Anderson .Paak

Summary

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Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Guest: Anderson .Paak

Date: February 2, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode features Grammy Award-winning artist Anderson .Paak, whose real-life exuberance, musical journey, and deeply human backstory take center stage with Dax Shepard and Monica Padman. The conversation is a spirited blend of laughter, vulnerability, and insight — tracing .Paak’s rise from a chaotic family background to creative stardom, delving into themes of resilience, artistic collaboration, family, and personal growth. The episode also celebrates Anderson’s film directorial debut, "K Pops", with heartwarming anecdotes about fatherhood and creative risk-taking.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Anderson .Paak’s Origins and Family Story

• Growing Up “With the Dog In Me”

  • Anderson shares about his early life split between WeHo and Las Vegas, growing up surrounded by the chaos of his parents’ gambling and addiction.
  • His mother’s journey: Born in Korea post-war, abandoned, rescued by a “guy that was collecting abandoned kids,” adopted by African-American military parents, and raised in Compton and Oxnard ([18:32]).
  • Father’s side: North Philly twins, legendary troublemakers, and addiction.

• Trauma, Optimism, and Family Values

  • “I don’t know why. I’ve just been an optimist and I’ve had a lot of traumatizing things happen. But the way I coped was always with music.” ([16:53] Anderson .Paak)
  • Dax connects their upbringings: “We're all little boys, and we’re trying to act like the environments that they were in.” ([26:15] Dax)
  • Sense of pride in humble memories (“We got macaroni and cheese. Fat. Yeah, yeah, yeah.”) ([15:45] Dax & Anderson)

2. Becoming an Artist: Church, Sampling, and Self-Discovery

• Church Roots

  • Started as a drummer in church at 12, learned playing “pocket” for gospel music: “In church, it’s not supposed to be about you. You’re playing as a vessel, to provide a service.” ([35:50] Anderson)

• Musical Influences & Beat-Making

  • Older sister's boyfriend introduced hip hop and DJing; Anderson used church paychecks to buy turntables and an MPC, empowering himself to make beats ([38:04]).
  • “It’s how a genre is created. Hip hop was created off that [sampling].” ([40:33] Anderson)
  • Dax on democratization: “If you open the gates and let everyone in, how much shit explodes out of it?” ([40:37] Dax)

• Finding His Voice & Lane

  • Wrestles with genre-fluid identity in Venice days — “I would have a song with Autotune, then a future funk song, then House. It was all over the place.” ([53:28] Anderson)
  • Working with Knowledge sparked his signature raspy tone ([49:31]); saves songs to find right audience/moment.

3. Collaborations, Serendipity and Making It Big

• Early Collaborations & Mac Miller Connection

  • Major break came after Mac Miller heard him via Dr. Dre, leading to years of cross-genre collaborations. “Some people know me as a DJ with the wig on. So many different things.” ([07:40] Anderson)
  • “Dang” origin: “Probably one of my biggest tunes ... I had no clue it was going to do what it did.” ([11:46] Anderson)

• Meeting Dr. Dre

  • Being invited to Dre’s studio after “Suede” went viral — full of anxiety but life-changing: “He’s blasting it, and I look up, and he’s like, play it again. Double thumbs up. He’s like, let’s work. It’s gangster.” ([57:16] Anderson)
  • “There’s these little moments, right? … And they’re generally before you ‘make it’ ... They don’t really get better.” ([57:24] Dax)

• Tiny Desk and Going Viral

  • Anderson’s NPR Tiny Desk was a huge turning point, introducing him as a live drummer-singer: “The biggest thing is just us playing in an office.” ([60:03] Anderson)
  • “We were kind of dreading it … and thank God it changed our lives.” ([62:42] Anderson)

• Silk Sonic & Bruno Mars

  • Toured together post-Tiny Desk, learned about showmanship, audience, and artistry from Bruno: “He studies the greats … you got to know your angles.” ([65:20] Anderson)

4. Creativity, Struggle, and Themes in Anderson’s Work

• Embracing The Struggle

  • Dax admires Anderson’s theme of “owning the challenging background and finding the joy and the pride in it. … That theme is just through and through all your music.” ([15:47] Dax)

