Album of the Year 2016 #8: Anderson .Paak - Malibu - HipHop | HipHop Channel

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Album of the Year 2016 #8: Anderson .Paak - Malibu - HipHop

Album of the Year 2016 #8: Anderson .Paak - Malibu - HipHop

Album of the Year 2016 #8: Anderson .Paak - Malibu

Posted: 09 Jan 2017 06:38 PM PST

Artist: Anderson .Paak
Album: Malibu

Listen:
iTunes
Spotify
Google Play
Tidal
Soundcloud

Album Background:
It seems that Anderson .Paak suddenly sprung out of nowhere and landed into hip-hop stardom, but if you examine his career closely, that's far from the case. Starting his career out under the moniker Breezy Lovejoy, he released two albums as well as other assorted projects that had minimal commercial success and critical acclaim among the few people that had listened to him. I want to take a moment in particular to reference his all-covers EP, Cover Art: a project dedicated to the black artists of the 1950's that had their songs taken by white artists and given little-to-no credit after the fact. On this EP, he takes several well-known songs, such as The Beatles' "Blackbird" and The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" and offers his own unique subdued soulful interpretation that delivers in spades, and in some cases, overtakes the quality of the original. After the release of his two albums, he went under the radar for a moment, surrounding himself with artists such as American Idol alum Haley Reinhart (peep him drumming in the back), Watsky (he produced Watsky's third album, All You Can Do, and was featured on multiple tracks of the album), and DJ Premier. In 2014, however, he decided to begin to break from his prior sound and releases under the name "Anderson .Paak", and drop his third album, Venice, where he blends what most people would recognize as his current, soulful sound with trap drums and blaring 808's to great success. Ranging from the pulsing, indignant "Drugs" to the smooth, vibrant "Miss Right, .Paak made it clear that he could switch up his style and stay consistently great, proving that he had what it takes to reach the higher echelons of the hip-hop hierarchy.
At least, that's what I would think that Dr. Dre thinks, considering he took .Paak under his wing after hearing "Suede", one of the many tracks from the group NxWorries, consisting of .Paak and Knxwledge. Anderson had been a significant part of the making of Dre's last album, Compton. And his presence was duly noted, as he was a highlight of this potential album of 2015, overcoming rising stars such as Kendrick Lamar and Jon Connor as well as veterans like Ice Cube, The Game, and Xzibit. He would later use this newfound spotlight to have several high profile features with artists like The Game, Chance the Rapper, and A Tribe Called Quest, while simultaneously working on his next album, and his first under Dr. Dre's label, Aftermath. With Dre's influential status and .Paak's gifted songwriting and singing, Malibu would end up being the final push for .Paak to finally bask in stardom.

Review:
With the all-star ensemble surrounding Malibu, it might make one wonder if the hype around Anderson .Paak is due to the people he surrounds himself with, but if anything, his presence makes their features that would be album highlights on other artists' records feel lesser. Thanks to stand-out vocals emphasized by stellar instrumental backings and strong lyricism, .Paak never seems to fall into the fallings of most modern rhythm and blues artists that dabble into hip-hop: he flows strongly with each beat without seeming inauthentic, his emotions don't feel shoehorned as a narrative and seem genuine, he doesn't need to venture into unnatural poppy beats, and he's diverse without inconsistency. He's passionate without seeming whiny, he's subtle without feeling silenced, and he's a gifted storyteller that doesn't dwell into long-windedness. And most importantly, he knows when to let the beat breathe.
When I said that his collaborators felt lesser when he takes back control after their parts, instrumentally or vocally, I meant it: he has such a charming, commanding presence that can't be explained, only heard. However, that isn't meant to put them down for trying, as every collaborator's moments on the album feel intentional, well-placed, and well-crafted, from The Game's roughness and Sonyae Elise's gentle, soothing vocals acting as two extreme ends of .Paak's raspy tenderness on "Room in Here", to his break from singing as he lets the Timan Family Choir and Talib Kweli provide youthful innocence and experienced tales of hardship to emphasize .Paak's struggles in life leading to his current standing on the cusp of fame on "The Dreamer". The self-awareness that .Paak shows regarding his surroundings throughout the album is breathtaking in a musical environment that emphasizes self-worth in independence and appearing tough, sometimes to the point of arrogance, selfishness, and making boring albums about you, yourself, and how you did everything by yourself. Meanwhile, .Paak makes a song about a woman's self-worth while calling himself out as a condescending, sex-driven asshat via a skit in the middle of the song in "Silicon Valley". He made a self-aware song about plastic surgery that has his lover disgruntled towards his comments about her breasts while blurting out a "Can you fuck me already?!" when she decides of being sick of his shit, and still makes one of the sexiest songs of the year out of it by acknowledging he's being ridiculous and giving one of the most strangely-passionate vocal performances of the year on the song, particularly in that final chorus.
Like I said, he's a vocally gifted artist, but sometimes, he has to let the song breathe without his physical presence on the track. Take "Celebrate" and the gentle breakdown before the final hook: he knows that he needs to let this mellow, quiet track about celebrating life make the point that life is worth living all on its own by allowing the listener to take in its background and not having .Paak at the forefront of the sound. Or better yet, take "The Bird" and its instrumentation: a slow guitar riff that leads into lyrical beauty by .Paak, and a lovely piano, drum, bass, and horn section in the middle of the song. .Paak's familiarity with song structure, backed by Madlib, Kaytranada, 9th Wonder, and .Paak himself, among others, allows him to strength each song by removing himself at the right time, unlike artists that either allow themselves too much time on each song and not let the song show its strength as a whole without the artist or allow the instrumentals to overpower them, resulting in drowned out vocals with borderline incomprehensible lyrics that don't show an artist's lyrical depth. .Paak stands out in an already talent wave of R&B artists rising to the mainstream due to how fresh and reserved he is, among other reasons. Anderson .Paak is a once in a generation artist, and I know he will only get better, as he has shown even more growth as a vocalist between this album and the other album he had a significant hand in this year, Yes Lawd!. Is Yes Lawd! a better album? I'll leave that up to you when you get a chance, but in my opinion, no. Yes Lawd! is even more focused than Malibu is in comparison to .Paak's older work, but that also leaves less time for .Paak to grow as an artist on the album. I believe that he will be known to the general public one day, because there is no way an artist of his caliber will be nothing less than a memorable contributor to music history, but for now, I'll just hope that his rise to the mainstream will happen sooner rather than later thanks to cosigns from major awards shows and acting as a front-man to artists like Bruno Mars.

