Paak Man

Let's meet the man who's making R&B fun again

Brandon Anderson has an unusual story to tell. He's the son of a black man and a Korean woman. He grew up in Oxnard, California, which as far as I can tell, is the Yonkers of Los Angeles if more than a third of Yonkers residents were Pacific Islanders. Brandon Anderson worked on a Santa Barbara pot farm five years ago, long before major discussions began about legalizing or decriminalizing the drug. Brandon Anderson was fired from said pot farm and wound up homeless, failing to support a wife and infant son. This is not your typical path to burgeoning music stardom; if that's the path he had traveled, his music would make too much sense.

Yes, through all that struggle and confusion, Brandon Anderson was also finding a creative voice. Now known as Anderson .Paak, that voice is flourishing. He can only be loosely described as R&B, for you can hear a true confluence of hip-hop, jazz, and--perhaps most deceptively--bubblegum pop. If you're splitting the difference between them all, I guess you get to something like R&B. But that's not a fair representation of the different flavors a listener gets to try along the way.

But don't take my word for it, let .Paak's music speak for itself. You can check out an entire album devoted to what can only be described as "white people covers." Or you can hear him serenade like a true 21st Century crooner. Or you can listen to absolutely go in on an under-the-radar rap track with his current producer DOCTOR FUCKING DRE. But no matter what he's doing, it's fairly easy to catch on. Dre puts it best here.

The artists I like to work with are people that you know their voice from the first syllable. As soon as he opens his mouth, you’re going to know it’s him. And, he’s coming with his voice, his delivery, his energy. He seems like an old soul.

The student, the master, and some dude with mad wingpsan

There's certainly a uniqueness to the timbre of .Paak's voice as well. You're listening to a peculiar hybrid between Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean, both in the way he attacks each note and the pace with which he delivers them. His verses are a strange blend between singing and rapping; it's a lot like something Kid Cudi or Big Sean will try to do, but much more technically sound. His voice can stand out among a crowd without much effort, and that's allowed the production team on his latest album Malibu to make some intriguing creative decisions.

Take "Heart Don't Stand a Chance," for instance. It pulls in two different directions lyrically between the verse and the refrain. The music behind .Paak matches that action perfectly, and turns just as sharply when the champagne starts pouring down. And pay attention to the versatility with which backup vocals are utilized. Sometimes they can carry a chorus like they do in "The Season/Carry Me." Sometimes they blend into the complex mix like they do in "Lite Weight." There are ever-changing styles all across the record, and the backup vocals do a terrific job of playing their roles in each scenario.

But above all else, Anderson .Paak is bringing a rendition of R&B that a listener can actually enjoy. The genre that supposedly stands for rhythm and blues has had neither rhythm nor blues since about the 1980s. It became a much slower, melancholy style of music at some point, and the genre lost its identity in the process. Alicia Keys, John Legend, and Amy Winehouse are tremendously talented musicians who deserve tons of recognition for what they do, but that doesn't make them particularly enjoyable to listen to. That's the type of music you listen to alone with a glass of whiskey. Anderson .Paak, on the other hand, can be played at certain parties, and is an absolute go-to when you're hanging out with a few friends.

That's a component that has been missing from R&B for decades. It recalls the jubilant spontaneity of old Ray Charles, only with the added benefit of dank hip-hop style beats. His music is a weird blend of styles, and the listener doesn't know what he's getting from song to song. But it's all very summery, so as the temperatures rise, I fully expect .Paak's stock to rise along with them.