Anderson .Paak is on top of the world right now. Following his recent Grammy Award win for “Bubblin’,” the multi-talented artist helped launch the #LoveThyBar campaign with Jameson Irish Whiskey, while simultaneously touring overseas.
Armed with his signature smile, the Aftermath signee exudes an air of confidence wherever he goes, something he credits to his mother.
“I feel like I came up in a confident household,” he tells HipHopDX. “My mom was an entrepreneur coming up. She had three girls and I was the only boy. My mom was the boss. She didn’t even have to tell me. I just watched her and watched how hard she worked to get all of us where we were at. I didn’t know at the time, but I was just absorbing all of that.”
But Paak didn’t always feel that way. He admits he didn’t grow up with that kind of assertiveness. It was music that ultimately provided a well of self-esteem.
“I was very shy coming up, but I think where I gained my confidence was in my craft,” he explains. “Once I got into music and found my purpose, and I started learning how to play drums, you couldn’t tell me I wasn’t cute [laughs]. You couldn’t tell me I wasn’t funny. I knew I was putting everything into that and that was my foundation. I was confident in that and that just spilled over. The more I developed that, the more comfortable I got.”
He continues, “Naturally, I think I’m probably more shy and I have more of a goofy side and more of a look on life that’s like ‘always see the funny parts.’ I think that’s where maybe the confidence comes from too. When I see people that are really cocky or have a big ego, that’s an incentive to me in itself. When I came up, people used to make fun of me all the time. We used to make fun of each other. I was just chubby with braces. I didn’t think I wasn’t gonna get girls. I still felt like that was what made me, me and that was it. As I got older, well, I’m 32 now so you can’t tell me shit. Being in your 30s was like even more in tune with girls. You’re more confident with who you are and where and what you are.”
With Oxnard out, Paak is focused on releasing his next effort, Ventura, which will mark his second album executive produced by Dr. Dre. When Paak was in high school, he actually told himself he would work with the N.W.A legend one day.
“I even had this vision in Seoul, [South] Korea that I’d work with Dr. Dre,” he says. “I didn’t know until now how like-minded we are and how much the same we are, but I knew in the back of my head that I was going to get there. It’s crazy because all I paid attention to in my life then was Dr. Dre, Hip Hop, music and sleep.”
When Dre and Paak initially hopped in the studio together to work on Oxnard, the Doctor wasn’t even aware the ambitious artist wanted to do two albums.
“Ventura is a blessing,” he says. “I told Dre when we were maybe about 80 percent into the Oxnard record that I wanted to actually do two records and he started scratching his head. I was like, ‘Trust me, I got a gift.’ I knew we couldn’t have 30 songs on one album. But we couldn’t come to terms.
“I was like, ‘Let me do two, man. One will be gritty, one will be pretty. I gotta tell both sides again from my upbringing. Since I went to high school and pretty much grew up in Ventura, I was going back and forth between Oxnard and Ventura. My schooling and where I was actually living was in Ventura. They are two different environments, at least when I was living out there.”
Paak says Ventura will differ from Oxnard in terms of lyrical content. Based on what he describes, it sounds like it will be much more introspective.
“I started to see there were two different sides of this story,” he explains. “There was a group of songs that were more soulful and another group of songs that still had the soul and the funk, but they were just more gritty. I’m getting head in the car on songs [on Oxnard] and we’re talking about ‘Sweet Chick’ or we got ‘Tints.’ We got a lot of risky topics on that one.
“It was still a lot of fun and both albums were amazing. Both albums were made with a lot of ambition. I wanted to be able to tell the other side of someone that’s a little more vulnerable on this album though. I made a song ‘Love Air’ talking about ‘Yo, is this just a feeling?’ And I’m still talking about relationship issues and talking about social commentary and political things. We needed that side too I felt like.”
On Ventura, Dre also loosened up the reins and let Paak take more control.
“Dre had a lot of trust in me with this one because I felt like he wanted to be really hands on with Oxnard, which he was, and I’m glad he was,” he explains. “I was able to learn a lot and allow myself to be really produced by one of the best and trust a lot with him. That was that. And he was like, ‘Cool man, you can do your thing on this one.’ He gave me a lot of leeway and trust.”
There’s a sense Paak is bursting with pride that his first album with Dre even saw the light of day. The Aftermath CEO has a history of shelving albums, which wasn’t lost on Paak.
“I’m ’bout to put a whole album out again,” he says. “It’s gonna be not even six months apart or something. When I signed to Dre, everybody said, ‘You never coming out. You gonna miss your chance.’ But I’m about to go back-to-back on them and everything keeps going. Of course, he’s still Dre and if it has his name on it, you know he works very hard on it.
“You know it ain’t leaving and getting his stamp without him approving everything. But it just so happens that we see eye-to-eye on a lot of things. We’re damn near birthday twins and I get it. He gets me, I get him. We give each other our space when we need it. Like I said before, we’re all about working with each other to make something that we both respect.”
Paak and his band The Free Nationals are embarking on a sizable North American tour next month. It includes a stop at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado, which will mark his first headlining show at the historic outdoor venue.
Like Thundercat — who will be along for the ride — Paak was a good friend of the late Mac Miller. He says he could feel Miller’s spirit enveloping him while he was working on his albums and “absolutely” feels it all the time.
