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TDE executives have used social media tomake announcements to their fans, but the messagesoften don't show the full picture.
This week is another example. TDE President Dave Free sent a vague tweetin the wee hours of Saturday morning: "09.02.16 #TDE."
No other information is in the post: no idea if this is an album or a song, if it's an announcement of tour dates, or some other important date.
Earlier this year, Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith said he planned to release six albums from the label. A photo of a white board shown on his Instagram showed "SCHOOLBOY Q (SAMPLE CLEARANCE), SZA (4TH STAGE CREATIVE), ISAIAH RASHAD (3RD STAGE CREATIVE), SOULO (MIXING), KDOT ??? (GET TOP ON THE PHONE), JAY ROCK (ER)." It also listed two new artists as "John Doe 1" and "John Doe 2," with one of them in the second stage of their album.
So far, we've already seen some of the white board materialize. Kendrick Lamar released untitled unmastered in March, showing that his cutting room floor songs are better than other artists' best work. And ScHoolboy Q's Blank Face LP has beenpraised as one of the best albums of the year. One of those new artists has been revealed as Chicago singer Lance Skiiiwalker.
Willone of these albums that was in the latter stages bereleased, or announced, on September 2?SZA has been steadily performing since her 2014 album Z, and Isaiah Rashad has been quiet since dropping Cilvia Demo. Ab-Soul may be ready to come out swinging after the critical disappointment ofThese Days..., and as TSS opined, he seems the most capable of being able to drop with less than a month of promotion.
Only time will tell what the announcement is really about, but with TDE's track record, it'll definitely be worth paying attention to.
