This morning, Kendrick Lamar sent the internet into a frenzy. In a series of Tweets filled with random logos and some stunning visual imagery, the rapper announced his company called “pgLang”. You’re probably wondering, what is it? Truth is, we don’t know. On their website, they state: “Our community speaks different languages and breaks formats for the curious… We are creators”.
According to a press release, Kendrick Lamar’s company is “a new multi-lingual, at service company (which) is at service to creators and projects that selflessly speak with, and for, the shared experiences that connect us all.”
Yeah look, we don’t know what it is either. We’re assuming that the ambiguity of it all is intentional as it’s driving up vast amounts of hype. But, this does make us think about all the other musicians that have found success doing something other than music. Here are a few that come to mind.
Rihanna’s ‘Fenty Beauty’
Rihanna may have changed the sound of pop music forever, but she’s busy with other things now. The musician’s last album, ANTI, dropped in 2016 and since then, she’s turned to the cosmetics industry for success. ‘Fenty Beauty’ launched in September 2017, to immense success for its 50-shade product offering that gave people of colour products that were more to their skin tone. Love that!
Speaking of iconic women, we’re celebrating International Women’s Week here at GOAT! Check out our chat with Marlee Silva on this episode of It’s Been A Big Day For…
JAY-Z’s ‘TIDAL’
JAY-Z is a billionaire and no, that money didn’t come from songs he wrote. $100 million of his net-worth actually comes from TIDAL, an upmarket music-streaming service that utilises exclusivity as its main point of difference. If you’re interested in all of JAY-Z’s other financial holdings, you can check out a breakdown here. Spoiler: some of it involves Uber!
Dr Dre’s ‘Beats’
While the world once knew Dr Dre as one of the N.W.A. members, the mogul has reached new-found levels of success outside of the rapping world. Dre made Beats electronics, an audio company that made headphones and speaker systems. But after seeing their logo in almost every pop video ever, the demand for the product reached new heights. The company suddenly became under the Apple umbrella and now, Dr Dre has a net worth of over $820 million USD. You can’t make this stuff up.
Kanye West’s ‘Yeezy’
While Kanye West has been dominating the radio waves for decades, recently his departure from music has marked a career change for the rapper. In 2015, he launched his first-ever fashion show with Adidas, marking the start of his fashion career. Since then, the Yeezy shoe has become immensely popular in the sneakerhead community, with clever marketing seeing the shoe’s value rise above RRP even after its been worn. We can’t help but wonder if Ye will ever make music again given his immense success.
Billie Eilish’s ‘blohsh’
Billie Eilish is probably the most famous pop star in the world right now. She’s racked up all four of the big awards at the Grammys, she’s the voice of the new Bond song and she’s only just 18. As a result, she’s become a bit of an icon. The star has branched out her merchandise store to make her own brand called, blohsh, which flexes the now-iconic Billie silhouette as its logo. Also, the clothing-line now comes in kids sizes. Love this for her!
If you love Billie Eilish, check out our chat with her here:
We can’t help but wonder if Kendrick Lamar will reach the same level of success as his peers!
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