• On Optimism and Disposition

  • Monica asks: “You just seem very happy … is it a mask?”
    Anderson: “Part of it is probably like a tick. I’m a people pleaser … It hurts me when people are embarrassed. … Someone that smiles like that, they must be trying to protect their peace.” ([50:20] Anderson)

• On Divorce and Family Evolution

  • “I feel so close to her still. … We’re family. … We came from couches. … And now she’s getting to experience that now … and she’s rich now, so it’s cool.” ([87:32] Anderson)

5. Directorial Debut: "K Pops" and Artistic Growth

• "K Pops" Inspiration and Process
  • Co-wrote, directed, and starred in "K Pops," a film inspired by his own son’s talent and K-Pop obsession: “I was having to write a script … I knew I needed some experience. … I was like, I’m gonna do a bunch of music videos … this is all to help me get experience.”
  • On working with his real son: “He's dangerous. He's 2.0. He's killing it. He's bilingual.” ([76:35] Anderson)
  • Pre-production nerves: “I almost didn’t do it. … I tried to weasel out of it. … I was going to pull that one—he’s a child!” ([77:00], [77:47] Anderson)
  • On the finished film: “I got the thing in my head out onto the screen … that’s the victory of a lifetime.” ([79:10] Dax)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Musical Collaboration:
  “Some of the people that I know, they're not happy unless they've gone through a little bit of hell.” ([12:36] Anderson on Bruno Mars’ creative process)

• On Optimism:
  “I don't know why, I've just been an optimist and I've had a lot of traumatizing things happen. But the way I coped was always with music.” ([16:53] Anderson)

• On Artistic Versatility:
  “All the facets to you. Yeah, there's like a hundred facets.” ([49:07] Dax)

• On Family & Repair:
  “You gotta do that for you. … Because for the rest of your life, you did the right thing. … That’s the reward.” ([25:14] Dax about forgiveness)

• Super Bowl Halftime Story:
  “My mom's like, why aren't you on there? You're signed to him … I made my own poster. Photoshopped myself in there.” ([71:21] Anderson)
  “He calls me, ‘What do you think about playing for Marshall? For 'Lose Yourself’ on the drums?’ I was like, ‘I think that’ll work just fine.’” ([72:11])

• Tiny Desk Turning Point:
  (“They start in tight and then back up and they're like, he's on the drums! … I didn't really even know how big … the drumming and performing thing was until this.” [59:27] [60:41] Anderson)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Beginnings & Family History: [03:35] – [23:00]
• Musical Roots & Beat-Making: [35:43] – [41:30]
• Career Breakthroughs (Venice, Mac Miller, Dre): [41:28] – [58:54]
• Tiny Desk & Going Viral: [58:54] – [62:42]
• Silk Sonic / Bruno Mars Insights: [64:09] – [66:20]
• "K Pops" Movie, Directing, and Fatherhood: [75:21] – [82:47]
• Culture, Celebration, and Reflections: [112:00] – [113:45]
• Listener Q&A, Facts, and Light-Hearted Postscript: [114:17] – end

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Key Takeaways & Episode Tone

• Vulnerability & Resilience: Anderson’s willingness to openly detail painful family chapters, personal struggles, and creative doubts resonates as both inspiring and deeply relatable.

• Joyful Collaboration: The joy Anderson finds in working with others, whether Dr. Dre or his own son, underpins a philosophy of openness, humility, and artistic generosity.

• Celebration of Growth: Both host and guest find humor and pride in the messiness of becoming, reminding listeners that “messiness” is often the root of creativity and connection.

• Fun, Spontaneity, and Kindness: The episode bounces between stories of resilience and light-hearted asides (from misheard lyrics to inside jokes), always anchored in a warmth and mutual respect.

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Final Thoughts

Dax in closing:
“It’s another little domain that you executed, who you are, which is hard to do. ... I hope you feel that when you watch it, like, oh, I did the thing. My spirit is there.” ([79:57] Dax)

Monica:
“That was such a joy. I love him. I love you.” ([133:20] Monica)

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Further Listening/Viewing

• Check out Anderson .Paak’s film K Pops (in theaters February 27th)
• Watch his NPR Tiny Desk Concert (often cited as one of the very best)
• Anderson .Paak albums: Venice, Malibu, Oxnard, Ventura, and his work with Silk Sonic

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An episode full of music, laughter, love, and healing—the ideal Armchair Expert experience.

