A tale of two debuts: Kanye’s faith and Weezer’s anomaly
By KYLE KERSEY
Anderson .Paak – Ventura (Soul / R&B)
Give me soul Anderson .Paak over rap Anderson .Paak every day of the week. Twice on Sunday. He’s bringing the Marvin Gaye on “Make it Better.” “What’s Going On?” era Marvin Gaye. The best Marvin Gaye. And he’s pulling off some “Brown Sugar” D’Angelo funk on “Winner’s Circle.” He even managed to lure Andre 3000 (of Outkast fame) away from his self-imposed exile to drop some bars on the relentlessly groovy opener “Come Home.” After “Oxnard,” where .Paak and producer Dr. Dre (notorious for his heavy-handed methods) diverged toward hip-hop, I was worried that his days of soulful R&B were over. His effervescent personality (and pearly white smile) were less present than before. It wasn’t as fun. This shit is jammin’. There’s not a ...