Anderson .Paak says Korean artists are the only ones still paying for music features.
Paak made the comment during his appearance on the latest episode of Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast, which aired on Wednesday (May 13).
Near the one-hour mark in the video linked here, Sharpe asked the 40-year-old multihyphenate if he looks to get “compensated” when another artist asks him to collaborate on another track or if he prefers to simply “return the favor at a later date in time.”
“Don’t nobody got no money except for Koreans,” .Paak answered while making Sharpe laugh. “That’s the only ones that’s going to pay you.”
He continued, “You fooling yourself [if] you think you going to get a rate or something from one of these rappers. You gon’ get a swap. Yeah, we gon’ swap. Ain’t no money in it.
“But now with the international acts? They gon’ to pay you, they gon’ fly you out. They gon’ get you right. Shout out to my Koreans. You might see me on a lot of them records.”
Further into the interview, .Paak, whose father is Black and mother is Korean, also discussed K-pop’s relationship to hip-hop when Sharpe asked if the genre is now “bigger” than rap.
“No, I think it’s a part of rap’s story. I don’t think it’s bigger. It’s a part of the lineage,” he answered. “K-pop is one of the newest branches on the hip-hop family tree that is kind of emerging.”
.Paak says that while K-pop is “having a huge moment right now,” its rapid rise also means it is dealing with “growing pains” as it continues to define itself within the broader music landscape.
“I think that’s good for it,” he said. “I think that’s good for the new generation that’s going to make new K-pop music as well.”
.Paak recently collaborated with alt-R&B star DEAN on their new single “Aftertaste,” which is also featured on the soundtrack for his K-Pops! film.