Transcript

[Dax Shepard]

Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert. I'm Dan shepherd and I'm joined by Lily Padman.

[Monica Padman]

Hello.

[Dax Shepard]

Boy, long time coming, begging, sending, Instagram.

[Monica Padman]

Making public Instagram posts or sliding into his DMs.

[Dax Shepard]

Exactly. I don't know that I've ever put more effort into getting a guest. And last year, you may recall last year he was like, I'm gonna. I will. Come on. I was like, oh my God. He's like, when I'm promoting my movie, I'm like, oh my God, when's this movie gonna happen? I know. Well, guess what? The movie has passed. It's here. Anderson Paak. Brandon Paul, Anderson Andy. Take your pick. I love every version. He is a Grammy award winning rapper. I think he's got eight Grammys at this point.

[Monica Padman]

He deserves them.

[Dax Shepard]

Singer, songwriter and record producer. His albums in his beach theme, Venice, Malibu, Oxnard, Ventura. And he has a new movie out in theaters on February 27th called K Pops and he's. It's him and his real life song.

[Monica Padman]

I love it. I love it.

[Dax Shepard]

He co wrote it and directed it and he stars in it and he's. It's just a joy explosion of family love.

[Monica Padman]

Yes, we had. This was a great episode. It was a really good time.

[Dax Shepard]

So much I tried to control myself and I didn't do a good job, as you'll hear.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, he can't do that. Don't ask him to do that.

[Dax Shepard]

All right. Please enjoy Anderson Paak. This episode is sponsored by Better Help. Look, February rolls around and suddenly everyone's talking about relationships, flowers, candy, all that stuff. And here's what I've noticed. It doesn't matter if you're married, dating, single or just doing thing. Most of us are still figuring it out. There's this pressure to have it all together in your life. But the reality is we're just finding our way.

[Monica Padman]

I have therapy tomorrow. I'm so excited.

[Dax Shepard]

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[Monica Padman]

Oh, I might.

[Dax Shepard]

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[Monica Padman]

He's an option exper. He's an.

[Dax Shepard]

Hold on. What did you just introduce yourself as?

[Anderson .Paak]

Andy.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, I like that.

[Monica Padman]

I do too.

[Dax Shepard]

Brandon's gone. Yeah. You're never with Brandon again.

[Anderson .Paak]

Long gone.

[Dax Shepard]

Where do you live?

[Anderson .Paak]

I live in WeHo and I just got a place in Vegas too, so I'm going back and forth.

[Dax Shepard]

Are you a Vegas person by nature? Are you gonna doubt I could dig it.

[Anderson .Paak]

I kind of grew up there. My parents were big gamblers, so I was there all the time when I was younger and getting the comped rooms and stuff. And then I did the Vegas residency with Bruno, so I'm there quite often.

[Dax Shepard]

What was their casino? Mom, Stepdad. Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

What did they do? Caesars. Caesar's Palace Classic.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. They treat you nice there?

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

[Dax Shepard]

I watched you on this podcast, Revolt.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

What it's called. I think the point is you had like 13 shots.

[Anderson .Paak]

Oh. Oh, yeah. Drink Champs.

[Dax Shepard]

It's called drink.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, yeah, Nori.

[Dax Shepard]

Drink Champs.

[Monica Padman]

We should have provided smoking weed.

[Dax Shepard]

And I'm like, listen, I don't have that at my disposal, so I'm gonna have to intoxicate you with my charm to get the walls down.

[Anderson .Paak]

I'm drunk off it already. I'm on January, actually. And I drink like a fish. As you can see. I could put them down. And that particular show, I knew that that was their whole thing and they drank and stuff. So I was like, you know, I'm gonna just drink more than anybody in case I say something crazy and I'll be like, I was obviously drunk. Yeah, come on.

[Dax Shepard]

I was blacked out.

[Anderson .Paak]

What do you want from me?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, okay. So as you know, I've been. How long I've been courting you?

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. Long time.

[Dax Shepard]

Hard press. Right.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

In the DMs. Comment on your.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Posting videos. Just declaring my love for you.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Dancing to one of your songs publicly.

