David Isaac Friley (born November 13, 1986), known professionally as Dave Free, is an American filmmaker and record producer. Born and raised in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

, he is best known as the manager and creative partner of fellow California native

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

. During his tenure as co-president of

Top Dawg Entertainment Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label. Specializing in hip hop and R&B artists, TDE is based in Carson, California. The label was founded in 2004 by record producer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, who is the chief exec ...

(TDE), Free directed

music videos A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

and

short films A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

with Lamar under the name the Little Homies. Following his departure from TDE in 2019, he co-founded the creative company

pgLang PGLang (stylized as pgLang, an abbreviation for "program language") is an American independent multidisciplinary creative communications company headquartered in Los Angeles. Founded and owned by Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free, it specializes in ...

with Lamar. Free's accolades include two

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

and three

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...

Early life

David Isaac Friley was born on November 13, 1986, in

; the son of a couple from the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and South Sides of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He is the youngest of three children. Friley is a childhood friend of rapper

, having met while they were both in high school. After graduating, he worked as a computer technician while helping Lamar begin his rap career. He used his job to showcase Lamar's music to Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, founder and CEO of independent record label

(TDE), which led to him signing a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with the label in 2005.

Career

Shortly after Lamar signed with TDE, Free joined the label as an in-house producer. He became a member of the hip hop production team

Digi+Phonics CelcomDigi Berhad (Trade name, d.b.a. CelcomDigi), formerly known as Digi.Com Berhad (Trade name, d.b.a. Digi), is a communications conglomerate and mobile service provider in Malaysia. Its largest shareholders are Axiata and Norwegian-based Te ...

alongside Sounwave,

Willie B Willie B. ( – February 2, 2000) was a western lowland gorilla who lived at the Zoo of Atlanta for 39 years, from 1961 until his death on February 2, 2000. He was named after the former mayor of Atlanta, William Berry Hartsfield. Willie B. was ...

and Tae Beast and worked significantly on projects for the hip hop supergroup

Black Hippy Black Hippy was an American hip hop supergroupJay Rock Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr. (born March 31, 1985), better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California. Rock signed with local independent label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005. He secured a major lab ...

Schoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. He began recording in 2007, and released his first two mixtapes, ''ScHoolboy Turned Hustla'' (2008) and '' ...

and

Ab-Soul Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987), better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper. Raised in Carson, California, he signed to indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where he eventually formed We ...

. Their production work received critical praise; ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' named Digi+Phonics as one of the top 25 new producers to watch out for in November 2012.

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

named them as one of the top ten young producers on the rise in July 2013. Free's business career began as the social media director for TDE. In 2007, he was named the label's co-president alongside Terrence "Punch" Henderson. Free subsequently became Lamar's manager during his tenure and co-directed several of his studio albums and accompanying music videos under the collective name The Little Homies. Their filmmaking work earned praise and led to the duo winning the

Grammy Award for Best Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. ...

and the

for Best Hip Hop Video and Video of the Year. On October 4, 2019, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' reported that Free had left TDE and was working independently. He was also helping rapper Baby Keem as he started gaining recognition and expressed his intention of "getting heavy into the film game." On March 5, 2020, Free and Lamar launched the "multi-lingual" creative company

PGLang PGLang (stylized as pgLang, an abbreviation for "program language") is an American independent multidisciplinary creative communications company headquartered in Los Angeles. Founded and owned by Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free, it specializes in ...

. Through the company, Free has written and directed several music videos and advertising campaigns for

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that later became Calvin Klein. In addition to clothing, he has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewellery. ...

, Converse and

Cash App Cash App (formerly Square Cash) is a digital wallet for American consumers. Launched by Block, Inc. in 2013, it allows users to send, receive or save money, access a debit card, invest in stocks or bitcoin, apply for personal loans, and file tax ...

. On January 13, 2022, Free and Lamar announced they were producing an untitled comedy film with ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

'' creators

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative part ...

and

Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon (musical), The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his cre ...

for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

Accolades

Discography

Credits adapted from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. ;As producer *

– '' Longterm Mentality'' (2011), ''

Control System A control system manages, commands, directs, or regulates the behavior of other devices or systems using control loops. It can range from a single home heating controller using a thermostat controlling a domestic boiler to large industrial ...

'' ( (2012), '' These Days...'' (2014) * Isaiah Rashad – '' The Sun's Tirade'' (2016) *

Jay Rock Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr. (born March 31, 1985), better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California. Rock signed with local independent label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005. He secured a major lab ...

– '' 90059'' ( (2015), '' Redemption'' (2018) *

– ''

'' (2009), '' Overly Dedicated'' (2010), '' Section.80'' (2011), ''

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City ''Good Kid, M.A.A.D City'' (stylized as ''good kid, m.A.A.d city'') is the second studio album by the American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on October 22, 2012, by Interscope Records, Top Dawg Entertainment and Dr. Dre's Aftermath Enter ...

'' (2012), '' Black Panther: The Album'' (2018) * Lance Skiiiwalker – '' Introverted Intuition'' (2016) *

– '' Setbacks'' (2011), ''

Habits & Contradictions ''Habits & Contradictions'' is the second studio album by American rapper Schoolboy Q. It was released on January 14, 2012, exclusively on iTunes, by Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). The album features guest appearances from ASAP Rocky, Jhené Aiko, ...

'' (2012), ''

Oxymoron An oxymoron (plurals: oxymorons and oxymora) is a figure of speech that Juxtaposition, juxtaposes concepts with opposite meanings within a word or in a phrase that is a self-contradiction (disambiguation), self-contradiction. As a rhetorical de ...

'' (2014), ''

Blank Face LP ''Blank Face LP'' is the fourth studio album by the American rapper Schoolboy Q. It was released on July 8, 2016, through Top Dawg Entertainment and distributed by Interscope Records. SchoolBoy Q began work on the album in July 2014, months after ...

'' (2016) *

SZA Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA ( ), is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her diaristic lyrics and genre explorations, she has been credited as a prominent figure in influencing contemporary R& ...

– '' Ctrl'' (2017) ;As

creative director A creative director is a person who makes high-level creative decisions; oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos; and directs and translates the creative people who produce the end results. Creat ...

* Kendrick Lamar – '' Damn'' (2017), ''Black Panther: The Album'' (2018), '' Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers'' (2022) * Schoolboy Q – ''Oxymoron'' (2014), ''Blank Face LP'' (2016)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Free, Dave 1986 births 21st-century African-American musicians African-American film directors African-American record producers American music industry executives American music managers American music video directors Filmmakers from California Grammy Award winners Living people MTV Video Music Award winners People from Inglewood, California PGLang artists Top Dawg Entertainment artists West Coast hip-hop musicians African-American DJs American hip-hop DJs