Anderson .Paak Delivers the Show Of The Year (so far...)

Anderson .Paak looks up in awe off the Red Rocks crowd. (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

We have reached the almost mid-way part of the year, and usually about this time we get to witness a show that is deemed as an early front-runner for show of the year. Friday night Anderson . Paak may have easily won that honor. The Best Teef In The Game Tour as it is aptly titled stormed into Red Rocks on Friday night. Getting the evening started was Colorado favorite Thundercat who ripped through baselines like a bat out of hell. Next up was Earl Sweatshirt who’s lyrical prowess was appreciated by all.

The stage was set for .Paak as a silhouette emerged behind a LED box with only him and a drum set barely visible as the flames that adorned the stage lit up as he slowly rose up and appeared above above the stage. Flanked by his amazing band The Free Nationals the California native ripped through his extensive catalog of hits from all four of his albums (aptly named for California cities). Crowd favorites included “Come Down”, “Glowed Up” (Kaytranada Cover), “Bubblin”, “Come Home”. Yielding his biggest production to date, .Paak showed all 9,000 plus in attendance why he sone of the most versatile performers in the business. He showcased his drumming skills on a few of the songs and left a lasting impression with a tasteful tribute to the late Mac Miller to end his set. All in all the buzz after the show was felt with a positive vibe knowing that we had just witnessed a show for the ages.

SETLIST: Heart Don’t stand A Chance | Saviers Road | Come Down | Tints | King James | 6 Summers | Glowed Up (Kaytranada Cover ) | Smile | Reachin’ 2 Much | Time | Make It Better | Put Me Thru | Anywhere | Might Be | Trippy | The Waters | Jet Black | Suede | Bubblin’ | Milk n’ Honey | Come Home | ENCORE: Am I Wrong | Lite Weight | Dang (Mac Miller Cover)

Images and Words: Robert Castro

NXWORRIES – ANDERSON.PAAK & KNXWLEDGE – SCARED MONEY

Following the release of their debut album Yes Lawd! in October, NxWorries is back today to share a new video from the project. "Scared Money" - directed by Calmatic - is a homage to the film Paid in Full, set in the year 1988, and visually reenacting parts of the film. Paid in Full is a favorite film of both Anderson Paak & Knx. The main part of the video is followed by an epilogue containing a new remix of "Best One," produced by Knxwledge. This is from a forthcoming, full-length Yes Lawd! remix album.

YES LAWD! As tempting as it may be to just let that exclamation suffice as your sole introduction to NxWorries, we should go a little deeper. The men at the heart of this LP - make an exceedingly clean pair, even as they deal almost entirely in the gritty: vocals that sound lived in for a couple of lifetimes; beats that kick up dust as they bump; and a 19-track set that plays like a mixtape merging skits, songs, and snippets into a package of fluid groove and rough-cut rap 'n' soul gems. You may have heard these two out in the world, on their own or sprinkling some of their musical gold dust on someone else's songs, but this is what happens when they get home, lay back, light up, and let it go.

If there's a Blaxploitation vibe to Yes Lawd!, that's just the depth of NxWorries' funk and strut showing. If there's gospel in the grits, that's the history of the cooks. Each grew up with religion. It was Knxwledge's job to tidy up the family church in Jersey as a kid, and when he was done, he got to play on the instruments. Better still, when those instruments went bad, he kept them. Similarly, he'd soon find sounds in his growing vinyl cache, and when he moved to Los Angeles in 2008 as a beat maker, his compositions ensured he'd be home at Stones Throw. His hypnotically dank 2015 LP Hud Dreems was the tip of an iceberg - 75 Bandcamp collections, and counting.  But .Paak pushed forward, building a career via imaginative albums (2015 Venice, and 2016's Malibu), and collaborations that always seem to make him the star, even when he's just there to sing the hook.

So when they got together, of course it was going to flow. As Knx points out, one of the reasons it's taken so long to deliver Yes Lawd! is the fact that every time they get together, they make more music. Their come-up was strangely synchronicitous too. Knx landed on Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly ("Momma") after the Aftermath MC heard one his beats on Knx's Bandcamp-culling Anthology release. And it was NxWorries' first single, the unforgettable "Suede," that got Dr. Dre's attention, earning .Paak's no fewer than eight appearances on the Compton album and, ultimately, a deal with Aftermath. The point is: neither is a stranger to the head-down hustle, even if each was born for the spotlight. Which feeds back into the theme of NxWorries' debut.

On Yes Lawd!, .Paak - who calls the album "my best work" - plays a theatrically brash version of himself who sings like a '70s superstar and talks shit like a stone cold player. But the performance is seeded with details from his life, which has seen a fair share of struggle and hard-won triumph. Meanwhile, Knx weaves a tapestry of sampled bits and live fragments-bass, brass and violin-that smooths everything over, reminding us that despite whatever struggle it took to get here... well, you already know the name: NxWorries.

 

Music | Compton A Soundtrack By Dr. Dre | Our First Impression | Review

The much anticipated album from Dr. Dre hit Apple Music on Thursday afternoon. Many have been holding out hope for a Detox album that has been almost fifteen years in the making, in an interview last week Dre said he had scrapped the album and has been focusing on Compton The Soundtrack. In all honesty anything from Dre right now is Christmas come early! We have now had a chance to listen to the album which drops Friday and well we came away with some keen observations.

