Top Dawg Entertainment is entering its next era soon and has been rolling out its latest wave of artists to take advantage of the vacuum that will be left by Kendrick Lamar’s departure after he releases his final TDE album. Last year, the label introduced Long Beach native Ray Vaughn to the fold with the harrowing “Tap” video and earlier this month, announced that it had signed Doechii with the release of her house-influenced single, “Persuasive.”
Today, Doechii doubled down on the new single, releasing a colorful, futuristic-looking video for the single. In it, Doechii displays her quirky fashion sense and leads a troupe of dancers as they vogue for the camera in a ballroom-inspired sequence that plays off the single’s upbeat instrumentation.
Prior to officially signing to the label, Doechii appeared on Isaiah Rashad’s The House Is Burning single “Wat U Sed” and on his Lil’ Sunny’s Awesome Vacation tour, prompting speculation that the LA-based label had picked up the eclectic new artist for its roster. While the confirmation wouldn’t come until recently, the positive reception of Doechii’s guest spots certainly helped, and fans are certainly intrigued to see what she does with the label next.
After receiving the TDE co-sign on Isiah Rashad’s The House Is Burning standout “Wat U Sed” and months of speculation, TikTok-favorite Tampa rapper Doechii finally announced her official signing to the LA-based label and shared her first song under the imprint, the house-inspired “Persuasive.”
The new song, which follows Doechii’s breakout hit “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake,” sees the versatile rapper putting some slick raps over a lounge-y, Kal Banx-produced beat that wouldn’t be out of place at a party at The Standard Hotel’s rooftop pool parties (think Azealia Banks, Bree Runway, or Leikeli47). Lyrically, the song celebrates nights out under the influence and the reckless decisions that come from them.
In a statement to Complex, Doechii celebrated her newfound label home, saying, “I’m excited to run with Top Dawg – to work, to have a home for my overflowing ideas. I want to create a new vision, a new lane, and so much music. Everyone is invited to the Doechii dominance.”
Her output so far suggests that she isn’t far off from those goals. Songs like “Fruitcake,” “What’s Your Name?” “Spookie Coochie,” and “Persuasive” certainly showcase a lot of versatility and eclectic musical influences. Doechii is certainly an accomplished, polished rapper, but her musical sensibilities reach beyond the confines of the genre to encompass dance, jazz, R&B, and more. With TDE, one of the more supportive labels around, behind her, everything she wants is within reach and it’ll be exciting to see what she comes up with next.
Last summer, Kendrick Lamar made a rare appearance on social media, where he delivered a shocking announcement: He revealed that his upcoming fifth album would be his last under Top Dawg Entertainment. “As I produce my final TDE album, I feel joy to have been a part of such a cultural imprint after 17 years. The Struggles. The Success. And most importantly, the Brotherhood,” he wrote. “May the Most High continue to use Top Dawg as a vessel for candid creators.” During a recent interview with Mic, TDE’s president Terrence “Punch” Henderson spoke about Kendrick’s upcoming departure and what it means to him.
“I don’t even know if I would describe it that way as ready to leave, as more so ready to build his own thing,” Punch said. “That’s a grown man right now. We watched him grow from a teenager up into an established grown man, a businessman, and one of the greatest artists of all time. So how long do you actually be signed up under somebody? It’s been almost 20 years. So it’s time to move on and try new things and venture out.”
He continued, “He’s doing a great job developing Baby Keem. It’s always been there, but now it’s just time and space where he can actually do it. It’s a beautiful thing to watch because that’s something that started with what we built in the beginning. To see it blossom, it’s a full-circle moment.”
You can read Punch’s full interview with Mic, where he also discusses SZA, TDE as a whole, and more, here.
It’s well-known in LA circles that Terrence “Punch” Henderson has plenty of artistic and musical talent of his own, even though he’s spent the last several years as one of the architects behind the Top Dawg Entertainment empire. Now, Punch is readying another collective, and the trailer for what they’re about to do just dropped yesterday. A Room Full Of Mirrors will feature Punch alongside other artists like Nick Grant, DayLyt, Earlee Riser, Billymarie, Lyric Michelle, Ichiban Don, Hari and Jrias Law. They released “Mirrors” back in February and “RawR” in April to preview their first EP together, and now that project is only a few days away.
