I met with Kendrick Lamar and Trey Parker to discuss their new film, Untitled Trey Parker Film. This is a co-production between pgLang & Viacom entertainment group, and stars Kendrick working as a re-enactor at a Plantation Theme Park. I caught up with the two creatives in their New York offices.
The dynamic duo had previously worked together on Kendrick Lamar's music video for the Heart Part Five, co-starring Will Smith, Kanye West and O.J Simpson. They are dressed in matching purple Adidas tracksuits, and their excited conversation stops when they notice me sitting across from them.
"So is this movie going to have puppets in it?" I ask as my opener. Both of them laugh in perfect unison.
"There's some animatronics, but we mostly use human actors in this movie." says Trey Parker in his trademark Louisiana accent. There's a bowl of nuts on the table between us, he grabs a handful and starts eating and talking about how he wants to get back to his roots, with films like Orgazmo or BASEketball. Pieces of nuts are flying out of his mouth as we're talking, landing on the glass table in globs of spit. I turn to Kendrick.
"You like horror films, right?"
"Yeah. I'm a big fan of Giallo. Tenebrae, Four Flies On Grey Velvet, A Lizard In Woman's Skin, you know? Me and Dave will stay up all night watching horror films and eat a kilo of popcorn." says Kendrick. He's referring to Dave Free, his longtime creative partner who he's collaborated on with all his music videos.
"So pgLang, is that like R. D. Laing?" I ask. He laughs and shakes his head.
"The Scottish psychiatrist? No, it means program language. If culture is an operating system, then I guess it can be hacked. We're like that guy out of Seinfeld in Jurassic Park."
"Kramer was in Jurassic Park?" I ask. Both of them laugh at me. There's an awkward silence for ten minutes as I rifle through the notes
in my briefcase, pull out an apple and start eating the whole thing, core and all.
Films nowadays look flat. They are filmed on a single iPhone, passed from production to production, as studio execs realised most people watch films on their phone than in cinemas. Having shadow, contrast, depth, it messed up
the viewing experience when watching a film on a train, at a dinner table,
at a wedding - the moviegoer was now mobile. Every scene needed to be clearly read when watching the thumbail appearing at the bottom of a timeline preview. I asked Trey Parker if this film would look good and he nodded. With that, the interview is over.
As I leave the office I wonder if I could have maybe prepared better questions, but we live in a world where nobody tries any more. They can't even ironically try, they just fart out whatever comes to mind and usually follow through with a dollop of shit. Basically, I was Jimmy Kimmel.
But what about Drake? The Canadian popstar had struggled to be relevant after his demolition last year via Lamar's killstreak. Wasting lyrics criticising Lamar's height rather than his hypocrisy, Aubrey Graham had stood on the world stage, dropped his trousers and started pissing on them. When he wasn't in court trying to prove he wasn't a weird crybaby, he was working on a new project. A musical version of the Nabokov novel, Lolita. Not only was he embracing the allegations put to him, he was indulging in a 2 hour album and broadway show, working with Lin-Manuel Miranda based on the controversial novel.
With Kanye West singing songs about Hitler and Drake making 7 minute ballads about young girls, delivered in Patois, you could say that the giants of hip hop had now resorted to being edgy teenagers from the 2000's internet. It is rumoured Eminem will release a double vinyl of a standup show he toured through the Midwest, an echo of the comedy LPs by Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy. The playing field is clearing for new upcoming acts like Jid, BigXthaPlug and Dax - and with Lamar expanding his entertainment business, it would appear Hip Hops throne is up for grabs. Who will take the bait?
Untitled Trey Parker Film will be out June 19th 2026.
