Up-and-coming hip-hop star Anderson .Paak appeared on The Late Show With Steven Colbert last night, where the rapper/singer/instrumentalist made a powerful television debut.
The musician performed with a live band on the show, playing a single-cut version of two songs from his recently-released album Malibu, and finishing it all off with a drum solo.
It was an immense showcase of musical ability which rivaled Kendrick Lamar’s recent appearance on the show, demonstrating .Paak’s ability to sing and play the drums simultaneously for over half the performance.
A powerful up-and-comer who has many thinking he might be hip-hop’s next big thing, .Paak was recently signed to Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Records. The musician, who is from Oxnard, California, was a castmember on the legendary producer’s latest album Compton, being tapped out-of-the-blue to sing on the album by an Aftermath A&R rep last spring.
Since then, the vocalist has been up to big things on his own, releasing his latest album, Malibu, shortly after putting out a collaborative EP with famed producer Knxwledge — who himself made waves last year as a contributor to Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly.
Malibu, .Paak’s second LP, contains much of the musician’s best work to date, and features guest performances by many important names in hip-hop and jazz, including Schoolboy Q, The Game, Talib Kweli, and Robert Glasper. The album also features beat work by 9th Wonder, Hi-Tek, and Madlib, who recently provided Kanye West with the base for his Kendrick Lamar collaboration, No More Parties In LA.
With energetic live performances that feature real musicians, extremely compelling recorded output, and seriously high-level collaborators, it’s becoming increasingly hard not to consider .Paak one of the most important new figures in hip-hop (and pop music in general) today.
And if he continues to perform like he did on Colbert, he will likely be turning heads across genres for some time to come.
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