Favorite Lyrics:

Why the hell would you run this game?
Both my hands are tied
Afraid of thinking I dug my own grave
Fuck around with this
Strange and elusive, too afraid to lose it
I don't mind this pain

Anderson .Paak – Put Me Thru

A bird with a word came to me
The sweetness of a honeycomb tree
And now I look, what's taking over me
Couldn't fake it if I wanted to

Anderson .Paak – The Bird

You know you wrong, shit you out of pocket
Remember you was couch surfin', you ain't have a casa
And mi casa, I would buy you shoes from out the locker
And even though I heard around the town from all the gossip
Between they legs, and slidin' limousines in garages
Heard your mama cheated on ya daddy, you just like her
Come-a-come around, remember what happened to Tiger

Rapsody – Without You

My job as an artist is making miracles
To show you how to struggle poetic and make it lyrical
Crystallize the thought to make it clear to you
And make the revolution irresistible

Talib Kweli – The Dreamer

They say the heart is underneath
Underneath the guarded insecurities
I finally found the key
Underneath the garments that's the double D's

Anderson .Paak – Silicon Valley

Discussion Questions:

  1. Anderson .Paak seems to have settled on a soulful/funky sound since his albums prior to Malibu. Would you like to see .Paak develop this particular sound further, or would you rather him experiment more with his work?

  2. It can't be understated that Dr. Dre had a major impact on .Paak's career trajectory. How do you think his sound and stardom would've resulted if he had never met with Dre?

  3. With all of the producers on the album, .Paak included, who would you like to see .Paak continue collaborating further with? Would you be interested in an Anderson .Paak album with only his production?

  4. Compare Anderson .Paak to other R&B artists: does he stand-out? How does he compare to older R&B artists still in the scene, like D'Angelo, Maxwell, and Erykah Badu?

  5. Do you prefer Malibu or Yes Lawd!? Why or why not?

Make sure you check out /u/ReconEG's Album of the Year breakdown of "BFF" Hosted by DJ Escrow by Babyfather tomorrow!

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😂😂😂😩

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Daily Discussion Thread 01/09/2017

Posted: 09 Jan 2017 02:54 PM PST

Welcome to the /r/hiphopheads daily discussion thread!

This thread is for:

  • objective questions with right/wrong answers (e.g. "Does anyone know what is happening with MIXTAPE?", "What is the sample in SONG?")
  • general hip-hop discussion
  • meta posts...e.g. ideas for the sub

Thread Guidelines

  • Do not create a separate self post for these types of discussions outside of this thread - if you do, your post will be removed.

  • Please be helpful and friendly.

  • If a question has been asked many times before, provide a link to a thread that contains the answer.

Other ways to interact

There are a number of other ways to interact with other members of HHH:

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Posted: 09 Jan 2017 08:30 AM PST

What's poppin' hhh?!

Just wanted to make a post thanking everyone here in this sub who has supported my first album drop. The reception has been amazing, and it was crazy to be on the front page for days amidst posts about some of my idols. Fucking crazy. Doors are already opening because of the little buzz that I got within this community, and I don't take it for granted at all. About to start moving on new projects soon under a different name. I think everyone will be excited for what's to come. For anyone who isn't already familiar with me or my tunes, please feel free to check out my official /r/hiphopheads AMA from a few weeks back.

In regards to TPD, there are some amazing visuals on the way. What record(s) y'all think they're for? I'm curious lol

For all those seeing this post who have heard my music before and mess with it, the biggest way that you can help at this point is by continuing to share with friends and TWEETING AT YOUR FAVORITE MUSIC WRITERS ABOUT IT!!!

PLEASE come say "what's up" to me on social media! My Twitter is @ZKonketsuji. My Instagram is the same. My Facebook page is here.

The Patient Discovery on Google Play Music:

https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Z_Konketsuji_The_Patient_Discovery?id=Bufbnank6ihrvdj6lawlnqpz36y

Other places where you can find my new album:

iTunes & Apple Music - https://itun.es/us/cniHgb

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/album/094QWnVIFx58GHgmc7HaZt

YouTube - https://youtu.be/o8zHSYfndis

SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/zkonketsuji/sets/the-patient-discovery

For direct donations via PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/zkonketsuji

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