[Anderson .Paak]

We almost met for l time.

[Dax Shepard]

We did. And then I looked at the menu. I was like, I can't eat one thing over there. It's just a gluten. You name the restaurant Gluten House, you're like, I'm done. Yeah. Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

I can't make it.

[Monica Padman]

I was like, oh, was it one of yours?

[Anderson .Paak]

No, it was. I had a vegan spot for a little bit.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah. So no meat and then all gluten.

[Anderson .Paak]

It was pizza and that's why I hardly ever went too. I usually try to do protein and veggie.

[Dax Shepard]

You were vegan?

[Anderson .Paak]

No, I just. I got a bunch of spots. I tell everybody I'm not Mexican, but I'll a taco up anytime. I have a Japanese spot and I just opened a supper club. It's like music. It's called Andy's. We got food there too.

[Dax Shepard]

Where's that?

[Anderson .Paak]

It's in WeHo, right next to Dantana's. Oh, okay. I actually got you guys a gift. You got those gifts.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, I like gifts.

[Monica Padman]

I love gifts.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, come on.

[Dax Shepard]

I mean, it's customarily. We would do this at the end. I think there's no reason to not start with gifts.

[Anderson .Paak]

Couple Andy's hats.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, amazing. Thank you.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, that's my clip. Oh, check it out.

[Dax Shepard]

What's the entertainment at Andy's?

[Anderson .Paak]

I got live music.

[Dax Shepard]

Like a house band or it's Revolving Door.

[Anderson .Paak]

I got several bands that play through the week. I auditioned them all really talented musicians. And we got food and it's like a place where people actually dance.

[Monica Padman]

Those are rare.

[Anderson .Paak]

It's 70s inspired stuff.

[Dax Shepard]

I forgot to do a disclaimer.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, no. What?

[Dax Shepard]

Manga. This is going to be the hardest episode for you. I'm going to embarrass you so much through embarrassing myself.

[Monica Padman]

Right.

[Dax Shepard]

If I sing to people she hates when I repeat people's lyrics, you know, I'm her 51 year old dad who's constantly embarrassing himself. And this is going to be the apex. And I just wanted you to be prepared.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Because you know.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

You know the lies.

[Monica Padman]

I know it takes.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

As long as I have the right expectations.

[Dax Shepard]

That's what I thought. It might be helpful because if you think that I'm only gonna drop one or two lyrics on them, you're crazy.

[Monica Padman]

Are you okay with that?

[Dax Shepard]

I'm fine. Okay.

[Anderson .Paak]

Sour me.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. So I want to talk about just first, how I found you is I was really trying to figure out, when did I become obsessed with you? And I traced it back to September 2017. I'm friends with Talib Kweli, and I saw a post of his. It's like, I'm gonna miss this man so much. Working with him was incredible. Mac Miller. And I'm like, oh, well, who's Talib? Think is this magical? I'm gonna go listen to Mac Miller. So then both of us go in a Mac Miller rabbit hole, and then I fall in love with Dang. And I'm like, who's this soulful voice I'm hearing? And then that takes me to you, and then I'm off to the races, and then I don't ever look back at anybody.

[Anderson .Paak]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

So that's how I got there. How do people generally have gotten to you? So many ways, I bet.

[Anderson .Paak]

So many ways. I'm a big collaborator, and I do a lot of things, and Mac was one of those where I have songs that I just give to people, and I have so many songs, and I don't necessarily think that they're right for me or I think they're better for other people. And some people know me from that song. Some people know me from working with Bruno Mars. Some people know me from songs I've done with, like, the Game or Snoop or Dre. And some people know me as a DJ with the wig on. So many different things. I'm big on collaboration, and it's a big way at how I've gotten this far, and it's a big part of my artistry, and Mac was no different. I had that song that we were working for, the producer's album Pumo. He wanted to work on his album, and we did that song, I think, the day that David Bowie died.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, no kidding.

[Anderson .Paak]

And we were just all, like, bummed out. Felt like that was, like, the second or third legend we had lost. And I was like, man, I can't keep on losing you over complications. It just kind of flowed. And we were, like, in this random studio. I don't even think it was a studio. It was like an office space. We just started writing that, and I laid it down. I just laid the chorus. And a few months later, I got hit up by Mac through Twitter.

