"When the pandemic hit, and reality settled in that life would be isolated and mostly inside, Grammy winner Anderson .Paak found himself on the outside looking in, in a way he didn't anticipate. "I was the odd man out. My son was 8, and BTS took over the whole house," .Paak explained in an interview with The Times at his WeHo lounge, Andy's. "It was a K-pop storm. Before that, me and my son were bonding off of my music.""
".Paak's son, Soul Rasheed, and his now ex-wife originally from Korea, Jaylyn Chang, had become obsessed with K-pop alongside much of America, which reminded .Paak of the intensity of Beatlemania. Black American music influenced the birth of a new style, which formed and expanded across oceans, then returned to the U.S. and exploded. This effect in the .Paak household was palpable, causing Soul and Chang to deeply bond in a new way."
"Soon, there were even videos featuring them comedically educating each other about their individual music tastes. "I loved it," .Paak recalled, getting lost in the memory. "I was getting to know him more, and he was getting to know me. My mom would always say, 'It's one thing for your kids to love you, but it's another to share things you're interested in.' It wasn't like I was being Anderson .Paak, I was just Dad.""
During pandemic isolation, Anderson .Paak felt like an outsider as his eight-year-old son and Korean ex-wife embraced K-pop, reshaping household dynamics. The K-pop phenomenon echoed Beatlemania and reflected how Black American music inspired new styles that traveled globally and returned to the U.S. .Paak reconnected with his son by making humorous YouTube skits that mixed his music with BTS dances, deepening mutual understanding. Family wisdom about sharing interests reinforced the bond. The creative collaboration evolved into a treatment for a K-pop-centered film that .Paak intended to direct and in which both father and son would star.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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