A New Sound in Soul: Meet Anderson .Paak

No stranger to the music industry, Anderson .Paak has continuously worked on mixing a variety of sounds for more than a decade. After an appearance on Dr. Dre’s Compton album, .Paak has finally risen to the musical forefront, and now it is time for us to ride the wave.

Born Brandon Paak Anderson in Oxnard, California, Anderson .Paak is a re-emerging talent in the rapidly changing music scene. Before his current stage name, he released his debut album O.B.E. Vol.1 under the name of Breezy Lovejoy in 2012. After his debut release, he put out Venice under the current name of Anderson .Paak. An interesting part of .Paak’s persona is the “.Paak” he uses in his name. During an interview with NPR, he said that the dot stands for “detail." .Paak said, “I feel that people take you as serious as you take yourself…I promised that I would pay attention to detail.”

Blending the sounds of R&B, soul, funk and hip-hop, .Paak is an eclectic singer/rapper blending the two effortlessly. He credits his musical influence to drumming in the black Baptist church he was raised in, an evident influence on in his style. The gospel undertones and overall soulful sound are prevalent in his songs, and in .Paak’s voice. It is gritty, sweet, raw and passionate. When he sings, you can feel the emotion oozing through the lyrics.

On his most recent album Malibu,. Paak takes us through a wave of emotion: pain, love, joy, introspection and all the things that come with being human. Sonically, the album is complete from its harmonies and melodies, and it even rides like a wave. It starts slow, gathering energy, pulling up through the middle section, and then crashing down on the shore with a smooth push. It is a fantastic project all around featuring guests such as, BJ the Chicago Kid, The Game, Talib Kweli and Schoolboy Q.

If you haven’t listened to the album yet, no worries its available on Soundcloud-https://soundcloud.com/andersonpaak/sets/malibu (thank you Based God), but you should always support your fave artists, so go ahead and spend that money and buy it on iTunes. My personal favorite tracks off the album are “Come Down” (https://soundcloud.com/andersonpaak/come-down) and “Parking Lot.” So grab a few friends, some weed, good vibes, and enjoy the sounds of Anderson.Paak.