Photo by Marcus Ingram/WireImage
Anderson .Paak just released his fourth studio album, Ventura, and the first track features a highly anticipated appearance by André 3000. “Come Home” is a haunting ode to rhythmic soul, built around intricate vocal layers, and finds André addressing issues in a relationship.
André barrels in on the third verse, which functions as something of a bridge with the way that his spitfire flow diverges from the rest of the hazy track. Anderson .Paak told Beats 1 that when André sent him the verse, he immediately knew that he got the “spitter André. That verse-verse André.”
Three-Stacks’ hyper-referentialism functions as a tether to a relationship conflict:
You’re all I need, all of me on my knees
Normally harmony, bumblebee, hummingbird
I’m a nerd, study you
What are you, WWF?
We fightin', we might need counseling
While speaking to Beats 1, .Paak elaborated on his initial experience of listening to André’s verse. “The first time, it was just like, ‘What? Did you have to go that hard? Did he say Billabong? Damn,’” he said. “There’s still some lines I can’t even decipher… Genius, I’m gonna leave that up to you guys. You guys figure it out.”
It turns out that .Paak heard correctly:
You know I’m sufferin', I do miss my friend
I don’t like my fin bent up, Tilikum, well, that’s ill-informed
Sweet stuff, Willa Wonk, we stuck, Billabong
‘Least at minumum we gon’ get along
André 3000 recently guested on James Blake’s “Where’s The Catch?” in January. His plans for the rest of the year, as always, are elusive.
Catch up on all the lyrics to Anderson .Paak’s “Come Home” feat. André 3000 on Genius now.
