# Malibu (album)
**Malibu** is an album by the American rapper, singer, and drummer [Anderson .Paak](https://www.edgepedia.org/anderson-paak), released on January 15, 2016 through EMPIRE, OBE, Steel Wool, and Art Club. It followed his 2014 album *Venice* and his prominent appearances on [Dr. Dre](https://www.edgepedia.org/dr-dre)'s 2015 album *[Compton](https://www.edgepedia.org/compton-album)*, and it earned Grammy Award nominations for Best Urban Contemporary Album and, for .Paak, Best New Artist.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/malibu/1065681363) • [2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21387-malibu/) • [3](https://device.report/m/d9ca374813dc985149224ebcc31d271f9e066d948eb5c080f62cbc8eb1703739.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | January 15, 2016; 16 songs, 1 hour 1 minute; ℗ 2016 OBE / Apeshit, Inc / EMPIRE[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/malibu/1065681363) |
| Labels | EMPIRE / OBE / Steel Wool / Art Club; the German CD appeared on Steel Wool Records (catalog SW234141)[4](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/4be291f2-4faf-4fe5-b60f-4515e08ada99) |
| Artist | Brandon Paak Anderson, born in Oxnard, California; a former church drummer[5](https://www.laphil.com/people/anderson-paak) |
| Critical reception | Metacritic aggregate 85/100, ranked #31 best album of 2016; Pitchfork 8.6/10 with a Best New Album designation[6](https://metacritic.com/music/malibu/anderson-paak) • [7](https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/970332-malibu-anderson-paak-throwback) • [4](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/4be291f2-4faf-4fe5-b60f-4515e08ada99) |
| Awards | Grammy nominations for Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best New Artist; 2016 Grulke Prize at South by Southwest and Soul Train Music Award for Best New Artist[3](https://device.report/m/d9ca374813dc985149224ebcc31d271f9e066d948eb5c080f62cbc8eb1703739.pdf) • [8](https://www-images.lacma.org/s3fs-public/press/2019-10/2019%20Art%2BFilm%20Gala%20Talent%20Announcement__0.pdf) |
| UK chart peak | Number 4 on the Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart, 35 weeks in that chart's top 100[9](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/anderson-paak-malibu/) |
| Genres | Alternative R&B, neo-soul[10](https://www.acclaimedmusic.net/album/A5691.htm) |
## Background
Anderson .Paak, born Brandon Paak Anderson in [Oxnard, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/oxnard-california), played drums in his church band as a teenager and spent years in the [Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/southern-california) underground before this record.[5](https://www.laphil.com/people/anderson-paak) His 2014 album *Venice* included the track "Drugs", the first song to bring him national attention, recorded largely in the North Hollywood studio of producer Callum Connor.[11](https://www.laweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/2016-07-28-801884-604602.pdf) His breakthrough came through Dr. Dre: after a meeting in which a collaborator suggested introducing Anderson's music to Dre, he appeared on six of the 16 tracks of *Compton* (2015).[2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21387-malibu/) • [11](https://www.laweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/2016-07-28-801884-604602.pdf)
Billboard, in its January 23, 2016 issue, described the 29-year-old singer-songwriter-instrumentalist as hybridizing "gut-wrenching soul howling and rappish sing-speak", and noted that he had named *Venice* for the boulevard cutting through Los Angeles, with the new album "a sequel of sorts".[12](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2016/Billboard-2016-01-23.pdf) Apple Music calls Malibu his third album and his first since his star turn on *Compton*; Pitchfork likewise calls it his third album while describing 2014's *Venice* as his sophomore release.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/malibu/1065681363) • [2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21387-malibu/)
## Music and lyrics
The album blends live-instrument funk, soul, and hip-hop. Apple Music describes it as a warm, wide-angle look at the sweep of .Paak's life, with the former church drummer sliding between the reportorial grit of hip-hop on "Come Down" and the emotional catharsis of soul and R&B on "The Season/Carry Me".[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/malibu/1065681363) Billboard noted a hip-hop production roster including [9th Wonder](https://www.edgepedia.org/9th-wonder), Hi-Tek, and Madlib, and guests as varied as ScHoolboy Q, The Game, Talib Kweli, and jazz keyboardist [Robert Glasper](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-glasper).[12](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2016/Billboard-2016-01-23.pdf)
**Autobiographical core.** The record opens with "The Birds", where .Paak raps about his mother's gambling and his father's imprisonment: "My mama caught the gambling bug... My papa was behind them bars." His mother was a farmer from South Korea; his father served in the Air Force, worked as a mechanic, and was later sent to prison, and .Paak said in a 2015 interview that he did not see him again until he was being buried.[2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21387-malibu/) The Guardian highlighted the same autobiographical thread in "The Bird" and "The Waters" ("Word to the liquor that killed my grandpa liver"), set against breezy club grooves and [James Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-brown)-esque funk yelps.[13](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/dec/22/anderson-paak-malibu-review)
**Era-hopping structure.