Let me first start off by saying, to call Anderson .Paak my favorite musical artist would be a blatant understatement. In fact, his music has affected my life so intensely, that I can accurately divide it into two eras: pre-AP and post-AP. Not only that, but knowledge—and fandom—of A .Paak (or bae .Paak as I prefer) has essentially become a litmus test through which I judge new friends and acquaintances. It is almost as though if you listen to his music, you are privy to a world that many are not aware of, and have become part of some secret club of next-level music.
Ok, let’s back it up. I began listening to his music almost exactly two years ago (1/22/16, I’ll never forget lmao), and since then, have discovered an entire universe of music that I had never heard before. I know it sounds like I am exaggerating, which I tend to do, but let me explain. Up to that point, I was using Spotify mainly to listen to a handful of artists I knew and liked, and had more or less hit a rut with my musical repertoire. For me this is a big deal—music is my life!—but I was at a loss of where to find something that would excite me.
A few weeks prior to the beginning of my post-AP life, a friend of a friend happened to mention his new album in the car on the way home from a dance class. I don’t know why the name stuck with me, but a couple weeks later, as I was getting ready to go to a show with my then bestfriend to see a mutual favorite band, I thought about him and spontaneously decided to put on his Spotify radio station. Not only did we instantly fall in love with his music, but EVERY single other track on the radio station was an absolute banger.
Fast forward to after the show: we are in a post-dance-bliss haze, and long story short ended up hanging out with two of the guys from the band. We spent the ENTIRE night talking about music, and what do you know: they are A .Paak fans too! Like, DIE HARD fans. And they were also into all the other music we had just discovered that night or in the weeks prior. Talk about a weird serindipitous coincidence!
Needless to say, I start obsessively listening to his music and discovered some of my favorite artists through that radio station (The Internet, Hiatus Kaiyote and Phony Ppl, to name a few). Weeks turned into months, and the obsession did not wane. In fact, to this day, I can still call him my favorite artist through and through. Those that know me well can attest to this (and to a few other things that I will not talk about online!). In the past two years, Spotify has really gotten to know my music taste through my listening patterns, and now produces weekly playlists personalized just for me. I don’t know how their algorithm works, but I do know that almost all the music I listen to now can be traced back to Anderson .Paak in some way.
Anyway, I know this sounds like more of a love story than a music review, but I can’t really explain why his music is so resonant to me. I highly suggest you check it out yourself! If you are not sure where to start, listen to his two main albums first (Venice and Malibu), check out his collab album with NxWorries (Yes Lawd!), and then please do yourself a favor and just listen to every goddamn track he has ever appeared on. Roll something up, kick back, and vibe to it. Trust me on this one! Your life will never be the same.
