Malibu Anderson Paak Release Date: January 15, 2016
Label: Steel Wool / Obe
“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe,
wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and
to everything.” --Plato
There is something that is really, really special
about this Malibu LP by Anderson .Paak. I
encourage you to spend the $12 and change; which is a tremendous discount in
this era of downloaded noise.
I believe when it’s all said and done this release
will be on the same musical flag pole as D Angelo’s “Brown Sugar”, Kendrick
Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” or Marvin Gaye’s “Trouble Man”.
“Malibu” is a 16-tracked, groove gumbo plate of funk,
blues, Hip Hop, folk, Jazz, and R&B.
This musical journey will raise the brow of everyone from: Sly Stone,
Van Hunt, Bilal, Lupe Fiasco & J.Dilla and when the journey is complete you will only need a wash cloth and cigarette.
This gem has solved my nightly commuting quandary between The Karen Hunter Show
(Urban Radio, Sirius XM) and Bomani Jones (ESPN)—two great shows that I haven’t
listened to in 2 weeks.
The production credits of: Hi-Tek, 9th Wonder, DJ Khalil, Madlib, Chris Dave (just to name a few
I can’t begin to pick a favorite track. However, I am positive that my next speeding
ticket can be directly traced to “Without You” f. Rapsody—which has an
out-of-this-world sample by Hiatus Kaiyote.
That song should come with a neck brace and an alibi.
The vibe on “Room In Here”, is on some straight, Brut
by Fabergé; subwoofer in the trunk, early 90’s R&B tip. Then with little
warning, The Game grips the mic with his best Nas impression to transform the
already brilliant track into this K.Dot-like era. Game’s sophomoric description
of some California Dyme who dropped by the studio wasn’t anything new and the
song could’ve held its own without him.
His bars was less than necessary but it certainly wasn’t wasted and it
definitely added to unpredictability of the journey through Malibu—thus making
a near miss incredibly dope.
After 50+ minutes the CD is highlighted with “The
Dreamer” (featuring Talib Kweli) which feels like an ode to the Black Panther
Party Movement. I am here to tell you; you
could not tie a neater ribbon on this party gift even if Michelle Obama, Oprah
Winfrey and Mother Theresa collaborated on the invitations.
Soul music is about longevity and reaching and touching people on a human level - and that's never going to get lost. --Jill Scott
Soul music is about longevity and reaching and touching people on a human level - and that's never going to get lost. --Jill Scott