To further whet fans’ appetites, last night they dropped a trailer that revealed the EP title and gave a taste of what’s to come. Money Bags is teased in the minute-long clip (above) as a visual EP, with some clear inspirations from Quentin Tarantino and Reservoir Dogs. The film was directed by Lyric Michelle, and as far as the music, most of the project was produced by Hari and “and constructed from a narrative and detail standpoint by Punch himself.” Punch has overseen every release for TDE, so needless to say he knows how to roll an album out. Check out the preview for Money Bags above, dropping in just a few days on November 17.
Carson, California-bred TDE rapper Reason has returned with a new EP, No More, No Less: Demo 1, which features appearances from Adé, Benny the Butcher, Doe Boy, Reason’s TDE label-mate Isaiah Rashad, and Wale. Reason calls the EP “a small collection of thoughts and moments that I’ve been asked for repeatedly” and explained that he released it because it was “something I wanted to give to y’all in the meantime” while he’s finishing a proper follow-up to his 2020 album, New Beginnings.
The three-song effort opens with “Left Hand” featuring Benny, Isaiah, and Wale, a block thumper that finds the three rappers trading verses over a variety of different beats. That’s followed by the hypnotic “Not For Me,” which reunites Adé and Wale and includes Benny, then the set concludes with the woozy, downtempo “12am In ATL,” which features Benny, Isaiah, and Doe Boy. Clocking in at nine minutes and 53 seconds in total, No More, No Less showcases Reason’s impressive wordplay by setting it alongside some of the most prolific and clever rappers in the game today.
The EP also helps set up Reason as part of the vanguard of the post-Kendrick TDE roster the label will have to get behind after a “weird time” for TDE in 2020. Along with Isaiah, Ray Vaughn, and Doechii, Reason is carrying the torch for the West Coast rap label as it evolves in the wake of Kendrick Lamar’s departure.
SZA and TDE’s President Terrence “Punch” Henderson aired out their grievances with a photographer who they allege released photos of the singer without their permission. SZA first brought the matter to the attention of her followers on Twitter, writing in a post, “Releasing pictures of me w out my consent is scary . Y’all be careful working w folk u don’t know well .”
One person asked if her message was in regards to photos of her in a blue bikini that recently appeared on social media. SZA confirmed that this was true, replying, “He literrally text me [and] said ‘sorry if u never wanna work w me again but I decided I’m releaseing these.’” She added, “Never felt more powerless or disrespected.”
Punch later called out the photographer directly after he failed to get in contact with him. “Anybody know this dude @Edwiggery ?” he wrote. “This man leaked a whole photo shoot of SZA WITHOUT permission. Now he’s not responding.”
And you still got the post up on ig?? You doing this wrong champ. I promise you you’re doing this the wrong way. https://t.co/18YVgCM9jZ
The photographer addressed the issue in a tweet of his own. “Definitely not doing anything for clout, there’s so much more to this than you guys know, I’m not a bad person,” he tweeted. “I’m not arguing with anyone on social media. Never have, never will. And please stop sending death threats [prayer hands emoji].” Punch caught wind of his message and replied, “And you still got the post up on ig?? You doing this wrong champ. I promise you you’re doing this the wrong way.”
Instagram
The picture of SZA remains up on the photographer’s page, and upon viewing it, a disappointing comment from SZA can be seen. “I begged u not to post these,” she wrote.
In the video for “Chad,” the latest single from Isaiah Rashad’s long-awaited comeback album The House Is Burning, the Chattanooga rapper asserts his stardom alongside fellow Chat-town native YGTUT. Employing the “video shoot at a gas station” trope that has become so popular over the past year, Rashad fills the video with cameos from his friends in the music business. The cameos include Aminé, who appears as a delivery man, Denzel Curry, who maintains the gas station sign, and Dominic Fike, who appears to be assisting Rashad’s TDE cohort Jay Rock in some shady business. In addition, many members of the TDE posse show up, including new signee Ray Vaughn and Reason.