“I heard one of his favorite songs today and then I just automatically felt him,” he recalls. “It always just puts a smile on my face. He had such a great sense of humor and I know he’s around. I know he’s been hollering. I know he’s seeing all the funny shit that’s happening in my life right now. I know he knows that I can handle it and I know he’s just crackin’ up. And I hope that he’s proud.”
Ventura is expected to arrive on April 12.
Hopefully Ventura will be more like Malibu. Oxnard was good but Malibu was his best work imo.
Agreed. Malibu is his finest work. Out of all his albums, even Oxnard, Malibu is the one that stays on rotation to this day.
Agreed, Malibu was a dope album, but if Paak was to do music like he did pre-Dre, I wouldnt be mad. Paak has an unique sound and i love what he is doing.
Nah, Yes Lawd! was his best, Malibu is a close second
Thats all nice and everyrhing but will dre actually be producing?
Nah. Dre didn’t even produce any of his last album, Compton. Dre has been crappy for around a decade or so. I mean, his feature on Oxnard sucked. All of a sudden, Dre is making his voice scratchy, higher pitched, and “newchool”. Sounds terrible for Dre. He’s trying so hard to fit in with new school, and he doesn’t understand that all Dre fans want is for him to stick to the sound he was always great at. Smooth, hard hitting west coast beats, with gangster flows, smooth and deep voice. Besides… Dr Dre executive produced Eminem’s Revival. So, he obviously doesn’t have the mindset to direct an album anymore.
Bizzy bone enigma ..please do update
Malibu is a classic that will get played for decades to come. I’m feeling King James, so I hope he continues that soulful shit. The shit he says is relatable to all the homies chilling out with a joint and case of beer. The main issue I had with Oxnard is how he stopped speaking on love and women in the same way. We don’t need him to talk about money and success. At all.
Back and white checkerboard background… What a clown
I applaud him for getting music out on Aftermath and not being named Eminem or Kendrick Lamar. What frustrates me is the hole that Dr Dre left in rap. He was at his absolute peak and was “working on Detox” and we all waited. Everyone around him says he has HUNDREDS of Detox beats, “classic” material that he just sits on. Why not release that for those of us that waited? It may not have the impact or monetary success it could have 10 years ago but there are enough fans like me that Detox would go platinum, several times over. The ear for his beats doesnt go away. Btw he produced 5 amazing beats on his Compton album. Paak is nice but why tf he cant make ONE banger on a K dot album? Him and Em aint got one left? Theres a lot of talent today but nothing of the ilk that Dre, Em, 50 were on in their day. The amount of classic material they released from them and their umbrella set the bar and then just disappeared- like the plug got knocked and left the hood in a draught. We need that fix
Bullshit. Dr Dre DID NOT produce 5 beats on Compton. Which ones are you claiming he did produce? Only possible one I could see is talking to my diary, which was the only great beat on the whole album.
Dre doesn’t have any ear for production at all anymore… Everything he’s on past decades, hasn’t been a hit. I’m a gigantic Dr Dre fan. I’d love to hear some unreleased music from him. But at some point, he truly fell off. He’s an overrated producer, and I bet you think he produced most of the 50 cent hits, game hits, snoops doggy style, both of the chronics… When on reality, the last time Dre Produced full albums and actual full tracks was in NWA. After that, Dre has been responsible for drums on hits, and that’s about it. Just the drums. Daz Dillinger did most of doggy style, Dogg pound albums, and chronic. Mel man and Storch did most of 2001. Compton had people like focus and other in house producers on aftermath, NOT Dr Dre.
It’s not just the drums he mixes everything and changes the beats and melodies. If he was just doing the drums a lot of producers could do what Dre does, but they cannot. You don’t have a good understanding of what it takes to make a beat, mixing, and then a song.
Most songs tend to be a team effort. Listeners often forget that it’s not just about the artist and the producer…. There also studio engineers, sound mixers, musicians, technicians etc. As for Compton, I don’t care who produces an album as long as it’s the best it can be. Personally I loved that album so if more Dre production would have made it a lesser experience then I’m okay with that compromise. Plus he’s a 54 year old man that’s close to achieving billionaire status, age and success is always going to affect the need to make new music.
Darkside, Issues, Deep Water, One Shot One Kill, Loose Cannons and Talking to my Diary, to be exact. And yes Storch played the keys on many of his hits but Dre did the drums as well as mixing them, which is in fact the leg work of every song.
Hey, your completely correct! I just looked up production credits. Sorry for posting bogus info. I was misinformed,!
Malibu aint no classic lol
Dre lost his touch, just accept it.
everyone on here talking like they were in the studio when all these albums and tracks were being made….or they have all these producers on speed dial or something….none of you were there, none of you know anything much past the liner notes that come with the album. You all just enjoy hating and slandering someone more successful than you
All of .Paaks albums before getting signed were great. His aftermath album is by far his worth album out of them all. Not even close to a classic
Worst!!
We don’t care if this kid let Dre raw dog him for fame and a career. All this payola and free hype yall throwing his way won’t trick us into being fans. We don’t fvck with him. His music is doodoo
lmao ok