Anderson .Paak Made 'K-Pops!' Film After Son Wanted to Be YouTuber, Saw Bruno Mars Be 'Hands-On' With His Visuals
Alongside his eldest son, Soul Rasheed, Anderson .Paak leads his directorial debut, family comedy film 'K-Pops!'
Anderson .Paak's inspirations for his upcoming film debut, K-Pops!, hit close to home.
Around the K-Pops! premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this week, .Paak spoke to Variety about the film's origins, citing his oldest son and co-star Soul Rasheed, 13, and fellow Silk Sonic member, Bruno Mars.
.Paak also shouted out his oldest sister, whom he spent time making "mini home movies" and "imitating movies" with as a child.
He continued, "And when I got into high school, one of the electives they had was film editing. And that’s when I just really got into editing and making films."
When the eight-time Grammy winner began Silk Sonic with Mars in 2021, he had the realization that he could be DIY with his creative direction. "I saw how hands-on Bruno [Mars] was with all his visuals, and I was like, 'Dude, I need to do my own stuff,'" .Paak said.
Around the same time, .Paak took interest in his son's YouTube fascination, as Rasheed was growing his page with video game tutorials, later joining his father to film scripts.
"I was staying up all late, editing his videos. It just got me wanting to write a script," .Paak said. "And pretty much that was the genesis of the whole movie. By then I was making more music videos, and I was telling everybody, 'I want to really dive into this, get better at it.' He kind of really brought me back to that passion."
The K-Pops! script stemmed from his family's BTS fandom, thus developing the film's plot about father joining a K-pop competition in Seoul, where he discovers his long-lost son, also a music artist.
.Paak went all in with K-Pops! after Rasheed confirmed that he was comfortable with filming, having attended acting classes and practicing choreography.
"He’s my little rider. He healed me, because I was stressed. I was dealing with a lot, so he was the least stressful part," .Paak said.
With his ex-wife, Jaylyn Chang, .Paak also has a six-year-old son, Shine Tariq. The musician hasn't released a solo album since Ventura in 2019, but last co-released Why Lawd? with Knxwledge as part of NxWorries. .Paak will next appear in Pharrell Williams' Atlantis musical film.
