Anderson .Paak is currently visiting Korea to promote his directorial debut, K-Pops!, which is set to be released on Netflix in late May. In an interview with the American music magazine Rolling Stone about the soundtrack album ‘K-Pops! (Music from and inspired by K-Pops! Motion Picture)’ scheduled for release on May 29, he revealed, “At first, I just wanted to make a movie soundtrack, but at some point, I thought, ‘This isn’t just a soundtrack, this is my album.'”
The album features a massive lineup of K-pop artists, including aespa, NMIXX, SEVENTEEN’s Joshua, ATEEZ’s Hongjoong, JO1, G-Dragon, Jay Park, Chungha, Dean, Crush, and Kevin Woo. He confessed, “I didn’t know K-pop was this political. It was incredibly hard to bring everyone together for one project and get the contract permissions. It wouldn’t have been possible without me and producer Dem Jointz.”
He also added, “K-pop originated from Black music, R&B, and hip-hop. K-pop is their own interpretation of those genres, and the important thing is to respect and pay homage to that culture and music.”
The part where .Paak mentioned his Korean heritage also caught a lot of attention. In a recent YouTube video with Sung Si-kyung and Jay Park, he shared, “The ‘Paak’ in my name comes from my mother’s surname, ‘Park’.” He explained that his mother was an orphan during the Korean War in 1951 and was adopted into the U.S., growing up in Compton, LA. He jokingly gave himself the Korean name “Park Bang-sang” on the spot, and Jay Park gave him the name “Park Tae-sung,” which sparked laughter.
In the Rolling Stone interview, he smiled and said, “I love that Koreans these days treat me completely as one of their own. Since Korea is trending right now, I’ve become a part of it. It’s really amazing that I’m even receiving awards as a Korean.”
He also revealed the behind-the-scenes story of a failed collaboration with BTS. .Paak explained, “RM wanted it and I wanted it, but he was serving in the military, and after his discharge, he focused on album work while I was on tour. The schedules just didn’t align.” He even mentioned that he almost joined the production camp for BTS’s Arirang album. “I got a call from them, but my schedule was a mess. Well, it seems like it turned out great even without me,” he added with his signature humor.
His favorite track on this album is “Aftertaste,” a collaboration with Dean, reuniting them after about 10 years. He highly praised Dean, saying, “Dean is one of the few artists in K-pop who can truly pull off the R&B sound.” Meanwhile, .Paak is currently performing as the opening DJ Pee Wee and handling Silk Sonic stages for Bruno Mars’ “The Romantic Tour,” and he left the door open for a Silk Sonic follow-up album.
