ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Despite social and human rights violations against African Americans in America, Hip-Hop in 2016 was largely focused on love and positivity. Perhaps the biggest beneficiary to this “feel good” year was Anderson .Paak, the artist formerly known as “Breezy Lovejoy”.
Anderson .Paak was the centerpiece of Dr. Dre’s 2015 Compton album. .Paak followed it up by dropping two of the best albums in a stacked 2016 year: Malibu and Yes Lawd! (as the group NxWorries).
2016 was the year of love in Hip-Hop. And despite a plethora of great releases from a number of artist, 2016 was the year of Anderson .Paak’s.
2016 Releases: #1 Malibu, #3 Yes Lawd! (featuring Knxwledge, as NxWorries)
Malibu is musically ambitious, drawing on a wide array of instrumentation while Yes Lawd! is more familiar with a singular producer, Knxwledge, handling most of the production. Yes Lawd! is unforgivably pimpi-ish in the same vein as a blaxploitation film. Two very different albums from Anderson .Paak but infectious in their own way.