After Kendrick Lamar had already impressed the majority of his fans and music critics with the quality of his current work MR. MORALE & THE BIG STEPPERS was able to convince, the success of the record is now also reflected in chart positions. His fifth studio album went straight to #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. It is the rapper’s fourth album to achieve this position.
Kendrick Lamar outperforms Bad Bunny and Future
According to billboard is the placement of the double album MR. MORALE & THE BIG STEPPERS for the strongest chart entry so far in 2022. With 295,000 units sold within a week, Kendrick Lamar ousted the rapper Bad Bunny, who previously topped the charts with his album UN VERANO SIN TI (274,000 copies sold), the had in turn pushed Future and his album I NEVER LIKED YOU (222,000 copies sold) off the throne. Kendrick Lamar’s current work was five years in the making. With his 2017 album DAMN. The musician stayed at number 1 on the Billboard 200 for four weeks.
The rapper doesn’t need a lot of publicity
Overall, the promotion of the album can be described as modest. The announcement of MR. MORALE & THE BIG STEPPERS took to Instagram, where the rapper just posted an informal announcement from media outlet pgLang, which the musician co-founded. Aside from the pre-release track “The Heart Part 5”, which is not on the album, no singles or music videos were released prior to release. Only then did an official clip for the song “N95” follow.
Kendrick Lamar is collaborating with the creators of South Park on comedy
In addition to music, the rapper is also active in other creative fields. With friend and business partner Dave Free, he founded pgLang, described as a “multilingual, artist-friendly service company.” The aim is to publish various media such as music, films, art, books and podcasts. In this framework, Kendrick Lamar supports the career of rapper Baby Keem, who is also his cousin. It was also announced that the musician is currently working on a comedy with South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The idea for the project, which has not yet been named, was suggested by author Vernon Chatman in an interview with Variety described as follows:
“The film shows the past and present colliding as a young black man who interns as a slave actor at a living history museum discovers that his white girlfriend’s ancestors once owned his own.”
MR. MORALE & THE BIG STEPPERS was released on May 13, 2022. In October 2022, Kendrick Lamar will be playing on several stages in Germany. There are tickets here to find.