When we initially got the track listing we saw some old friends and some new collaborators on the album, truth be told we are glad he decided to mix it up. We have the usual suspects Eminem, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and Xzibit. Yeah when is the last time we heard from X to the Z right? We also have standout like Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, Justus, Jon Connor and more.

The opening Intro is an introduction giving us a glance at an interpretation of modern day Compton that leads into the first song "Talk About It", feat. King Mez and Justus. The track hits hard with an infectious drum beat that intertwines with straight lyrical jabs by the two featured artist reflecting on the chorus of "It was all a dream....".  The second track "Genocide" hits us with a straight shot of Westcoast flavor that goes down smooth reminiscent of that old school Dre sound. The track features Kendrick Lamar with help from Marsha Ambrosias and Candice Pillay. Kendrick Lamar slays this track, did we expect anything less? The build up and sudden bass drops on this track make it one of the standout gems of the album. "It's All On Me", gives us a rather soulful track with Justus and B.J. the Chicago laying the foundation for Dre's verse that gives a retroactive look his life. The album maintains it's momentum throughout the opening tracks setting us up with "All In A Day's Work" introduces to one of our favorite up and coming acts Anderson .Paak (he recently played Denver for a Red Bull Sound Select show). The track highlights his unmatched style that is making him a rising star. We see the return of Pimp Yo Ride fame Mr. Xzibit, who slays his verse as if it were the year 2000 on the track "Loose Cannons".

On "Issues", NWA mate Ice Cube comes through with a hard nosed battle edged bombardment of lyrical assassination that compliments Dre as if they were playing Russian roulette with this song. The beat is infectious and a whirlwind almost playing out like an anthem to a horror picture (think the Halloween theme song). The hottest emcee in the game Kendrick Lamar get another chance to shine on "Deep Water", this time with help of Justus. Of course the track is fire and needs no explanation touching on the recent police brutality issues placed by recent events with the screams of I can't breathe being painfully drowned out by the sound of somebody drowning. A Dre album is not complete without the help of Snoop Dogg who shines on "One Shot One Kill", the chorus is as close as we get to having a club banger on this album. if you came to expect this album to feature a slew of club bangers look elsewhere, they are replaced with skillfully produced numbers that make the album work with the help of some of the best up and coming artist around.

One of our favorite tracks samples Bone Thugz and Harmony's "For The Love of Money", aptly titled the same song except we have the lovely Jill Scott singing the hook, with Dre and Jon Connor going back and forth about the evil known as money. One of the catchiest opening numbers comes to us in the form of "Satisfiction" featuring Snoop, Marsha Ambrosius and King Mez. Ambrosius hook is contagious and Snoop enters the fray at the right moment (as he always does). Our favorite track on the album features Anderson .Paak on "Animals", with Dre featuring prominently on this  track that you can throw on a Sunday afternoon bbq, sipping on a cold beer and wait for the ribs to finish cooking, the production by DJ Premier is unmatched with his trademark scratching lending to the perfect track. The album begins to wind down with "Medicine Man", as Eminem lays into an angry rant that seems like it's never going to end reminding us of the old Slim Shady days that we have all come to know. The last track "Talking to My Diary", takes us on a voyage as Dre is writing a real life diary as he goes on a history of his career, the track ends with some well orchestrated horns that lends into a perfect segway for a remarkable album of pure genius. Many will be left wondering where songs like "Dre Day", "Forgot About Dre", and "Nutin' But A "G" Thang", have gone, truth is this album is not a sequel, rather an appreciation for the city in where it all started.....Compton.

 

Music | Red Bull Sound Selects Denver featuring Tokimonsta, Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals, Crl Crrll & Fast4ward curated by DJ Low Key and hosted by Lazy Eyez

What is becoming easily one of the hottest events to take over the Mile High City, the Red Bull Sound Select series has brought us some of music's most underrated national and local talent to the forefront of the Denver music scene. 

WHAT: Red Bull Sound Select, an ongoing program to support local music scenes and the people who push them forward, announces its second Denver show of 2015 with expert curator DJ Low Key. Featuring headline/produce TOKiMONSTA ll be accompanied by collaborator Anderson .Paak at Larimer Lounge. Expect a set that’s equal parts energetic and sultry. Red Bull Sound Select Artists CRL CRRLL and Felix Fast4ward will perform in support. Tickets will be sold for $3 with an RSVP or at the door for $15 for non-RSVPs and is open to all fans 18+. Click Here To RSVP Every month, “Red Bull Sound Select Presents” showcases are curated by local music influencers and feature two to three new Sound Select artists and one to two headliners, this month is curated by local Denver DJ Low Key.

EVENT DETAILS:

Ticket price with RSVP - $3

Ticket price at door - $15

Date – Thursday, March , 2015

Time - 8pm
Venue – Larimer Lounge (2721 Larimer Street) RBSS Artists – CRL CRRLL, FAST4WARD Headliners – TOKiMONSTA, Anderson .Paak
To RSVP: http://win.gs/1EtaKtk