Despite having a pretty rough start in life, including an imprisoned, abusive and now deceased father and a breadwinning mother who also spent time behind bars, Brandon Anderson Paak has a refreshingly optimistic philosophy. His second full-length, Malibu drips in opulence, soul and sweet melodic funk.
It’s purposeful, sincere, and open in its intimacy, seeming to deal with the hard-hitting facts of his own personal history with a humbleness not dissimilar to Kendrick Lamar. Paak - a California-based family man – scored his first commercial break last year on the credits for Dr Dre’s Compton where he appeared on six tracks.
At the age of 30, the rapper/singer/conversation starter is finally scoring his moment in the sun. His flow is relaxed, unthreatening and ever more hard-hitting as a result on jams like The Season/Carry Me which contains the line “I was sleepin on the floor, newborn baby boy/Tryna get my money pot so wifey wouldn’t get deported” – literally about selling weed to support a new child and a Korean immigrant wife.
The album has as much in common with ‘90s acts A Tribe Called Quest and OutKast (Am I Wrong) or classic Stevie Wonder (Put Me Thru), creating a versatile bridge between hip-hop, soul, R&B, and even the club on Am I Wrong. Malibu is proof positive that you don’t need to be rich to be enriched.
Eve Barlow (@Eve_Barlow)
Freelance journalist
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