** In his Pitchfork review, published January 11, 2016, Marcus J. Moore, a music journalist and author living in Brooklyn who has written for The New York Times, NPR, The Nation, and [Entertainment Weekly](https://www.edgepedia.org/entertainment-weekly), described the album as an expansive work that flows in multiple directions like a classic 1970s double album. He noted a mid-album suite examining heartbreak across three eras: 1960s soul on "Put Me Thru", club grooves on "Am I Wrong", and 1990s hip-hop on "Without You". He called the record community-oriented, comparable to [Chance the Rapper](https://www.edgepedia.org/chance-the-rapper)'s *Surf*, with guests given ample space, and pointed to extended breakdowns such as "Parking Lot" that feel like a studio band given room to stretch. The closing track, "The Dreamer", addresses .Paak's community directly: "I'm a product of the tube and the free lunch."[2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21387-malibu/)
## Reception and commercial performance
*Malibu* placed highly on critics' end-of-year lists. Metacritic aggregated a score of 85 out of 100 and ranked it the #31 best album of 2016.[6](https://metacritic.com/music/malibu/anderson-paak) Pitchfork awarded 8.6 out of 10 and a Best New Album designation on release, and Consequence of Sound gave it an A-.[7](https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/970332-malibu-anderson-paak-throwback) • [4](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/4be291f2-4faf-4fe5-b60f-4515e08ada99) The Guardian's year-end review observed that an album as strong as *Malibu* failing to dominate the year-end polls was itself a measure of how strong 2016 had been for R&B, funk, soul, and pop.[13](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/dec/22/anderson-paak-malibu-review) The French newspaper [Le Monde](https://www.edgepedia.org/le-monde) placed it first in its 2016 year-end selection, ahead of [Alicia Keys](https://www.edgepedia.org/alicia-keys)' *Here* and Solange's *A Seat at The Table*.[14](https://www.lemonde.fr/musiques/article/2016/12/30/2016-en-musiques-nos-tympans-font-le-bilan_5055512_1654986.html)
The album earned .Paak a Grammy nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album, and he was also nominated for Best New Artist that cycle.[3](https://device.report/m/d9ca374813dc985149224ebcc31d271f9e066d948eb5c080f62cbc8eb1703739.pdf) In 2016 he won the Grulke Prize at [South by Southwest](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-by-southwest) and the Soul Train Music Award's Best New Artist.[8](https://www-images.lacma.org/s3fs-public/press/2019-10/2019%20Art%2BFilm%20Gala%20Talent%20Announcement__0.pdf)
In the United Kingdom, the album reached number 4 on the Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart, spending 35 weeks in that chart's top 100, and peaked at number 51 on the Official Album Downloads Chart, first charting on January 28, 2016.[9](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/anderson-paak-malibu/)
## Legacy
Time called .Paak 2016's breakout star, "a charismatic performer who looked like a Venice Beach skater and had the old spirit and voice of a Memphis soul crooner", and noted that later in 2016 he released *Yes Lawd!* with producer Knxwledge as the duo NxWorries, a contrasting, 1970s soul-leaning record.[15](https://time.com/5932845/black-protest-music-2016/) Acclaimed Music classifies the album's genres as alternative R&B and neo-soul, and Albumism included it in an unranked list of the top albums of the 2010s.[10](https://www.acclaimedmusic.net/album/A5691.htm) AllMusic wrote that for listeners who had missed .Paak's earlier releases, *Malibu* would be "a minor revelation", blending funk, soul, and hip-hop at high production quality.[16](https://www.allmusic.com/album/malibu-mw0002902464)
## References
1. [Malibu – Album by Anderson .Paak, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/malibu/1065681363)
2. [Anderson .Paak: Malibu Album Review, Pitchfork (Marcus J. Moore, January 11, 2016)](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21387-malibu/)
3. [Anderson Paak profile, AmericanRadioHistory archive](https://device.report/m/d9ca374813dc985149224ebcc31d271f9e066d948eb5c080f62cbc8eb1703739.pdf)
4. [Release group "Malibu" by Anderson .Paak, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/4be291f2-4faf-4fe5-b60f-4515e08ada99)
5. [Anderson .Paak, LA Phil](https://www.laphil.com/people/anderson-paak)
6. [Malibu by Anderson .Paak – Reviews and Tracks, Metacritic](https://metacritic.com/music/malibu/anderson-paak)
7. [Malibu – Album by Anderson .Paak, HotNewHipHop](https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/970332-malibu-anderson-paak-throwback)
8. [2019 Art + Film Gala Talent Announcement, LACMA](https://www-images.lacma.org/s3fs-public/press/2019-10/2019%20Art%2BFilm%20Gala%20Talent%20Announcement__0.pdf)
9. [MALIBU – ANDERSON PAAK, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/anderson-paak-malibu/)
10. [Malibu, Acclaimed Music](https://www.acclaimedmusic.net/album/A5691.htm)
11. [Anderson .Paak, L.A. Weekly (July 29 – August 4, 2016 issue)](https://www.laweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/2016-07-28-801884-604602.pdf)
12. [Anderson Paak profile, Billboard (January 23, 2016 issue)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2016/Billboard-2016-01-23.pdf)
13. [Anderson .Paak: Malibu review – breezy blend of R&B, funk, soul and pop, The Guardian (Tim Jonze, December 22, 2016)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/dec/22/anderson-paak-malibu-review)
14. [2016 en musiques : nos tympans font le bilan, Le Monde (December 30, 2016)](https://www.lemonde.fr/musiques/article/2016/12/30/2016-en-musiques-nos-tympans-font-le-bilan_5055512_1654986.html)
15. [How Black Musical Artists Revolutionized the Sound of Protest in 2016, Time](https://time.com/5932845/black-protest-music-2016/)
16. [Anderson .Paak: Malibu Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/malibu-mw0002902464)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › R&B and soul albums › 2000s and 2010s R&B albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license