Is Top Dawg Entertainment really saying goodbye to Kendrick Lamar?
TDE has not denied or confirmed the rumor that Kendrick Lamar may no longer be with the label. Earlier this week, the speculation arose when Antibound, a source that has leaked info on TDE in the past, claimed that Kendrick has left the label for his newly-launched outfit pgLang.
Kendrick Lamar inaugurated the new outfit in March of this year with visuals showcasing a cadre of artists on the pgLang roster. The video featured Jorga Smith, Baby Keem, Yara Shahidi, and was directed by K Dot’s manager Dave Free. Free, who has directed a multitude of videos for TDE artists, reportedly left TDE in October 2019 to focus on Baby Keem and his film career.
According to Antibound, Kendrick is “100% dropping before the year,” but TDE has no idea when. Kendrick would have dropped sooner too, if it wasn’t for the pandemic thwarting plans for the album release. In addition to that, the source claims that TDE did not know about pgLang until the rest of us found out in the media. It is rumored that there is tension between TDE and Kendrick as a result.
TDE President Punch took to Twitter as usual to address the rumors making rounds online with a response that did nothing to clarify what the truth was but merely alluded to it being just a rumor. “Smh can’t even try to be mysterious and vague in my tweets no more…” Punch wrote. “A rumor gets halfway around the world before the truth get it’s shoes on. Lol,” he added.
Kendrick also reportedly changed up his album, which is still slated to be released this year. Last month, we saw Kendrick filming a new music video in downtown L.A., so we know there is new music coming. This was a few months after TDE’s CEO Anthony ‘Top Dawg’ Tiffith told fans to “Stay patient king Kendrick will return soon,” on Twitter.
Smh can’t even try to be mysterious and vague in my tweets no more…
— Punch TDE (@iamstillpunch) October 5, 2020
A rumor gets halfway around the world before the truth get it’s shoes on. Lol
— Punch TDE (@iamstillpunch) October 5, 2020
Kendrick Lamar has since speak out addressing the rumors and it’s pretty clear where he stands. “Top, you gotta stop them from smutting my name, man,” Lamar said in a video posted on IG. “They been smuttin’ my name all year, man, you ain’t said nothing. Enough is enough, man. Got ’em saying I done shook the label and all that, man. They must not know about that pickle juice that’s under your red cap, man. About that sweat that’s holding that red cap together. The reason why it don’t fall off your head, that lubricant. You need to tell ’em that the reason why that red cap don’t fall off your head, man. So why would I fall off? Watching cartoons, man.”
Rumors that Kendrick has already left TDE and is focusing on spearheading pgLang are yet to be confirmed. Earlier this year, when the rapper launched the imprint, it was described as a creative “multilingual collective” telling stories through mediums like books, film, television, and of course, music.
Kendrick’s next album is high on the agenda for this year’s major hip hop releases. There’s no concrete word yet on when the project will arrive.