The video arrived just in time to highlight TDE’s next generation of stars as Kendrick Lamar departs the label after over a decade of partnership. Rashad recently had to clear up a fan misconception that one of his recent tweets dissed Kendrick for leaving; after a subtweet to his ex was interpreted as a shot at Kendrick, Isaiah deleted the tweet and explained the context on The Breakfast Club. It appears there isn’t really any bad blood between them, and Top Dawg himself wished the Compton rapper well in his future endeavors.
Isaiah, meanwhile, has been hard at work promoting his new album, releasing videos for “Runnin,” “Wat U Sed,” “From The Garden,” and now, “Chad” in relatively rapid succession while preparing to head out on Lil Sunny’s Awesome Vacation tour this month.
Watch the video for “Chad” above.
Isaiah Rashad is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The complexion of the West Coast rap scene is soon to change as Kendrick Lamar prepares his final album under the Top Dawg Entertainment flag, but rumors of the label’s impending demise are greatly exaggerated. Just as Kendrick announced his departure, TDE launched the career of its next potential star: The Long Beach born-and-raised Ray Vaughn, who introduced himself in impressive fashion with both a three-song EP titled Peer Pressure and an eyebrow-raising debut freestyle for Power 106’s LA Leakers.
Today, he shares the video for “Tap,” one of his three introductory singles from Peer Pressure, a harrowing look at the travails that made him who he is today. As he details his struggles and stories of survival on the streets of East Side Long Beach, the video straight up assaults viewers with images of just what those roadblocks looked like, from drugs and violence to the stresses of having incarcerated friends and zero mental health care.
Like fellow TDE signee Reason, Ray first attracted attention from the label with his “Freestyle Fridays” series of videos on YouTube, building a following on social media that his newly announced connections are sure to supercharge. He was introduced to the crowd at Isaiah Rashad’s The House Is Burning listening in LA, where he proved he’s got the charisma, presence, and performance to justify his inclusion on the storied TDE roster. He’s working on his debut album, with the release date to be determined.
In the years since the release of Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2018 album DAMN., hip-hop fans have been on tenterhooks, awaiting its follow-up. The intervening years have been light on new releases from the elusive Comptonite, leaving his supporters completely in the dark as to his next project’s creative direction or release date. However, this week, we did learn one new thing: Whatever the next album is called or whatever it’s about, it’ll be his last album released by Top Dawg Entertainment, marking the end of an era.
With Kendrick’s announcement, fans couldn’t help speculating whether there had been a falling out between K. Dot and the gang over at TDE — one Isaiah Rashad tweet was misinterpreted as a shot at the departing vanguard, while Top Dawg himself pre-empted much of the conjecture with a respectful salute to his longtime business partner. In all likelihood, it’s much more realistic that Kendrick simply signed a deal with the label for a set number of projects and will fulfill that obligation soon. But what I find more interesting — and you should too — is looking back on how that partnership shook up the rap game for a decade, and how each partner might move forward in the future.
The roots of that partnership go back even further than Kendrick signing to TDE. He detailed the “only in California”-style connection between his father and Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith on the song “Duckworth” from DAMN. Kenny’s father, Ducky, worked at a chicken spot that Top decided to rob; Ducky’s habit of sliding Top extra chicken on the low prompted Top to spare him, leading to a funny full-circle moment when Kendrick “introduced” the two after being signed to Top’s label some 20 years later. When Kendrick signed to Top Dawg in the mid-2000s, though, neither of the two probably had any idea the profound effect they’d eventually have on the music industry.
Coming of age in the so-called “blog era,” one of Kendrick and Top’s first major accomplishments was leveraging the success of K. Dot’s mixtapes into independent sales of his retail projects Overly Dedicated and Section.80. While Kendrick’s peers like Big Sean, Drake, J. Cole, and Wale were signing to major labels — and detailing their struggles with securing release dates, clearing samples, negotiating reasonable marketing budgets, and getting their records under shipped — Kendrick went directly to his fan base via then-new digital retailers like iTunes, ensuring creative control and max profits for his independent label. By the time Kendrick was dubbed “New King of the West Coast” by Dr. Dre, The Game, and Snoop Dogg, he had more leverage than nearly any other indie artist that came before him.
