Top Dawg Entertainment’s fourth annual holiday concert and toy giveaway just got a whole lot merrier. CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith announced that Rihanna and E-40 are slated to perform, along with other special guests. That’s not to suggest the TDE holiday concert has a history of disappointing. Last year, the lineup was just as lit, featuring the likes of Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Isaiah Rashad, ASAP Rocky, Wiz Khalifa, and others. It’s all for a good cause too. Teasers for the event offer concertgoers free admission in exchange for an unwrapped gift.
Paying it forward seems to be earning TDE some serious karma points. The label behind the careers of Kendrick, SZA, and Schoolboy Q is nothing if not thriving. With the release of her debut album Ctrl, 2017 was an incredibly successful year for SZA. The artist made it into Spotify’s inaugural RapCaviar Pantheon honoring breakthrough artists. SZA's album also made our Best Albums list of 2017 at No 3.
Since its inception, the TDE holiday concert has been away for its CEO to show some love to his hometown. He and fellow Los Angeles native, Jay Rock, kicked off the inaugural concert back in 2014 as a way to give back during a time of year that wasn’t easy for them growing up. As TDE President Dave Free told MTV in 2015, “In cities like Watts, Compton, and South Central, a lot of these kids don’t get to leave their neighborhoods.They don’t get to go to these shows. They don’t have the resources, money or opportunities to be in these environments, to be submerged in music, culture and different elements. To me, that’s an important thing. That’s what I see in all these families, in their faces, that excitement."
