The concept of artists interviewing artists isn’t crazy new, but Interview Magazine is putting that concept in print. At the beginning of the year, Beyoncé interviewed her sister Solange about A Seat At The Table and other various topics like family.
Continuing the artist-on-artist series, Flying Lotus got in touch with Anderson .Paak to talk about creativity, NxWorries, being the understudy to Shafiq Husayn of Sa-Ra Creative Partners, dreaming and more.
Check out snippets from the interview below, and read the whole thing on Interview’s website.
On .Paak havng his own studio space now:
“It’s kind of weird to have my own space and to have the scene a little less chaotic and to feel like I’m not under pressure to get things done really quick. It is almost a little unsettling, so I’ve had to figure out what is that ideal situation, because I got comfortable working with my back against the wall. I’ve been really enjoying figuring out what kind of creative space I can get the most out of.”
On forming the Free Nationals while working under Husayn:
“I was part of putting [Husayn’s] band together when he was doing Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka [2009]. After the album came out and I was putting the band together, we’d have rehearsals and learn a lot about the Free National movement [an offshoot of the Moorish Science Temple of America, in which adherents, Moorish Nationals, believe they are sovereign citizens]. When we transitioned into doing more of my stuff, I knew that I wanted to name my band Free Nationals because I wanted to carry that concept over to “We are a band that is indigenous to funk, R&B, and soul music. We’re native to that.”
Working with Knxwledge:
“It’s like, you read about a lot of producers that are introverts, and Knxwledge is one of them. He’s a little more comfy, but he’s very much into his own thing and his own world, and I love that about him. He doesn’t put on a face for nobody. He is who he is, and it’s very refreshing for me to work with somebody like that. That was my first project doing a whole project with one producer, so it was great for me. I think it was one of my more cohesive pieces of work.”
