Ventura (Anderson Paak album)

Ventura is the fourth studio album by American singer Anderson Paak. It was released on April 12, 2019, by 12 Tone Music and Aftermath Entertainment. It features guest appearances from André 3000, Smokey Robinson, Lalah Hathaway, Jazmine Sullivan, Sonyae Elise, and Brandy, along with posthumous vocals from Nate Dogg.

Ventura
Studio album by
Anderson Paak
ReleasedApril 12, 2019 (2019-04-12)
Studio
Genre
Length39:36
Label
Producer
Anderson Paak chronology
Oxnard
(2018)		 Ventura
(2019)
Singles from Ventura
  1. "King James"
    Released: March 15, 2019
  2. "Make It Better"
    Released: April 4, 2019

Ventura was supported by two singles: "King James" and "Make It Better". The album received widespread critical acclaim and debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200. It is Paak's first US top 10 album. The album won Best R&B Album at the 2020 Grammy Awards.

Background

In May 2018, Dr. Dre leaked the title to Paak's third album, Oxnard Ventura during an Instagram livestream. However, the title of his third album was later changed to Oxnard.[3] Paak has stated in interviews that Dre let him have more freedom with the production on Ventura, following the more tightly produced Oxnard. In a March 2019 interview for Esquire, he said, "[Dre] let me have a lot of leeway on Ventura. He was like, it seems like you got it. I spread my wings on the production and on the writing and on these collaborations."[4] The album was released on April 12, 2019, just six months after his last full-length album, Oxnard, which Paak wrote and recorded at the same time.[5]

Singles

The album's lead single, "King James", was released on March 15, 2019. The song was produced by Callum and Kiefer.[6][7] The album's second single, "Make It Better" featuring Smokey Robinson, was released on April 4, 2019. The song was produced by Anderson Paak, Fredwreck, and The Alchemist.[8][7]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.5/10[9]
Metacritic82/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Consequence of SoundB+[12]
Exclaim!7/10[13]
The Guardian[1]
The Independent[2]
The Line of Best Fit9/10[14]
NME[15]
Pitchfork6.9/10[16]
Rolling Stone[17]
Slant Magazine[18]

Ventura was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 82, based on 19 reviews.[10] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[9]

Kitty Richardson of The Line of Best Fit gave a positive review, stating "With sumptuous harmonies and a live band locked in on every track, .Paak finds a sweet spot between throwback soul and the 21st Century dancefloor. He sounds like the best version of himself. ... An exceptional return to form."[14] Will Hermes from Rolling Stone stated, "Paak's output is keeping pace with his ambition. But good as his records have been, this set included, you still get a sense that the best work still lay ahead."[17] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian spoke on the album saying "Ventura sounds like the work of someone intent on fixing the flaws in its predecessor. Paak's tendency to supercharge the production for commercial appeal has been reined in. The sound centres around an appealingly stripped-down take on mid-70s Philly soul."[1] Jack Shepherd of The Independent also praised the album saying "Rather than being an album of Oxnard offshoots, Ventura instead borrows heavily from .Paak's consistently brilliant 2016 record Malibu, itself a fresh slice of soulful funk."[2] Jordan Bassett of NME called the album "a lush '70s soul-inflected record" commenting that "Last year's Oxnard referenced his childhood in the titular Los Angeles neighbourhood, while this latest album name-checks Ventura, the sun-kissed Californian coastal town in which, he's explained, he 'found [his] depth' as a teen."[15]

Exclaim! critic Ryan B. Patrick said, "It's a super-charged R&B record, laced with throwback Motown/Philly grooves, that hits hard but fails to land a knockout blow. It seems to be a case of not being able to fully satisfy the hip-hop heads, the R&B fans and the amorphous genre-less Venn diagram in between."[13] Sheldon Pearce of Pitchfork said, "This tune-up album, at the very least, restores the underlying feeling of his signature stuff. But there, too, lies its flaw: it's a hollow effort lacking in any real distinguishing characteristics. The album never becomes more than the sum of its sounds."[16]

Accolades
Year-end lists
Publication List Rank Ref.
The A.V. Club The 20 Best Albums of 2019
19
[19]
Complex Best Albums of 2019
47
[20]
Consequence of Sound Top 50 Albums of 2019
31
[21]
GQ (Russia) Best Music Albums of 2019 N/A
[22]
NME The 50 Best Albums of 2019
42
[23]
Uproxx The Best Albums of 2019
37
[24]
Awards for Ventura
Year Ceremony Category Result Ref.
2020 Grammy Awards Best R&B Album Won [25]

