Depending on the vintage and breadth of your sensibility, you might hear echoes of Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Curtis Mayfield and Joe Tex in the soft and soulful funk of Anderson .Paak. Or you might be more inclined to think of his work as connected to Kendrick Lamar, Outkast, D’Angelo and Esperanza Spalding.
This is 21st-century Southern California soul, or maybe it’s just a particular branch of lush hip-hop, with singing, warm piano loops, hand claps and beefy bass lines. At times the uncategorizable So-Cal punk-funk of Fishbone is the closest point of comparison to Anderson .Paak.
His 2016 release, “Malibu,” has some marvelous vocal harmonies and effective beats, but it’s the rap-singing and the weird samples and loops that really provide the sustenance. Family and faith feature prominently in Anderson .Paak’s songs. (The dot stands for “detail.”) He started drumming in church, and eventually he ended up collaborating with Dr. Dre. But his solo records have a fully formed aesthetic that’s worth listening to with close attention.
For a taste of how captivating a performer he is, track down the footage of his show from SXSW from earlier this year. This is all to say that Anderson .Paak is pretty dang amazing, like stop-what-you’re-doing-level good.
Anderson .Paak and his band the Free Nationals perform at Toad’s Place, 300 York St., New Haven, Tuesday, June 14, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 to $28. toadsplace.com, 203-624-8623.
