Top Dawg Entertainment is taking its whole show on the road the 2018 Championship Tour. In January, TDE announced cross-country US dates for May and June. At the time, Kendrick Lamar had not yet won a historic Pulitzer Prize for Musical Composition (the first ever going to an artist outside of Jazz or Classical genres). K-Dot and Top Dawg had also not taken home five Grammys in late January, all belonging to DAMN. Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith and Lamar had not unveiled the #1-charting Black Panther soundtrack that they piloted, featuring a host of TDE talent. The label had already bid for the ‘chip, and only upped their game since.

The announcement was exciting for concert goers looking ahead to spring and summer. However, it also raised questions. Isaiah Rashad, one of TDE’s homegrown acts of the last four years, was not included in the announcement and artwork. No clarifications followed regarding the Tennessee MC.

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Now, TDE’s entire roster (including Rashad) show why they are top dogs of promotion. A four-minute video plays on the idea of champions. The whole roster is pursuing sports. Phone calls link up TDE artists who are getting their stamina up for the road. ScHoolboy Q is golfing (with SZA seemingly distracted by the opportunity to hike in the nearby woods). Kendrick is helping Jay Rock serve with a tennis racket. Ab-Soul is shooting hoops. Rashad is coaching Lance Skiiwalker. Sadly, TDE’s newest artist, SiR, is given really, really wrong directions to the meet-up spot (blame Soul) and ends up in another state.

The sequence plays on “getting the gang back together” sequel movies, a la Oceans Twelve, Police Academy, etc. Meanwhile, the training montages are tongue-in-cheek references to mid-’80s Rocky films, and so many sports flicks—down to the synth-pop music. Top Dawg and other TDE execs play the scouts (watching from the bleachers) as some musical champions try to cut the mustard at various physical fitness challenges. The video (directed by the little homies’ Jack Begert and Dave Free) makes jokes about Kendrick being the only TDE artist who could pass a drug test, Lance having a ways to go getting in shape, and Jay Rock knowing his way around a bench-press.

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At a time when tour videos sound like disposable content, TDE made art ahead one of 2018’s must-see attractions. The dates for the tour play at the conclusion of the vid’.