Commercial performance

Ventura debuted at number four on the Billboard 200, earning 55,000 album-equivalent units, of which 39,000 were pure album sales. It is Paak's first US top 10 album.[26]

Track listing

Credits adapted from Tidal.[7]

Ventura track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Come Home" (featuring André 3000)
4:26
2."Make It Better" (featuring Smokey Robinson)
3:39
3."Reachin' 2 Much" (featuring Lalah Hathaway)
  • Anderson
  • Dan Edinberg
  • Danny McKinnon
  • David Pimentel
  • Dwayne Abernathy Jr.
  • Kelsey González
  • Matthew Merisola
  • Vicky Nguyen
5:55
4."Winners Circle"
  • Anderson
  • González
  • M. Henderson
  • Nguyen
3:29
5."Good Heels" (featuring Jazmine Sullivan)
  • Paak
  • Pomo
1:38
6."Yada Yada"
  • Anderson
  • Alekos Syropoulos
  • Kiefer Shackelford
  • Merisola
Callum and Kiefer3:27
7."King James"
  • Anderson
  • Syropoulos
  • Shackelford
  • Merisola
Callum and Kiefer3:17
8."Chosen One" (featuring Sonyae Elise)
Paak4:05
9."Jet Black" (featuring Brandy)
Pomo3:28
10."Twilight"
Williams3:16
11."What Can We Do?" (featuring Nate Dogg)
Fredwreck2:56
Total length:39:36

Notes

  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer

Sample credits

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[7]

Musicians

  • Anderson Paak – vocals (all tracks), production (1–3, 5, 8), additional production (4), drums (1, 3, 5, 7), percussion (4), additional drums (11)
  • André 3000 – featured artist (1)
  • Smokey Robinson – featured artist (2)
  • Lalah Hathaway – featured artist (3)
  • Jazmine Sullivan – featured artist (5)
  • Sonyae Elise – featured artist (8)
  • Brandy – featured artist (9)
  • Nate Dogg – featured artist (11)
  • Adam Turchin – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone (11)
  • Alekos Syropoulos – horn arrangement, horn, saxophone (7)
  • BJ the Chicago Kid – background vocals (1)
  • Callum Connor – production (6, 7), drums (3)
  • Chris Gray – trumpet (11)
  • Cocoa Sarai – background vocals (8)
  • Dan Edinberg – bass (3)
  • Danny McKinnon – guitar (3, 5, 9)
  • Dem Jointz – production, background vocals (3)
  • Durand Bernard – additional vocals (4)
  • Erick "Baby Jesus" Coomes – bass (11)
  • Fredwreck – production, guitar (2, 11), keyboards (2), percussion (7), additional percussion (10), piano (11)
  • J. P. Floyd – trombone (11)
  • Jairus "J. Mo" Mozee – production, guitar, bass (1)
  • Jhair "JHA" Lazo – strings (2)
  • Jose Rios – bass (2), guitar (3, 8)
  • Justin Dicenzo – strings (3)
  • Kadhja Bonet – strings (1)
  • Kelsey González – additional production (4), bass (2–4, 8, 11), guitar (3, 4)
  • Kiefer – production (6, 7)
  • Lola A. Romero – strings (2)
  • Marcus Paul – horn (3, 10), additional horn (10)
  • Maurice Brown – horn arrangement (1)
  • Mell – additional production, drums (4)
  • Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – strings (2, 3)
  • Norelle – additional vocals (1, 4)
  • Olivia Braga – background vocals (9)
  • Paul Castelluzzo – guitar (7)
  • Pharrell Williams – production, additional vocals (10)
  • Pomo – production (3, 5, 9), additional keyboards (3), synth bass (5), bass, keyboards (9)
  • Ron Avant – additional keyboards (3), keyboards, vocoder (8), piano (11)
  • Sir – background vocals (1, 7, 8)
  • Stalone – background vocals (3)
  • Terrace Martin – horn (10)
  • The Alchemist – production, drums (2)
  • The Free Nationals – production (3)
  • The Regiment – horn (1)
  • Vicky Farewell Nguyen – production (3, 4), background vocals (1, 6), piano (1), additional keyboards (3)