[Dax Shepard]

That's how you guys got connected.

[Anderson .Paak]

He heard me through Dre because I was on the Dr. Dre's album when he was putting out the Straight Outta Compton soundtrack. I was all over that album.

[Dax Shepard]

Six tracks.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. Six track packs.

[Dax Shepard]

Six track pack.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, okay, okay. Yeah. 2015.

[Anderson .Paak]

So I was blowing up.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

I was like, you know, a little snoop.

[Dax Shepard]

So when he hit you on Twitter, what was the message? He basically me like.

[Anderson .Paak]

He was like, hey, yeah, yo, what's going on? How does it feel? You know, it's like right after the Dre stuff. And I was like, you know how it is. Blah, blah. He's like, no, I don't know how it is.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't know how it is being.

[Anderson .Paak]

On six tracks with Dr. Dre. And I was like, I'm gonna like this guy. Yeah. And I was like, yeah. I'm just chilling, man. I was kind of starstruck. Mac was just huge. And the fact that he was hitting me direct, I was like, whoa, man. And we just started chopping it up from there.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Do you become friends first before you decide to start working together, or do you go like, let's work together, and then a friendship ensues?

[Anderson .Paak]

When he hit me up, we were talking through Twitter, and then he was like, yo, I would love to work with you. Even if you have ideas or anything like that, you could send it my way. And I was like, cool. But I had dang. Or just the chorus of it. I was like, pomo, you think we should send him this? And he was like, cool. And I sent him a few joints, and that was the first one he gravitated towards. He's like, this is the one. He sat with it for, like, a couple of weeks and sent it back. He had his verse. He had put horns on it. And that's when I realized, oh, he's like a producer, too. He's a real musician.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. That's why I fell in love with Mac Miller is the music. So many of these people, weirdly, I'm coming in through the music. And he had. Whether he was creating it or it was his bar or his vibe that he insisted on, whatever it was, it's the music that's so special. First in the mag, Miller stuff.

[Anderson .Paak]

He was a big music nerd, big musician. He loved kicking it with musicians, Thundercats and the Internet. He was always taking in rappers, taking in musicians that were coming in and didn't have anything and offering everything he had, his audience, his studio and everything. He did the same thing with me. We were just kind of talking online and on the phone, and then the first time we met in person was to shoot the Video?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Wait, you had done the entire song and it was done?

[Anderson .Paak]

That seems bizarre to me, just sending it back and we're just giving notes, and then he's like, this is gonna be the first single.

[Dax Shepard]

So is that the shitty part or the cool part of the time we live in? Because obviously, you think about the collaborations that happened in 50s and 60s Motown or any of these genres, and now everything is still. We're in that genre still. For it to change that much, what do you think you lose and what do you think you gain?

[Anderson .Paak]

I think it's just all on the artists. Some of the songs that I've done, big songs, great songs I did through email. I just did it because I knew that this is going to be great, and if it doesn't sound good, then I don't have to put it out. Some stuff can feel a little transactional, but I think it's all dependent. There's more than one way to do things, and as long as the song is great, who cares how it's done? And some people don't want to do the email thing. I totally respect that, and that's fine. But I'm not into, like, losing opportunity to make something. Dang is probably one of my biggest tunes, and I had no clue it was going to do what it did, and people would discover me. To this day, when I play it, it's a heavy tune for me. And, you know, so much history behind Mac was the same way. We're not the type to wait.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, that's what feels like the huge benefit is, is the efficiency of the process. So you can be working on the Mac song for two hours in the afternoon, shift gears, and answer an email, and then start working on that song. You're not traveling to all these different places, so that's a huge upside. But what do you think is lost as far as sitting in a room together in the neurons connecting and all this we don't know, and the pheromones and all that kind of stuff.

[Monica Padman]

Obviously nothing.

[Anderson .Paak]

No, no, no.

[Dax Shepard]

But then there is, because Dre's not working on email, right?

[Anderson .Paak]

You got an email. You got to go in there. Same thing with, like, Bruno working on a song like, Leads Door Open, which was, like, a number one smash hit, a song that I played. And they might not know any other song, but they know that, like, Grandma's everybody.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And it was my father in law, finally. And we got to sit down together.

