The eagle-eyed among you might have noticed that hiphop jack-of-all-trades Anderson Paak is playing several gigs in London throughout April. However, with most of these being support slots for Bruno Mars at the O2 arena in Greenwich, Paak’s headline performance in Kentish Town is your only opportunity to catch the Californian born rapper / singer on his own terms. With big plans ahead in 2017, Paak and his backing band The Free Nationals will play from their upcoming debut album and Paak’s critically acclaimed solo discography.
Paak has been touring since the release of his second Grammy-nominated album “Malibu” in early 2016. Compared most frequently to Kendrick Lamar, Paak’s sound is a particularly cerebral, unrushed and often funky brand of hiphop, that mixes autobiographical elements with more generic lyric content. Tracks such as “Am I Wrong” are indicative of this style, as Paak’s relaxed delivery conceals an extremely complex arrangement. “Malibu” is an extremely listenable album, that is both intelligent, but entirely unpretentious. This sound will surely translate well to the stage of the O2 Forum.
But the focus of Paak’s performance at the Forum will most likely lie with a new project rather than retreading his success in 2016. In January, Paak and his live band announced a debut album as The Free Nationals, which is expected to drop at some point in 2017. Whilst very little is known about the style, or content of this record, it is safe to expect that some tracks will get early showing during Paak’s gigs London. This should be reason enough to pull fans to Kentish Town. Not surprising then, that tickets are selling fast.
Tickets cost £30 on Ticketmaster, and are selling fast! Doors are at 7pm. Those under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult, and must purchase seated tickets.
Words by Matt Fredrik
www.academymusicgroup.com/o2forumkentishtown
