Kendrick Lamar knows how to amp up the excitement. After playing the Super Bowl halftime show and the announcement that he will headline Milan’s Summer Festival and Miami’s Rolling Loud, he is now also being announced as a headliner at Glastonbury in England in June.
K. Dot would have headlined Glastonbury in 2020, but the festival, like most things, was canceled at the start of the pandemic. He is the fourth ever rapper to headline the festival after Jay-Z, Ye and Stormzy. Lamar is sharing the bill alongside Paul McCartney and Billie Eilish this year, and the lineup also includes Doja Cat, Diana Ross, Megan Thee Stallion, and Leon Bridges.
This string of upcoming performances come as fans mean the excitement for new music is at a fever pitch. It’s been five years since Kendrick Lamar’s 2017 smash hit record DAMN., which earned him five Grammy wins and a Pulitzer Prize. Lamar has teased that a new record is coming, and it will be his last on longtime label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) — but a release date or specifics about the record have not been announced.
Lamar said in an announcement in August 2021, “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. 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.”
Kendrick Lamar has also begun to build his own empire. He and former TDE exec Dave Free started a company called pgLang that released Baby Keem’s 2021 album The Melodic Blue, and will co-produce a film with the creators of South Park. In a conversation with Mic, TDE president Terrance Louis “Punch” Henderson beamed with pride at his longtime artist’s growth.
“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,” Henderson said. “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. ... 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.”