[Monica Padman]

A grocery store. Y.

[Anderson .Paak]

That's that dude next to Bruno.

[Dax Shepard]

You're that dude, right? Yeah, that's me.

[Anderson .Paak]

To have one of those is crazy. And that was like going through hell. We were in there every day working just on one section. And some days we would just work and talk about stuff. Wouldn't even work on the song. We just talk shit and then have a drink and. All right, we'll be back tomorrow. Try to work on this. And Bruno's very much one of those guys that's like, it doesn't feel right unless you've gone through a little bit of hell. Like, he doesn't trust it, right? Yes.

[Monica Padman]

That's a specific type of creative.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, that's also from childhood.

[Monica Padman]

Totally trauma based. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes, yes, yes, yes. I gotta suffer and then I'll get A little ray of light will be the reward.

[Monica Padman]

It doesn't feel good unless you work hard.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, yeah. It's almost like you don't trust it. Like shit, it being this easy.

[Monica Padman]

Right.

[Anderson .Paak]

And so there's those too. And I think that there's something really special about sitting in a room person like me that produces. We work with instruments and we're doing stuff out of the box and we're creating and producing the song from scratch with no loops and everything. We're in there really playing it and then we're having to replay it and figure out, okay, now we want to get horns. All this stuff and mixing process. A lot of people don't have the patience to do that. And I think sometimes you cut yourself short. You think you have something, but it could be just the tip of the iceberg. You keep digging and seeing how you can make it better. I really enjoy that, especially with my own project. And as I get older and do more albums, I think that's really what I want to do.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, don't you think as well now you have safety, time is now on your side. You can afford time. I imagine in the past it's just like, go, go, go, go. I got to put so many fucking pokers in the fire, hoping one of them hits.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Whereas I'd hope and imagine now it's stable enough that you're not panicked. You're missing out on something if you take that time.

[Anderson .Paak]

Right. It's a blessing. I'm just gonna chill. I don't have to do every little thing. But when I was coming up, like with Mac, I was like, I want to kill everything. Yeah. I want to do every feature. I want them to be upset that they put me on the song because it's going to be my song now. Now I had the dog in me. I got this opportunity. Dre's with me. Everyone's gonna know, like, I'm the dude. Because I was riding the bus before that, and I didn't want to do that.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

I didn't want to go back to doing, like, open mics and stuff. I'm like, I got the slot. I'm gonna really take advantage of it.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

And I think a part of me still has that. But like you said, I almost forget, like, you know, you don't gotta do every little thing. And my team, my management, everything. Like, did you just take an offer for cash for, like, 10k? He said he's booking you at the.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

I'm like, yes, I need it. I got classic cars. I gotta get. I gotta get.

[Dax Shepard]

They all broke. Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Cash. That's just personality, I think. I feel like I'm learning that more and more. It doesn't matter how much you have. That's just part of people.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

I don't think it can fully go away.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Almost all your songs I love, but the ones that crush me are these ones that have a theme to me. Like dreamers. It's all my little dreamers and the ones who didn't give a fuck. I'm a product of the tube and the free lunch. Right. This. Owning the challenging background and finding the joy and the pride in it. This theme pops up in so many songs. That BJ song, Close the Door, what is it? We got macaroni and cheese.

[Anderson .Paak]

Fat. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

But that song, too, is like, yeah, it's not fancy. Close the screen door. But the food is here and the vibe is here. There's a pride in that. And I think when you think about the stuff being black, white, I think so much more of it is, like, social, economic. If you're mean, you're eating government cheese, and then you hear these songs, or you see the super bowl thing, and you're like, oh, yeah. These are the motherfuckers they hated and now they own in the world.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

That theme is just through and through all your music. And I guess, are you, like, aware of that?

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. That's something that's special to me and that I hold near and dear. The way I grew up. My family values, my story, those are things that are universal. When I write, I try to cling to those things. I try to find something that can tie us all together. And whether it's the struggle or if it's something witty, I really enjoy that. And I really enjoy taking bits of my story and going back and being able to put him on wax and explore it. Because I feel like people can also relate to it.

