2022 has been pegged as the year Kendrick Lamar will make his long-awaited return to music with a brand new album, following up 2017’s Pulitzer Prize-winning DAMN. But the Compton native’s first move of the new year finds him branching out beyond rap.
According to Deadline, Kendrick is entering the movie industry by co-producing an upcoming live-action comedy film for Paramount Pictures alongside his former longtime manager Dave Free and South Park co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
Written by Vernon Chatman, the untitled movie is about a young Black man interning as a slave reenactor at a living history museum who discovers that his white girlfriend’s ancestors once owned his.
“On behalf of Paramount Pictures and the wider ViacomCBS family, we look forward to ushering in the first theatrical collaboration from these creative visionaries, and galvanizing audiences worldwide around a powerful storytelling experience,” said Paramount Pictures’ President & CEO, Brian Robbins.
An Emmy-award winning writer, director, producer and voice actor, Vernon Chatman is best known for creating Adult Swim’s Wonder Showzen and Xavier: Renegade Angel, as well as voicing Towelie, the weed-smoking talking towel on South Park.
Chatman has existing Hip Hop ties having previously worked with Killer Mike and Snoop Dogg on Trigger Warning With Killer Mike and Doggie Fizzle Televizzle, respectively. He was also a writer for The Chris Rock Show.
Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free's Company pGLang Teams Up With Calvin Klein For New Campaign
Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free are producing the film for their pgLang company, which they launched in 2020, while Matt Stone and Trey Parker are producing for Park County. Production is set to begin this spring, although a director has yet to be named.
The movie is expected to hit theaters and be available to stream on Paramount+.
While this will be Kendrick Lamar‘s first movie production credit, the 34-year-old rapper has previous experience behind the camera having co-directed many of his own music videos — including “HUMBLE.,” “Alright” and “ELEMENT.” — as part of the duo, The Little Homies, alongside Dave Free.
K. Dot also made his acting debut on 50 Cent‘s Starz series Power back in 2018, in which he played a homeless drug addict named Laces in one episode.
“[50] and Kendrick … were hanging out and Kendrick said, ‘I’d really like to be on the show,’” Power creator and producer Courtney Kemp said. “He’s very kind of quiet and thorough and methodical. He had prepared so much. He was ready.”
She added, “He’s really gifted, tremendously gifted. I mean it’s a total transformation. It is not a version of Kendrick Lamar that you’ve ever seen before.”
TDE Producer Sounwave Stokes Excitement For New Kendrick Lamar Album In 2022
In other news, there’s still no word on when Kendrick Lamar’s new album is set to arrive, although a recent Instagram post from his longtime producer Sounwave promising “new creations on the way” only stoked the flames of excitement.
The project will mark Kendrick’s final release on Top Dawg Entertainment, the label he’s called home since the start of his distinguished career.
Literally made a joke about what if I found out my girlfriends ancestors owned mine and Kendricks making a movie about it. Great minds think alike
Even family guy had en episode about it,its not a revolutionary plot line
More race baiting pandering bullshit.
But that’s always been Kendricks style.
Fun fact no one wants to hear, while rare, there were a handful of famous Black slave owners, as well as Native American slave owners. But no one will make a narrative about that.
Finally as much as it’s fucked up stop blaming the early American founders for slavery. No one wants to delve in history but Slavery has been a practice in Africa since biblical times. And it wasn’t like these people were stolen. They were sold out to the British, the West Indies, South America, and pretty much every corner of the globe by African Chieftains who saw it as nothing more than a trade which only ended 50-60 years ago.
Let’s keep dividing the country though and giving black people a sympathy pass while forgetting the modern day slave as we always have – The Native Indigenous American. The reservation is the modern day slave ship. Has been and always will be.
There was so much BS in that comment. Many Native Indigenous Americans were also classified as black. The reservation is the way it is because you’ve allowed Shute people to classify themselves as Indians and steal your resources, why ignoring, oftentimes expelling, tribe members who are darker skinned
since “biblical times” – you need to STFU. No one cares about whatever you got stuck up your butt concerning black folk. More than two things can be true at once. What matters is the heart. I can tell by your aggressive tone you just don’t like black folks and you have some false and hateful personal world history wired in your defective brain/mind/soul unit. unfortunately this is an common effect of anti-black racism. It is destructive from the inside out
Why would kendrick ever agree to do a movie with these racists?
Only idiots would watch that show and draw the conclusion that Matt and Trey are racists.
Oh….. so you trust KDot’s judgment more than you trust some clueless rando on the internet who is too stupid to understand satire? Ok then. Just checking.
Very interesting news. The most interesting part is that if Kendrick were taller he would have a bigger peter but nobody is talking about that
All black people can do is tell stories or create characters based of racism or slavery from 400 years ago. Thats as far as their creativity goes
Says the guy on a hip hop site. LOL. Al of those mumble rap slaayveery themed songs all over the charts are pretty cool, right? Drakes album about shackles. You’re a whole retard dude.