On April 18th, 2022 Kendrick Lamar announced his newest album in over five years. He brought the title Mr Morale & The Big Steppers to Instagram with an official statement from pgLang. The statement reads:
From the desk of Oklama.
For immediate release.
Los Angeles, CA. (April 18th, 2022)- The Following statement was released today by Oklama, through his company pgLang at 11:00 am PT in Los Angeles, CA:
Album: “Mr Morale & The Big Steppers”
Release date: 5/13/2022
All factual information for this release will come directly from this source only.
On Twitter he announced this new album simply with a link to his website Oklama. When arriving at this website you’re greeted with two folders. One manila folder labeled “nu thoughts” and one unlabeled, black folder.
The unlabeled, black folder leads to the press release posted on Lamar’s Instagram, announcing the release date of the album. “nu thoughts” leads to a letter from Lamar to his fans. Parts are rather personal, possibly providing insight towards themes of the album:
Love, loss, and grief have disturbed my comfort zone, but the glimmers of God speak through my music and family.
While the world around me evolves, I reflect on what matters the most. The life in which my words will land next.
In this same letter he announced that this will also be his final album with his current record label TDE:
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.
It’s unclear exactly what this means for the 34-year-old rapper. Some fans are worried this is the end of Kendrick Lamar’s rap career. Others hold out hope that he is simply rebranding under the new name Oklama and there’s definitely some evidence to support this.
Lamar plans out his projects to a T, leaving bread crumbs along the way for his fans to follow and interpret. August 27th, 2021 Baby Keem and his cousin, Kendrick Lamar, released a song titled “family ties”. During which Lamar made a few interesting references.
He’s pretty clear when he discusses upcoming music with “New flows comin’, be patient brother”. However, what is even more interesting is his biblical references, ever-occurring in Lamar’s work, but in this instance he brings up “The Elohim, the rebirth”. Does this possibly refer to Lamar’s rebranding as Oklama? A hint to what’s to come?
There’s not much more to do about the anticipation of Mr Morale & The Big Steppers but to scour the internet for clues, wait until May 13th, and be vigilant for the days to come.