With Oxnard on the horizon, Anderson .Paak stopped by Beats 1 to premiere his latest single. He also happened to open up about his upcoming album, and the many paths he might have crossed. "Plenty of amazing features on the record," teases Anderson. "Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T, J Cole. I’m gonna stop right there." Big news, and further proof that Cole and Push are looking to conclude their stellar 2018 campaigns on a high note.Paak also took a moment to praise Kendrick Lamar, who contributed to lead single "Tint," a classically-tinted West-Coast throwback.
"I’ve still not been able to work with him in the studio 1 on 1,"admits Paak. "Everything we’ve done has been over the web." While they may have never linked up in person, you'd hardly be able to tell, given their instant chemistry. "I love working with him. Some people you can trust to just send it and they gonna send it back and it’s gonnabe flames," says Andy. "I just knew that would be the case with him."
He also took a moment to show some humility, celebrating the lessons he learned under Dr. Dre's tutelage. "I’ve never been coached through a whole process before. I’ve always been the main dude that has been leading and ending it with this recording process," says Anderson. "It’s not like I did the album and he was like 'alright cool - this dude was invested. I’m talking about nights, weeks, he was mixing, mastering, producing, writing, making the music he wanted to do and putting everything into it."
Of course, Anderson.Paak was deeply affected by the loss of MacMiller, and paid homage to his fallen friend. "I remember coming off the stage one day, I forget where it was we were playing, I was kinda down cuz the crowd was like whatever," reflects Paak. "He came up to me and said “it’s all good man no one’s gonna be like ‘he’s trash.' you’re playing drums and singing at the same time. It’s all good.'" He ends on a sad note, echoing the sentiments of those in the hip-hop community. "He was a very special person and I think about him every day. I miss him so much."
Today, .Paak dropped off his Kendrick Lamar collaboration "Tint," so be sure to catch the fruits of their labours here. In the meantime, stay tuned for more updates on the upcoming Oxnard album, which may very well emerge as one of the year's more refined releases. Shoutout to .Paak and the good Doctor for preserving the craft of artful musicianship.
