Nx Worries -‘Why Lawd?’
17th June 2024
Anderson .Paak has made a name for himself as a modern soul and R&B legend, and quite rightly so, with his prodigious talent and prolific recording output. In the last couple of years, he has been busy teaming up with other big names in the industry in a series of collaborative side projects, like his recent Silk Sonic collab with Bruno Mars. For all the attention the Sil Sonic project garnered, Nx Worries have been going far longer, since 2015 in fact. With the explosion of Paak’s solo efforts, the duo with producer Knxwledge is finally getting the recogniton they deserve, with a magnificent headlining set at ‘Cross The Tracks’ in Brockwell Park last year.
So it is with a new confidence that the pair bring us their latest effort, ‘Why Lawd?’. With an opening teaser ‘ThankU’, set to a piece of wisdom from Dave Chappelle of all people, we launch into some earnest bars set to vibey chill beats of ‘86Sentra’ courtesy of Knxwledge. Paak proclaims their greatness for all to hear, promising an album of show-stopping music:
“But once we let off this track list, this shit gon’ blow your chest off (...)
When the last time that you heard a sound this hard ...”
It’s a confident promise, and the album is great, showcasing a cohesion and confidence that only two musicians at the top of their game can exhibit. However, it doesn’t hold many auditory surprises for those already familiar with .Paak’s discography.
‘MoveOn’ is a jazzy, syncopated number that really draws you in with its sinuous triplet beat. ‘KeepHer’ all lo-fi, neo-soul goodness, with vibrato-infused guitars warbling away. In the last refrains we are gifted a lovely vocal feature from bass prodigy-turned-mainstream star Thundercat. ‘Distractions’ is produced beuatifully, with a silky vocal and glorious harmonies. ‘…Lookin’ gives us a resampled retro beat, devoid of lyrics. The sample itself (and that of the previous track) are both from a sample pack on Splice, ‘Reworked Soul Selections 2’, which is quite a surprise to hear on a release from mainstream artists. But I guess it’s comforting to know that even big name producers are scouring free sample websites like the rest of us …
‘Where I Go’ is a classic tarry-eyed soul thumper we’ve come to expect from .Paak, with impeccably smooth melodies and an easy groove. ‘Daydreaming’ gives us something a little different, showcasing some 80s bombastic club-funk reminiscent of Seal’s ‘Kiss From A Rose’. We’ve got echoing snares and a searing guitar solo, ala the late Prince. ‘FromHere’ is a slow, gospel number, with a surprising lovely spoken-word feature from Snoop Dog.
‘FallThru’ is a wonderful-sounding song, with easy sax, slick guitars and groovy side-stick drum part, but Paak never strays from his comfort zone. Same for 'Battlefield’, with its East Coast hip-hop vibes; it’s undeniably good, but the pairs’ lack of sonic adventurism is a little frustrating. In fact, much of the second half of this record blends into itself, with little to distinguish individual tracks sonically. We get some highlights: the resampled, pitch-shifted James Brown-esque soul of ‘SheUsed’, and the guitar airiness of ‘WalkOnBy’, but unfortunately the album does suffer from it’s length.
It may have been wiser to cut down some of the nineteen tracks we got, in favour of a more focused record with a clearer musical vision. The record feels less like the journey we were promised and more like a collection of some fairly good tunes, most of them pretty standard fair for .Paak. It is endlessly frustrating to see an artist with so much talent so unwilling to shake up his sound.