Anderson .Paak is a California-based R&B singer who attracted a lot of attention (including my own) in 2015 for his impressive performances all over Dr. Dre's "Compton." With features from Schoolboy Q, BJ the Chicago Kid, The Game, as well as production credits from Kaytranada, Dem Jointz, Madlib and 9th Wonder, he was definitely setting the bar high. And I must say, I think he met a lot of the expectations that were set for him!
The first thing that really caught me on this album was .Paak's vocals. He has a very raspy, aged voice despite how young he is. When I first heard him on Dre's "Compton," I assumed he was an old singer from the 80's that Dre had worked with and had asked to feature on his album. .Paak sings with a passion that draws you in and intrigues you. He has a certain swagger when it comes to his approach and his lyrics. In the song "Room in Here," he sounds smooth as all get out when he's hitting on a girl: "I don't mean any harm, I'm just speaking my mind/ Take a look at that moon, 'bout as bright as your eyes." Not only does .Paak charm us with his breezy pick-up lines, but he also has some very personal moments on this album where he discusses his struggles as an artist, the death of his mother and even working on a marijuana farm to keep his wife from being deported on the track, "The Seasons/Carry Me." The track, "Heart Don't Stand a Chance," has a chorus that crashes along with the instrumental that sounds incredible. On top of everything in this paragraph, .Paak also shows off some rapping skills at points throughout this album as well as some self-produced tracks that sound fantastic, showing that he's well-versed on all fronts.
Speaking of production, this album is full of 70's R&B/Soul influences as well as some very jazzy sounds. The instrumentation on tracks like "The Bird," "Put Me Thru," "Room in Here," and "Without You" back the vocals extremely well and reflect the different emotions .Paak is portraying. And the second-to-last track, "Celebrate," is very warm and inviting with a beautiful little groove to it.
As much as I love a lot of the tracks on this album, however, there are some low-points on it. The track "Parking Lot" has a very sub-par and repetitive hook paired with an instrumental that makes the whole thing sound like a wannabe, run-of-the-mill indie-pop anthem ("1,2,3, c'mon, you feel me"). After that, tracks like "Lite Weight" and "Come Down" have boring instrumentals and more basic, thinned-out lyrics that don't have as much emotion to them as some other tracks. They aren't particularly bad songs, they just don't get as much as a response out of me. The only song on the album that I genuinely don't like is "Silicon Valley," where .Paak describes trying to get to the heart of a woman who has had plastic surgery on her breasts. The lyrics here are just awkward and take away from the smooth charm .Paak showed us earlier on the album. And while the closing track, "The Dreamer," is a fairly large production (also being the longest on the album), it wasn't quite the enthralling ending I was hoping for.
I know what you're thinking: "Wow, that paragraph of dislikes was pretty detailed." Don't let that take away from all of the amazing songs all over this thing. The first 7 tracks are so crazy good, and most of the songs in that dislike paragraph aren't even bad, they just don't quite stand up to the other ones that I absolutely love. I highly recommend that you give this album a listen and decide how you feel about it.
Fav. Tracks: The Bird, Heart Don't Stand a Chance, The Waters, The Season/Carry Me, Put Me Thru, Am I Wrong, Without You, Room in Here, Celebrate
Least Fav. Track: Silicon Valley
