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David Friley (born November 13, 1986), known professionally as Dave Free, is an American filmmaker, record producer and music executive. He is the co-founder of PGLang, and is best known for his creative partnership with rapper and fellow PGLang co-founder Kendrick Lamar. Free has co-directed several music videos alongside his business partner Lamar; they are collectively known as The Little Homies.[1][2]

Dave Free
Born	David Friley (1986-11-13) November 13, 1986 (age 35) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Miyatola Dee.Jay.Dave
Occupation	Filmmaker record producer music executive
Years active	2004–present
Title	Co-founder of PGLang Former co-president of Top Dawg Entertainment
Musical career
Genres	Hip hop
Labels	Top Dawg (former)
Member of	Digi+Phonics
Musical artist

Free is also the former co-president of indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and a member of the hip hop production team Digi+Phonics, alongside his former TDE in-house producers Sounwave, Willie B and Tae Beast.

Early life

David Friley was born in Los Angeles, California on November 13, 1986. He is a childhood friend of rapper Kendrick Lamar, having met while they were both attending Centennial High School.[3]

Career

After graduating from Centennial High School, Free worked as a computer technician while helping Lamar kickstart his rap career.[4] He was hired by future TDE owner and chief executive officer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith one day for mechanical help, which Free used as a way to play him Lamar's first mixtape, Youngest Head Nigga in Charge (Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year).[5] The mixtape and Free's efforts led to Lamar signing with TDE in 2005.[6] Free worked as TDE's social media director for a while before being named as the label's president in 2007, serving alongside Terrence "Punch" Henderson.[7][8] He became Lamar's manager during his tenure, and together they creative directed Lamar's projects and directed music videos under the name The Little Homies.[9][10] Free has won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video and the MTV Video Music Awards for Best Hip Hop Video and Video of the Year for "HUMBLE.".[11][12][13]

In 2019, Rolling Stone reported that Free had left TDE and was working on his own while helping rapper Baby Keem. He also expressed his intention of "getting heavy into the film game."[14] On March 5, 2020, Free and Lamar launched the "multi-lingual" creative collective PGLang.[15][16] Through the collective, Free has written and directed videos for Calvin Klein, Converse and Cash App.[17][18][19] On January 13, 2022, Free announced that he was producing an untitled comedy film with Lamar through PGLang, in collaboration with Trey Parker and Matt Stone through Parker County, which will be distributed by Paramount Pictures.[20]

References

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