Anderson .Paak:

My wife is very understanding and doesn’t really compete with what I’m doing right now and what I’m trying to achieve. She’s in agreement and we have the same goal. We know we’re making a way for the family–and maybe more kids–and we’re working hard right now so we can have time off later. Lots of time, to just devote to [Soul], and I can just get fat and eat whatever I want and watch him do his thing.



Do you have advice for parents of young children?



Anderson .Paak: Everything is different. These little guys are what you make them, especially at this age. What you put into them is what you get. They’re little investments–what you feed them, what you let them watch, and what you let them read, and what you read to them, and what you feeding into them is how you’re making these little humans. They’re part of you, and more importantly, they’re gonna be a part of this world. I want him to be able to contribute. I want him to be something special to this world, so I wanna put good things into him, and his mom is the same. That’d be my only advice. And be very smart with who you partner with when you’re making babies.



Right now it’s just the season you know. It’s like when Kobe’s getting scoring titles and Michael Jordan’s winning championships: when they were at the peak of their careers, I don’t believe that they could do all these things at once. They probably weren’t the best friend, or the best dads at those points as far as putting in the most time–they provided for sure–but you can’t buy quality time and being there for months, just chilling, waking up with them. The longer I’m in the house the less gets done and the worse financial state we’re in. So, right now the season is for me to work and maximize this opportunity I have, of being a musician. I really wanna win at this, so it’s very unbalanced.

You say on “Suede” that all of your bitches roll spliffs and cook grits at the same time. Is that the key to marital success?



Anderson .Paak: [Laughing] Yeah! The key to marital success is multi-tasking. Sometimes you gotta bring the fam’ with you, sometimes you gotta be able to do interviews and watch after your kid [Soul, meanwhile is stomping around the room]. You gotta be able to cook and clean and go party at night. It’s a lot. Like playing drums and singing at the same time.



I read in an interview that you had accomplished like 90% of your life goals in 2015. Do you have new goals for 2016?



Anderson .Paak: I just got this studio, so that was another one of them that we marked down. I gotta write down a new set. I got a few things–it would awesome to get a Grammy. I really think Malibu could have a chance of getting nominated. We’ll see what other records come out, but it’d be awesome.



So you actually wrote out those goals?



Anderson .Paak: Yeah. I had them all written out. It didn’t happen over a year, but a matter of a few years. At the end of last year I sat down and I was like ‘Oh shit! Everything is done. I need a new one.’ There was a couple ones we didn’t achieve, but it was mostly simple stuff like ‘Get a car, get a new house, get health insurance, make a certain amount of money, get signed, be a part of a number one record.’ It was a lot of stuff. ‘Don’t sell your soul, don’t dress up as a woman,’ just mad shit…



Who have you been listening to recently, or who have you been finding inspiration in?



Anderson .Paak: It’s so random, but Westside Gunn and Conway, [scrolling through iPhone] King, Tame Impala, Rage Against The Machine, Black Flag, Amy Winehouse, Ka, HXLT [Holt], Massive Attack’s new project, Skyzoo, Vulfpeck, and Your Old Droog.



That’s a little surprising. I didn’t think you’d be into New York rap.

