Kendrick Lamar and partner Dave Free’s company pgLang has signed Los Angeles rapper Tanna Leone to a record deal through a partnership with Def Jam Records. Leone is the latest artist to ink with pgLang and the first since Kendrick Lamar’s own departure from Top Dawg Entertainment last year.
“When pgLang launched, I knew that’s where my home was,” Leone expressed in a statement. “It’s an honor to join my brothers on this journey of shaping the future of media and entertainment. As an artist I want to represent disrupting the status quo, push people to focus on their growth as a human, and to be a voice for the voiceless through my artistry.”
Def Jam CEO Tunji Balogun spoke on the evolution of his relationship with Kendrick and Free in a statement announcing Leone’s signing. “We’re excited to welcome Tanna Leone and pgLang to the Def Jam family as valued partners,” Balogun shared in a statement. “I’m lucky to have been able to connect with Kendrick and Dave during the early stages of my career as friends and collaborators, and I’m thrilled to be able to extend that relationship here at Def Jam. Tanna is a dynamic and multi-talented new voice and we’re honored to be a part of his development and success.”
In celebration of his new deal, the 23-year-old spitter has dropped a pair of new singles, “Lucky” and “With the Villains,” the latter of which includes an accompanying music video. Currently on the road as a special guest with fellow pgLang artist Baby Keem, who released his album, The Melodic Blue, on the label last year. Leone will be alongside Keem for the duration of the tour with both slated to appear at Coachella on April 22.