Technical

  • Dr. Dre – executive production, mixing (all tracks)
  • Eric Gonzalez – assistant engineer (1, 3)
  • Fredwreck – engineer (11)
  • Focus... – mixing (all tracks)
  • Jhair "JHA" Lazo – engineer (all tracks)
  • Ken Oriole – engineer (1)
  • Lola A. Romero – assistant engineer (1, 4, 5, 8, 10), mixing engineer (all tracks), engineer (2, 3, 11)
  • Mike Larson – engineer (10)
  • Quentin Gilkey – mixing engineer (11)
  • Thomas Cullison – assistant engineer (10)
  • Vic Luevanos – engineer (11)
  • Zumo Kollie – assistant engineer (9)

Charts
Chart performance for Ventura
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[27] 19
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[28] 18
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[29] 195
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[30] 4
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[31] 18
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[32] 7
French Albums (SNEP)[33] 98
Irish Albums (IRMA)[34] 42
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[35] 11
French Albums (SNEP)[36] 15
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[37] 18
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[38] 35
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[39] 34
UK Albums (OCC)[40] 27
US Billboard 200[41] 4

References
  1. Petridis, Alexis. "Anderson .Paak: Ventura review – stripped-back soul to silence the haters". The Guardian. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  2. Shepherd, Jack. "Anderson .Paak, Ventura review: Tightly packaged, danceable funk". The Independent. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  3. "Dr. Dre accidentally revealed the name of Anderson .Paak's upcoming solo album". Consequence of Sound. May 26, 2018.
  4. Rense, Sarah (March 11, 2019). "Anderson .Paak Used to Crash in Dive Bars. Now He's Headlining Madison Square Garden". Esquire. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  5. Kelley, Caitlin (April 12, 2019). "Read All The Lyrics To Anderson .Paak's New Album 'Ventura'". Genius. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  6. Saponara, Michael (March 15, 2019). "Anderson Paak Shares 'Ventura' Track List & New Song 'King James': Listen". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  7. "Credits / Ventura / Anderson .Paak". Tidal. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  8. Strauss, Matthew (April 4, 2019). "Anderson .Paak and Smokey Robinson Share New Song "Make It Better": Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  9. "Ventura by Anderson .Paak reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  10. "Reviews for Ventura by Anderson .Paak". Metacritic. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  11. Kellman, Andy. "Ventura – Anderson .Paak". AllMusic. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  12. Graves, Wren (April 18, 2019). "Album Review: Anderson .Paak Spreads His Wings on the Nostalgic Ventura". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  13. Patrick, Ryan B. (April 12, 2019). "Anderson .Paak Ventura". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  14. Richardson, Kitty (April 10, 2019). "Anderson .Paak embraces romance and a sleek retro sound on the superb Ventura". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  15. Bassett, Jordan. "Anderson .Paak – 'Ventura' review". NME. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  16. Pearce, Sheldon. "Anderson .Paak Ventura". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  17. Hermes, Will. "Review: Anderson .Paak's 'Ventura' is Ambitious, Wide-Ranging Hip-Hop Soul". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  18. Ordaz, Sophia (April 18, 2019). "Review: Anderson .Paak's Ventura Fuses the New School and Old School". Slant Magazine.
  19. "The 20 best albums of 2019". The A.V. Club. December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  20. "Best Albums of 2019: Top Music Albums of the Year". Complex. December 3, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  21. "Top 50 Albums of 2019". Consequence of Sound. December 2, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  22. Brontwein, Sofia (December 20, 2019). "The Best Albums of 2019". GQ (Russia) (in Russian). Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  23. "The 50 best albums of 2019". NME. December 16, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  24. "The Best Albums of 2019; Ranked". Uproxx. December 2, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  25. Variety Staff (January 26, 2020). "2020 Grammys Winners List". Variety. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  26. Caulfield, Keith (April 21, 2019). "BTS Scores Third No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Map of the Soul: Persona'". Billboard. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  27. "Australiancharts.com – Anderson .Paak – Ventura". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  28. "Ultratop.be – Anderson .Paak – Ventura" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  29. "Ultratop.be – Anderson .Paak – Ventura" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  30. "Anderson Paak 2 Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  31. "Danishcharts.dk – Anderson .Paak – Ventura". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  32. "Dutchcharts.nl – Anderson .Paak – Ventura" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  33. "Lescharts.com – Anderson .Paak – Ventura". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  34. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Anderson .Paak". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  35. "Savaitės klausomiausi (TOP 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. April 19, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  36. "Lescharts.com – Anderson .Paak – Ventura". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  37. "Norwegiancharts.com – Anderson .Paak – Ventura". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  38. "Swedishcharts.com – Anderson .Paak – Ventura". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  39. "Swisscharts.com – Anderson .Paak – Ventura". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  40. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  41. "Anderson Paak 2 Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
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