Riding this wave of creative and commercial success, Paak teamed up with the producer Knxwledge and, calling themselves NxWorries, released Yes Lawd! (Stones Throw Records) in October to more critical raves. As Paak tells his friend and fellow L.A. music experimentalist Flying Lotus (a.k.a. FlyLo), his aspiration as an artist has always been to be able to work without boundaries, “to be able to go in any room and put that shit in”—”that shit” being his unique sound. FlyLo assures him that he’s already there.

FLYING LOTUS: I appreciate all of the hard work you’ve been putting in this year and how ever many years it’s taken you to get to this point.

ANDERSON PAAK: Word up. It’s coming at the end of the year now, and I have a little time to decompress and see all the shit that we did this year, so it’s a really good blessing, man.

FLYLO: Are you at home? Are you in L.A.?

PAAK: I’m over here somewhere off of Barham [Boulevard]. I’m in the car right now, looking at this spot, trying to get a little studio space.

FLYLO: I didn’t expect you to be in town. You’ve been traveling a bunch.

PAAK: Where you at?

FLYLO: I’m in L.A., man. I’m at home. At the crib sitting in my chair. My work chair.

PAAK: That’s what’s up.

FLYLO: Workin’ every day, man. What is your ideal workspace? Are you able to make music on the road?

PAAK: You know, the way it’s worked out for me is that I’ve had to kind of be able to work in whatever environment was possible. For a long time, I was working in different studios that weren’t necessarily mine and just kind of working wherever I could.

FLYLO: Is that from working with Shafiq [Husayn] and that all back in the day?

PAAK: Exactly. From working in his studio, in his spots, and my homie Dumbfoundead’s bedroom. A lot of people kind of took me in, like, “You’re dope. You’re talented. You can work in this spot and maybe help me out with this and that.” We kind of traded from there. So I did a lot of that throughout the years and never even thought about, “What’s an ideal situation for me to create in?”

FLYLO: That’s awesome.

PAAK: So I actually just got my studio at the top of this year. And it’s kind of weird to have my own space and to have the scene a little less chaotic and to feel like I’m not under pressure to get things done really quick. It is almost a little unsettling, so I’ve had to figure out what is that ideal situation, because I got comfortable working with my back against the wall. I’ve been really enjoying figuring out what kind of creative space I can get the most out of. I really do enjoy going out on the road and having experiences and meeting people, and then taking that inspiration while it’s fresh and going and recording. So I can definitely do stuff while on the road spontaneously, but also being in a visually appealing spot helps me. So I’ve been really focused on that—just making sure whatever place I’m in is appealing to me. But honestly, man, I can get down anywhere. It’s just if I’m not inspired per se by that spot, then I try to write down all of my thoughts and things that I find inspiring at the moment.