Five months after releasing his “Oxnard” album, Anderson .Paak came back with a wide-ranging R&B album titled, “Ventura,” proving he is a true artist with a passion for storytelling through his music.
The 11 track album features six collaborations with well-known artist such as Andre 3000, Smokey Robinson, Jazmine Sullivan and many more. In a recent interview with Beats 1, Paak sat down with Zane Lowe and discussed the theme of the album, which is relationships.
“A lot of the album is based on those feelings when you’re in a relationship or first meet [someone] or when you’re kind of tired of them, or when you guys get your first dance or when you’re ready for them to get the hell out of your apartment or miss them,” said Paak jokingly.
Well, Paak did just that and took listeners through an R&B and soulful story.
Come Home
This is the first song to start off the album and it was placed perfectly. Listeners are introduced to a beautiful variety of instrumentals and background vocals sang by a woman. Throughout the song, Paak is singing to his lover who has left and now begs for them to come back and salvage what they had. The flow of the song fits perfectly with the story behind it, especially the last verse rapped by Andre 3000 truly described the feelings of pleading for a loved one back.
Make It Better
Accompanied by the soulful Smokey Robinson as background vocals, this is a story of the beginning stages of a relationship to the end. “Do you want to make it better, do you want to stay together?” is the main focus around Paak wanting to reignite the spark that was lost.
Reachin’ 2 Much
Featuring Lalah Hathaway, this song is a two-part track that opens up with a funky groove like style, then switches to an R&B track a minute and a half in. Paak soulfully sings what happens in most relationships, which is one partner that always does “way too much,” causing the other to lose interest. Tying this song all together are the jazz vocals sang to close out the song.
Winners Circle
Opening up this track is a scene from the 1993 movie, “A Bronx Tale.” In this scene, one of the main characters talks about meeting three women in a man’s lifetime. Inspired by the movie Paak decided to tell his own tale of meeting one out of the three women. “They just don’t make ’em like this no more, whoa, But I think I’ve found it,” is sung by Paak to explain his fascination with a fictional woman. This is the fourth song of the album and the first song where Paak finally shows off his versatility as an artist by rapping the last verse.
Good Heels
In this short and playful song, Paak teams up with Jazmine Sullivan to create a story about the two having an affair. It’s all fun and games until they are almost caught by Paak’s main girlfriend. Both artist share verses throughout the song giving listeners the story from both perspectives.
Those were just five out of the 11 songs by Paak, the first five songs are great openers that make fans wanting more. Leave it to Paak himself to give you an R&B album about love and life, he has proven that he is a true artist and visionary.
“Ventura,” is both fun and well-made, giving fans more than enough for his next album.
