I am easing into the weekend with the help of Anderson .Paak’s new LP,
Ventura. Ventura sees Anderson back in touch with his R’nB roots. Recorded in tandem with last year’s hip-hop forward release Oxnard, the two albums form a dynamic, hard-partying yin-yang. Like Outkast’s Speakerboxx/The Love Below, where together the two halves demonstrate the versatility of the group’s MCs, only in the case of
Oxnard/Ventura it’s all just .Paak. The material on
Ventura is reliable and consistent, exploring themes of devotion, be it to causes or each other. If you’re looking to really lean into mellowing out, then check into the silky and soulful “Come Home” featuring Andre 3000 and follow it up with the deep grooving intimacy, dancing synth keys, kicking bass, and sweet-tongued jazz-vocals of “Winners Circle.” If you are looking for something closer to Oxnard’s idiom, check out the G-funking shuffle of “Jet Black” featuring Brandy, and the P-funk truth billowing soul-train slide of “King James.” Need some more think grit in your groove? Up your prescription for smokey soul with a dose of the hip-swiveling, string bending two-step of “Make It Better” featuring Smokey Robinson. We're going to march through rest of this week together and .Paak is going to show us the way.
Snag a copy of this bad boy
here
