Ventura (Anderson Paak album)

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]

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]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Album of the Year	78/100[9]
AnyDecentMusic?	7.5/10[10]
Metacritic	82/100[11]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
Consequence of Sound	B+[13]
Exclaim!	7/10[14]
The Guardian	[1]
The Independent	[2]
The Line of Best Fit	9/10[15]
NME	[16]
Pitchfork	6.9/10[17]
Rolling Stone	[18]
Slant Magazine	[19]

Ventura was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 82, based on 19 reviews.[11] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[10] Album of the Year assessed the critical consensus as 78 out of 100, based on 25 reviews.[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."[15] 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."[18] 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."[16]

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."[14] 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."[17]

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.[27]

Notes

• "Come Home" features additional vocals by Norelle, and background vocals by BJ the Chicago Kid, Sir, and Vicky Farewell Nguyen
• "Reachin' 2 Much" features background vocals by Stalone and Dem Jointz
• "Winners Circle" features background vocals by Norelle and Durand Bernarr
• "Yada Yada" features background vocals by Vicky Farewell Nguyen
• "King James" features background vocals by Sir
• "Chosen One" features background vocals by Sir and Cocoa Sarai
• "Jet Black" features background vocals by Olivia Braga
• "Twilight" features additional vocals by Pharrell Williams
• "What Can We Do?" features alto and tenor saxophone by Adam Turchin

Sample credits

• "Come Home" contains a sample from "Best One", written by Glen Boothe and Brandon Anderson, and performed by NxWorries.
• "Winners Circle" contains excerpts from the film, A Bronx Tale (1993), performed by Chazz Palminteri and Robert De Niro, courtesy of Universal Pictures.
• "Chosen One" contains a sample from "On The Level", written and performed by Mac DeMarco.