This is part of Creative Loafing Tampa's new issue, The Year In Music. See and listen to the rest of our top albums here.
Anderson .Paak/NxWorries, Malibu/Yes Lawd! (Steel Wool/Stones Throw) The opening bars of Malibu opener “The Bird” find a sparse, soulful guitar line fading in before a slightly gruff, instantly unforgettable vocal by Anderson .Paak comes into the mix (pronounce the dot in ".Paak," my friends). The album dropped in mid-January, but 50 weeks after its release, Malibu just may be the album of the year thanks to melodies that have yet to grow stale (“Heart Don’t Stand A Chance,” “Am I Wrong”) and guest spots that still feel fresh, too (BJ The Chicago Kid, Schoolboy Q and Talib Kweli all appear on the record). Paak’s band, The Free Nationals, shine thanks to arrangements that slide in and out of soul, funk, rock and hip-hop. What’s more is that contributions from revered players like jazz pianist Robert Glasper (Roy Hargrove, Mos Def) and bassist Pino Palladino (D’Angelo, The Who) get married to production from the likes of 9th Wonder, Hi-Tek, Kaytranada and .Paak himself.
Yes Lawd! — a collaborative album with producer Knxwledge — gets a mention in this blurb despite being released months later on a different label (October 21 via Stones Throw). The 48-minute album finds .Paak still shining, but doing a lot more rapping as Knxwledge (Kendrick Lamar, Ghostface Killah) spins samples of Gil Scott-Heron, Ahmad Jamal and Gino Vannelli into a unintentionally complimentary LP that’s almost as good as Malibu itself. —Ray Roa
This article appears in Dec 15-22, 2016.