The main attraction at Top Dawg Entertainment, Kendrick Lamar, has officially announced that he’s departing from the label. He penned an open letter to his millions of fans across the world, issuing an update on the status of his next studio album, as well as his future with TDE.
“As I produce my final TDE album, I feel joy to have been a part of such a cultural imprint after 17 years,” he wrote in the letter, which was posted to a new website, called oklama.com. “The Struggles. The Success. And most importantly, the Brotherhood. May the Most High continue to use Top Dawg as a vessel for candid creators. As I continue to pursue my life’s calling. There’s beauty in completion. And always faith in the unknown. Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts. I’ve prayed for you all. See you soon enough.”
With this being the first time we’ve heard from Kendrick Lamar in months, fans are dissecting every little bit of his message. Of course, it’s an extremely bittersweet moment to hear that Kendrick will be parting ways from the label, but it also leaves room for Top Dawg to help grow the careers of many other rising artists, as well as rappers that are already signed to the team.
The writing has been on the wall for over a year. Ever since Kendrick established pgLang with Dave Free, Baby Keem, and others, it became clear that the rapper might be transitioning over to his own imprint. Perhaps, pgLang will be better detailed in the coming months, after we receive the final TDE offering from Kendrick.
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Take a look at how people have been reacting below.