Kendrick Lamar has signed a new global administration deal with Universal Music Publishing Group. In a statement announcing the exclusive partnership, UMPG CEO and Chairman Jody Gerson applauded the award-winning rapper’s talent and activism.

“Kendrick Lamar is not only one of the greatest lyricists that has ever lived, but he has done as much or more than any artist to promote much needed change in our society through music,” Gerson said.

She added, “I and my colleagues at UMPG are deeply honored to be afforded the opportunity to join Kendrick, Anthony ‘Top Dawg’ Tiffith, and the TDE family to help forward his unique and important vision.”

Tiffith, founder and CEO of TDE, said that Gerson “fought to make the deal happen” and that both she and UMPG were “passionate from the jump” about working with the label.

In inking the deal, Lamar joins several of his former collaborators on the agency’s roster, such as SZA, U2, Imagine Dragons and Taylor Swift. Other UMPG artists include Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Justin Timberlake, Post Malone, Halsey, Rosalía, and more.

The news arrives after Lamar shared some insight into his upcoming album during a conversation with Baby Keem for i-D magazine. In the feature, Lamar explained why it typically takes him a few years to put out a new record.

“I spend the whole year just thinking about how I’m gonna execute a new sound; I can’t do the same thing over and over,” he told Keem. “I need something to get me excited.”

Unfortunately, it seems fans will have to keep waiting for both Lamar and Keem’s next projects, as they’ve been postponed by the pandemic.

“You were supposed to be out; I was supposed to be out,” Keem reflected in the feature. “I’ve had a year to sit down and just think about the next experience.”