As Kendrick Lamar continues to pack out arenas across the globe on his world tour, he’s also intent on the business of branding. The Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper has announced the launch of Project 3, a full-service creative agency operating under the banner of pgLang, the multi-disciplinary company he co-founded with longtime collaborator Dave Free.
While Project 3 may appear new to the public, it’s already responsible for some of Lamar’s most talked-about fashion and cultural moments in recent years. According to Hypebeast, the agency will focus on guiding brands through what it calls the “beginning, middle, and end” of their storytelling journey. This includes everything from creative direction, brand design, and strategy, to content creation, event planning, and full production services. The concept reflects a new era of branding that prizes holistic vision and cultural fluency over short-term hype or siloed campaigns.
Given Kendrick’s domination of the culture in the last two years since the Drake debacle, his ability to at once control the narrative, respond quickly to shifting cultural currents and do so while offering art that truly resonates with the moment, he is firmly sanctified as a cultural architect of our age. In this way, Kendrick’s move is part of a broader trend in which cultural figures, especially those rooted in music, fashion, and film, are founding or collaborating with creative agencies. This differs from celebrities chasing influence; rather, it appears to be a response to real economic and cultural shifts.
Kendrick’s Superbowl Performance produced by pgLang, via @pglang IG
Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free, via @pglang IG
Currently, brand loyalty is brittle, consumer attention is fragmented, and authenticity is an oversaturated, while still critical necessity. A single meaningful campaign can create lasting cultural capital, and today’s audiences are more inclined to interrogate a brand’s politics, ethics and aesthetics prior to purchasing than ever before. The impetus is on brands and agencies alike to wise up, and offer true cultural and creative nourishment for their audiences.
In this landscape, traditional agencies are struggling to keep up. Agencies born inside culture, not adjacent to it. Project 3, along with similar ventures the likes of A$AP Rocky’s AWGE , represent a new hybrid model. These are ecosystems of style, sound, storytelling, and strategy, led by the trusted teams and collaborators of said influential artists.
Economically, the timing is also critical. The creative industry has faced enormous upheaval in the wake of COVID-19, algorithmic content cycles, and shrinking attention spans. At the same time, the demand for branded storytelling has never been higher. From legacy fashion houses to fintech startups, brands are hungry for fresh narratives that feel real and are willing to pay a premium for spaces that can realise these visions. What Project 3 offers is a sense of lived credibility, and unlike some agencies that scramble to “tap into” youth culture, pgLang’s work is already the culture itself. Their history in music videos, touring, and fashion — paired with Lamar’s rare mix of artistic integrity and mass appeal — gives them a uniquely high-trust position in a low-trust world.
For now, Project 3’s client list remains under wraps, but if their past work is any indication, the agency is poised to make as much of an impact behind the scenes as Lamar has onstage. Across the industry, a new generation of creative agencies — culturally embedded and unafraid to challenge traditional hierarchies — is rising.
Lamar’s announcement signals a future in which the most compelling brand work is meaningfully made, as much as they’re mass-marketed.
Watch Project 3’s Teaser HERE
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