Boy Crush: Anderson .Paak
Soul, R&B, hip-hop, electronic — .Paak’s music is in the mix!
His mom is Korean, his dad African-American: everything about 30-year-old Anderson .Paak is a blend, including his music, which is a unique, show-stealing hip-hop mix. This Oxnard, California native—born Brandon Park Anderson; the dot before “Paak” in his performing name stands for “detail,” he says, “always be paying attention to detail”—played the drums in church as a kid, and has had a hard-scrabble upbringing, his parents doing time in jail, and he and his wife and kid homeless before his success as a singer and producer. Recently he stole the limelight by performing on six songs from Dr. Dre’s 2015 album, Compton, and two on The Game’s The Documentary 2. His second album, Malibu, including the song “Am I Wrong” (listen above), drew critical raves: “The tonal palette is warm and lush,” said Spin. But .Paak isn’t letting it go to his head. “I just try to express the art and work to get better,” he said recently. “To learn more, and get sharper and inspire and put things out that people are going to feel good about—feel good and sexy, and the things I feel when I’m making it.”
