MUSIC
US rapper Anderson .Paak thinks Zulus run in the jungle, but, on the eve of his first SA tour, perhaps we can forgive him, writes Sandiso Ngubane
A chat with Anderson .Paak
‘Iwas in the jungle running with the Zulus,” Anderson .Paak raps in Waters, a track from his hugely successful third album
Malibu.
“I’m Zulu, I don’t run in jungles,” I tell him at the start of our telephone conversation ahead of his two shows in Cape Town and at Afropunk Johannesburg at the end of the month. He laughs: “Hey man,
I’ve been corrected several times about that.”
I’m not really offended and I doubt anyone else could seriously claim to be, but it was a good way to break the ice.
Peaking at No 49 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Malibu garnered two
Grammy nominations — one in the best new artist category and the other for best urban contemporary album.
He released O.B.E. Vol 1 in 2012 under the pseudonym Breezy Lovejoy, as well as
Venice in 2014. As one half of the NxWorries duo – with record producer Knxwledge – Paak released the album Yes Lawd! last year, ahead of Malibu, and featured on six tracks in Dr Dre’s album Compton.
“I came in well into it, and I think everyone on Compton is hugely talented, and they’d already worked their asses off,” he says in response to my suggestion that he may have stolen the limelight on the album. “I was just happy that someone like Dre took a chance on me, and I was definitely going to come correct! I had no idea what tracks would make the album. I was just happy to be featured at all.”
Paak got to work with Dr Dre shortly after moving to Los Angeles, having spent most of his 20s on the fringes of the music industry, not quite getting to where he wanted to be, while struggling to support his young wife and son. It’s his second marriage, the first having ended partly due to his not-so-smooth artistic journey.
On the NxWorries track Get
Bigger Paak sings: This ain’t right/ Couple dollars and change/ Walking home in the rain . . .
The song speaks of the hardships faced by many artists as they embark on their journeys; there were many times Paak wanted to quit.
“My mom went to prison, and I had to work nine-to-five. I stopped making music for a while. I walked away and tried to do anything, working for other people, just to pay the bills, but nothing ever lasted too long,” he says. “I believe breathing is about finding a purpose, and things start to fall into place when you’ve found that. When you’re growing up there are a lot of distractions, and there have been many for me, but I’ve always gone back to the music, because it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.” Paak’s rise has coincided with that of a new breed of boundary-pushing R&B artists like The Weeknd, Solange (also performing at Afropunk Johannesburg), Frank Ocean, Miguel and Kelela. Their sound is influenced by genres beyond R&B — indie rock, electro, dance music — but the subject matter, too, is often as boundarypushing as the sound. In Donald Trump’s America, many have sought to address issues like racism and blackness in their music without compromising their artistry.
And while Paak’s music doesn’t directly address the plight of minorities in the US, as a mixed-race American he is well aware of the issues. Our conversation turns to his sixyear-old son and young family.
“There’s a lot of whiteness that is pushed through media. My wife is Korean, and for me it’s important that my son knows that he is both Korean and black,” he says.
“I want to make sure he knows that, because identity is very important. My own parents had to break it down for me, and I am definitely going through that with my own son.”
Through his Brandon Anderson Foundation, the artist is creating what he calls a “safe haven” for underprivileged youth, spearheading programmes to “uplift, engage and support the underprivileged through music, education and spiritual wellness.”
Paak — who was born Brandon Paak Anderson, stylised as Anderson .Paak for the stage — says he looks forward to seeing what daily life is like in South Africa, where he never expected to develop a fan base big enough to warrant two shows in different cities. “I knew from engaging with fans on social media that there are fans out here, but I certainly didn’t expect two whole shows.”
His sound may be hard to pin down, but his distinctive voice packs lots of emotion; listening to him sing feels like a rollercoaster ride of struggle and triumph.
‘There are a lot of distractions but I’ve always gone back to the music, it’s all I’ve wanted to do’