The warm, futuristic hip-hop/R&B of Anderson.paak and Kaytranda (with guest spot from Domo Genesis)

by josh keller · July 5, 2016

Chance the Rapper gets a lot of shine as the best example of rich, soulful, bright-and-sunny rap/R&B, but Anderson .Paak gives him a real run for his money. On his debut solo album, Malibu, he creates warm tapestries of funky jams, venturing into various genres for what is easily one of my favorite records of the summer/year. You can sample a few songs from the outstanding LP below, but you should grab the whole thing on vinyl and play it loud with the windows open. Proving he isn’t just in it for himself, Brandon Park Anderson, the man behind Anderson .Paak, also has jumped on some of the best songs to come out this year, including two below.

The first is from the outstanding 99.9% LP from Kaytranda, which plays like the best mixtape of the year, but is the artists debut LP on XL Records. Venturing into virtually every corner of electronic and R&B music, it will be joining .Paak’s debut on my (and many others) best of lists. You can listen to hazy “Glowed Up” below, and make sure to check out all of 99.9%.

The last taste of .Paak’s work is the vintage soul of “Dapper,” which is off buzzing Odd Future rapper Domo Genesis’s debut LP. The video, of a party at a skate rink, is a great visual treatment to a song that oozes nostalgia. Check it out at the bottom of the video pile below, and keep an eye out here for future works from these three rising artists.

Anderson .Paak – The Bird