THIS YEAR HAS SEEN the loss of two of our greatest and most visionary performers—David Bowie and Prince represented a disappearing art, in which songwriting was innovative, musicianship was paramount, and singing was transcendent. But this year also saw the unanticipated success of Anderson .Paak, a relative newcomer and arguably the most worthy heir to Bowie and Prince’s legacy.
Many soul singers come out of the black Baptist church, but few have taken such an unorthodox path to stardom as Brandon Paak Anderson. Born in Oxnard, California to a Korean mother and an African American father, .Paak honed his skills as a drummer in his neighborhood church band, then went on to take work anywhere he could find it—as a session and touring drummer, producer, and marijuana trimmer in Santa Monica. Both of his parents served stints in prison for different crimes, and for a short time in 2011 he was homeless with his wife and their newborn boy. With the help of friends in the LA music scene, he released two little-noticed albums of jazz-inflected funk and hip-hop under the ill-advised moniker Breezy Lovejoy. Rechristening himself Anderson .Paak (“the dot stands for detail”), he released Venice in 2014—an impressive but overeager album.