Anderson .Paak dropped his new single, “King James,” today in anticipation of his upcoming album, Ventura. The Callum and Kiefer-produced track sees the Oxnard musician tackling political issues while praising the actions of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and NBA champion LeBron James, who the song is named after.
.Paak opens the track by critiquing the actions of the Trump administration:
We’ve been through it all, though it could be worse
We’ve been moved around in a state of alert
There’s nothing new or sharp about the cutting edge
If they build a wall, let’s jump the fence, I’m over this
The Aftermath signee previously took aim at Trump on the chorus of “6 Summers,” where he references the President’s sex scandal.
On the second verse of “King James,” .Paak sings from the perspective of Colin Kaepernick, who kneeled during the national anthem prior to NFL games to protest police brutality:
We couldn’t stand to see our children shot dead in the streets
But when I finally took a knee
Them crackers took me out the league
After people noticed Kaepernick was sitting down during the national anthem before a 2016 NFL preseason game, he explained he was protesting police brutality and the oppression of black people in the US. One game later, Kaepernick switched to kneeling in order to show more respect to former and current US military members after speaking with former NFL player and US military veteran Nate Boyer. He would continue to kneel during the anthem for the remainder of the season.
After declaring free agency for the 2017, Kaepernick was not signed by any team, leading to allegations that he was being blackballed for his political statements. He later filed a grievance in November 2017 accusing NFL owners of colluding to keep him out of the league. In February 2019, he reached a confidential settlement with the NFL.
Later on, .Paak salutes LeBron James for his charity work, which Genius contributor Max Miller breaks down in an annotation:
Ventura is slated to arrive on April 12. The project will feature André 3000, Nate Dogg, Smokey Robinson, Lalah Hathaway, Jazmine Sullivan, Brandy, and Sonyaè Elise. In an interview with Esquire, .Paak described it as less of a collaborative effort with Dr. Dre than his previous album, Oxnard.
“He let me have a lot of leeway on Ventura,” .Paak said. “He was like, it seems like you got it. I spread my wings on the production and on the writing and on these collaborations.”
Listen to the song above, and read all the lyrics to Anderson .Paak’s “King James” on Genius now.