While his “debut” album Good Kid, MAAD City brought unprecedented attention back to the West Coast, spotlighting the shortcomings of the Grammy Awards for the first time during the social media era, and racking up rave reviews, its follow-up, To Pimp A Butterfly, turned the rap game on its ear. Thanks to the unprecedented support of Top Dawg Entertainment, Kendrick was able to overcome the so-called “sophomore jinx” that had plagued previous “chosen ones” in hip-hop like Jay-Z and Nas by blowing out the production process with contributions from LA’s burgeoning jazz revival scene. Those collaborations led to artists like Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, and Thundercat becoming household names in their own rights, which might not have been possible on a standard major-label deal.
Alongside TDE, Kendrick executive produced the soundtrack to Marvel’s Black Panther movie, and the negotiation leverage afforded to Kenny and Top by their independent successes allowed them to finagle unheard-of publishing deals that allowed them to maintain control over the rights to the music and ask for mind-boggling amounts on eyebrow-raising timelines. While normally, publishing deals can last longer than rap artists’ entire careers, Kendrick and TDE have been able to wrangle more short-term agreements that favor them while also satisfying partners who know that Kendrick’s catalog is one of the most sought-after in the game. And now that Kendrick is leaving TDE, presumably to release music under his own label, PgLang, he’ll likely be able to carry that leverage into any future negotiations to distribute and manage his music on terms many artists would envy.
Meanwhile, TDE is already positioning itself for its post-Kendrick phase of business, which could find them reverting back to the template that started it all. It’s inarguable that Kendrick was TDE’s most profitable and marketable signee, the tentpole that generated the revenue allowing artists like Isaiah Rashad, Jay Rock, and SZA to take their time on their own releases. With that said, even without him, TDE still has the aforementioned artists (along with Schoolboy Q and SiR), who generate plenty of profit on their own. In addition, the label has signed newcomers like Doechii, Reason, and most recently, Long Beach rapper Ray Vaughn to its stable, and immediately set about dropping music from them through digital channels. While they may not have the attention of a more established artist and are definitely fighting a more crowded marketplace, the lessons in digital distribution that TDE gleaned from its work with Kendrick will undoubtedly apply and serve them in good stead.
The future, for both Kendrick and TDE, looks bright. Top Dawg’s new artists will have the opportunity to develop and grow their careers based on the experience that the label has built up over the past decade, while Kendrick can take the same experience and apply it to the PgLang agency’s endeavors. Since the partners parted on good terms, there’s also no real reason they couldn’t continue to find ways to work together in the future, whether on new music or other business ventures. Ultimately, Kendrick leaving TDE can turn out to be a good thing for both; after all, every bird has to leave its nest eventually, striking out to build a home of its own. Wherever Kendrick ends up, he’s been set up for success and blazed a trail that TDE’s future artists can follow to their own.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Earlier today, Kendrick Lamar announced that his next album will be his last on Top Dawg Entertainment after working with the label for nearly 15 years. Shortly after his announcement, the label’s founder and CEO, Anthony Tiffith — aka, the titular “Top Dawg” of TDE — released his own statement to social media reflecting on their partnership’s impact and looking ahead to the label’s future, calling it “an honor and privilege for TDE to bless the world with the GOAT.”
“The whole goal when we started this thing was to make music, make money, and make history,” he wrote. “We did those things 10 times over and then some. TDE and its artists have provided a way to end generational curses that we were all personally born into over the last 17 years in this business.” K. Dot previously addressed this sentiment on his DAMN. track “Duckworth,” which examined the incidental connection between his own father and Top Dawg before Kendrick was even born.
“With this being Dot’s last album on TDE, this is more of a VICTORY LAP, a celebration,” Top asserted, wishing his label’s best-selling artist success in his future endeavors. “I know he will be successful in whatever it is he decides to do and will have our FULL support. As for Top Dawg Entertainment, we will continue to grow, develop, and give artists the platform to expand into whatever way they choose. Heart, honor, respect.”
