Anderson .Paak was nominated for a couple GRAMMYs this year, including Best New Artist and Best Urban Contemporary Album (for Malibu). Billboard will drop a GRAMMY Preview Issue highlighting many of the younger and newer artists nominated, and .Paak headlines the bunch getting a placement on the cover.
Breezy talked to Billboard briefly, too, about his massive 2016 — which also saw the release of Nxworries’ Yes Lawd! — the recent wave of R&B music like Frank Ocean and Solange, his active lifestyle in the studio and more.
Check out snippets below, and read the whole article on Billboard.
On making music to make people feel good:
“It’s crazy, man. One of my best years was one of the worst years for the country. And, to be clear, it’s not like the last eight years was daisies for everyone. People were getting killed by cops; all kinds of things happened. I am optimistic, but I am affected by my surroundings, and the music is going to show that. I make songs to dance to, to make people feel good, but I need to reflect the times and keep my ear to the street. We need to help everyone get over the hump. It’s an obligation.”
On his R&B contemporaries:
“Frank is like punk rock. He’s a brave artist. In R&B, we came up under people like Destiny’s Child, R. Kelly, Usher, Jodeci, Teddy Riley. When you have someone coming up under that gospel-blues base who also has influences like Radiohead and Beck, that’s when you start to get this real creative burst in R&B.”
