Anderson .Paak announces his star-studded new album with new single, King James

While he's always been a dominant figure within the international hip-hop circuit, the last twelve months has seen Anderson .Paak truly thrive. The Californian multi-instrumentalist mastermind has gone from strength to strength across the last twelve months, with a trio of versatile singles - the 'Til It's Over, Bubblin' and the Kendrick Lamar-featuring Tints - eventually leading to the release of Oxnard, his most commercially acclaimed record yet. No stranger to the Australian festival circuit, he headlined Falls Festival across the New Years period, took out the Best Rap Performance Grammy Award for Bubblin' and in the midst of all of this, somehow found the time to record his next piece of work, Ventura.

Ventura will mark .Paak's second album in six months, following on from Oxnard with an album bound to further push the hip-hop mastermind even further into the critical and commercial success, with its arrival on April 12th promising one of the year's biggest hip-hop albums. King James is its first major tease and it's a slick display of what .Paak does best, combining these funk-fuelled melodies with his trademark, rhythmic percussive pace for an instrumental dripping in summery goodness; his buttery, R&B-infused vocal gliding over the top. It's a salute to LeBron that spotlights Colin Kaepernick in the process, with Anderson .Paak rapping "We couldn't stand to see our children shot dead in the streets / But when I finally took a knee / Them crackers took me out the league / Now I'm not much for games / But I play for keeps / And we salute King James for using his chains / To create some equal opportunities," above the lush brass and King James' smooth rhythm.

Ventura is sure to be one of the year's big hip-hop records, with .Paak enlisting a whole hoard of special guests which include a heavy emphasis to hip-hop and R&B's mainstream beginnings, with André 3000, Smokey Robinson, Brandy and even the late Nate Dogg joining him on the album. Listen to King James below:

Ventura Tracklisting:

01. Come Home (feat. André 3000)
02. Make It Better (feat. Smokey Robinson)
03. Reachin’ 2 Much (feat. Lalah Hathaway)
04. Winners Circle
05. Good Heels (feat. Jazmine Sullivan)
06. Yada Yada
07. King James
08. Chosen One (feat. Sonyae Elise)
09. Jet Black (feat. Brandy)
10. Twilight
11. What Can We Do? (feat. Nate Dogg)

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