tue-Nov 08 – London, UK – The O2

Sun Nov 13 – Dublin, IE – 3Arena

Wed Nov 16 – Manchester, UK – AO Arena

Thu Dec 01 – Perth, AUS – RAC Arena

Sun Dec 04 – Melbourne, AUS – Rod Laver Arena

Thu Dec 08 – Sydney, AUS – Qudos Bank Arena

Mon Dec 12 – Brisbane, AUS – Entertainment Center

Fri Dec 16 – Auckland, NZ – Spark Arena

MORE: Kendrick Lamar Reveals ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ Cover Art

A double album that also includes Baby Keem and Tanna Leone, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers features Kodak Black, Sampha, Blxst, Summer Walker, Ghostface Killah, Beth Gibbons, Sam Dew and actress Taylour Paige (“Zola”). The new album marks Lamar’s first album in five years since the release of his Pultizer Prize-winning DAMN. in 2017.

See the tour’s promotional flyer above that advertises “Come help Mr. Morale get out of the box.”

The post Kendrick Lamar Announces “Oklama Presents… The Big Steppers Tour” appeared first on The Source.

PgLang Rapper Tanna Leone Drops His Debut Album ‘Sleepy Soldier’

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Tanna Leone

Last year, Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free announced the launch of their media company PgLang after leaving TDE. While Kendrick has one last album left under the label, he got his own company off the ground the right way, releasing his cousin Baby Keem’s debut album The Melodic Blue. As the rollout for The Melodic Blue wound down early this year, fans were excited to see what PgLang would do next. They weren’t disappointed; the label quickly introduced its next signee, Los Angeles rapper Tanna Leone.

Tanna quickly established himself as a fitting addition to the label’s roster with tracks like “With The Villains,” “Lucky,” “Picasso,” and “Death N’ Taxes.” Now, he’s followed up with his debut album, Sleepy Soldier, which dropped today. Consisting of 14 tracks, the album finds Tanna going solo throughout, despite ostensibly having access to big-name collaborators like Kendrick and Keem. Instead, he works to establish himself as a charismatic rapper and a burgeoning star in his own right, addressing his chaotic upbringing and insecurities.

In a new interview on Complex, Tanna explained what he wanted from Sleepy Soldier. “Honestly, my goal was just to put my best foot forward and show people my range and my diversity,” he said. “I’m not interested in being put in a box or people attempting to categorize me as one thing or another. In reality, it’s pretty normal for a person to be able to change their faces depending on what room they’re going into. We all do it. So as an artist, I just wanted to be that. I wanted everybody to recognize my creativity and my ability to move around and change clothes and change hairstyles, and everybody knows it’s still me being authentic to me.”

You can listen to Sleepy Soldier 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 New Album ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ Already Has Huge Sales Projections

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When Kendrick Lamar moves, the world moves with him. After a whopping five years since the release of his lauded fourth studio album, DAMN., the Compton rapper has finally given listeners the news they’ve been waiting to hear for months: New music is on the way. Announcing the release date for his new album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Lamar didn’t share a teaser song or word of a new single with the album news. That record will drop on Ma 13, and it will be Kendrick’s last at his longtime label home, TDE, as he is now expanding into his own company, pgLang.

But none of that seems to have fans worried in the slightest. Even without as much as a teaser for a single, the album’s projection numbers for first-week sales are already massive. The music industry insider blog, Hits Daily Double, has already predicted the record will move over 350,000 copies during its first week. “The forecast is in the vicinity of 350k,” the blog noted, reminding longtime listeners that DAMN. moved almost double that when it was released, around 600,000. All-time sales numbers for DAMN. have now reached 11 million. But for an artist like Kendrick, pure sales come alongside the push from streaming, and that’s what makes this notable.

Since the album is dropping relatively soon, hopeful some preview of it will also be imminent.

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.”

Baby Keem’s Artful ’16’ Video Is Both Eerie And Mundane

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If you haven’t been keeping up with Baby Keem, now’s the time to start. The young rapper was part of Kendrick Lamar’s launch of PgLang, Lamar’s own company and a departure from Top Dawg Entertainment. Kendrick’s next album will be his last on TDE, and it looks like he’ll be releasing his own music after that via Pglang. So far, Baby Keem has been one of the other exemplary artists involved with the label, and the fact that he’s Kendrick’s cousin hasn’t hurt his profile any. Today the rising rapper has released a new music video today, called “16.”

Keem is older than 16, though not by much, and the 21-year-old LA rapper is focused on his love life in the artful clip. Directed by Jonas Lindstroem, the stark visual runs through different locations, following Keem and the object of his affection through backdrops both eerie and mundane. Keem’s debut album, The Melodic Blue, dropped last fall, and his subsequent tour was a solid showing, too. It’s not clear if “16” is the beginning of a new album cycle for Keem, but if it is, this is definitely a great start. Check out the video above and keep an ear out for more new music coming from Keem this year.

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+.