[Dax Shepard]

Who cares? Your daddy couldn't be there. Mom always kept the cable on for all of us. Without a dad, it's like, uh huh. And it's fine.

[Anderson .Paak]

It's all good, you know. And some people see things differently. They deal with trauma differently. I've always. I don't know why, I've just been an optimist and I've had a lot of traumatizing things happen. But the way I coped was always with music. I always could escape through television.

[Dax Shepard]

Don't you think it's body regulation? It's like you can regulate this mood with this fucking tool, which is music.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I feel like this. I start making these sounds and I'm elevated and I'm.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, yeah, you're somewhere else.

[Dax Shepard]

The drug of all drugs to be creative when you're struggling.

[Anderson .Paak]

Absolutely. I was around so much where they didn't know how to cope and do that and escape. And I was able to do that. And I had a family that was very supportive. And that kind of like kept me in this incubation where it's like, he's special. Like, just let him do his thing over here. There was a bunch of chaos. And so I think that's something I'm aware of. I'm getting more aware of and tapping into. I'm also with my music and with everything, I'm random, very affected. It's really the production and the surroundings and where I'm at. A lot of it has to do with the production chords that kind of bring me to these places. Think I'm music first. I will always put lyrics or things I think are slick or. I was eating lunch today and this girl was like, oh yeah, I like Black Obsidian. She was talking about a stone. I was like, that sounds sick. You know, like I don't know what it is, but I'm right. It.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Black obsidian. Yeah. Now you got to live up to that.

[Anderson .Paak]

I looked it up. It deflects negativity and all this stuff. I was like, oh, this is a cool tune you can make. But I very much like words and phrases. I always write it, but I'm very moved by the music first. And like, oh, this makes me feel like struggle. Or this makes me feel like I want to say something romantic. I want the homies to ride to this in the six fold. Or I think Dre will like this. Or I think Paul McCartney. I want to get in that zone.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, to the trauma, I mean, it's multi generational. Your mom, what a fucking beginning. It starts in Korean, during the Korean War. Your assumed grandfather was a black serviceman.

[Anderson .Paak]

Right.

[Dax Shepard]

But we don't know. No one really knows. So your mother's born in Korea right after the Korean War, and then she's quickly then in an orphanage, her and her brother.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, pretty much was raised in Korea during the war up until maybe about six or seven.

[Dax Shepard]

Six, seven.

[Anderson .Paak]

And then we have to cut that out.

[Monica Padman]

That's the clip that's gonna get pulled.

[Anderson .Paak]

That's my adopted mom. I digress. So, yeah, she was an abandoned kid. Her and my uncle were found by a dumpster and they were doing a lot of racial purification, whatever you call it. But they were getting rid of a lot of the kids back then with like the mixed race and all that stuff in Korea. So there was a guy back then that was collecting all these abandoned kids and got my mom and my uncle to an orphanage and then she was adopted by African American military parents who were also like high up in ranks and everything.

[Dax Shepard]

Were they in Korea?

[Anderson .Paak]

They were in Korea, just traveling around. And they were in the military too. And, you know, they were around. And so they got my mom and my uncle and moved into la. My mom and uncle grew up in Compton during the 50s, which was like a suburb.

[Dax Shepard]

It was a nice suburb.

[Anderson .Paak]

It was a farm. There was horses and horses weren't connected to the water system in la. All kinds of stuff.

[Dax Shepard]

You know who was living there then we interviewed him. Yellowstone.

[Anderson .Paak]

Not Kevin Costner.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Living in Compton. Right. Horses.

[Anderson .Paak]

Around 805. Native too? Yeah, he's from my town too. So they grew up there. She grew up in la.

[Dax Shepard]

How did she do? Because generally when you start like that, you're gonna have some.

[Anderson .Paak]

You know, I asked her and I think. I think she kind of blacked it out. She said she doesn't remember anything really until she got to la. That's pretty much where her memory starts. She doesn't remember being in Korea.

[Monica Padman]

I don't remember the specific memories, but I think you do hold. I have a family situation a little bit similar and they hold on to an abandonment. You just see it continue to show up.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, that hardwires your brain in those six years. So whether you remember it or not, the brain has been hardwired to deal with that.

[Anderson .Paak]

Exactly. My mom's no different. She's a hustler. That's where I got the dog in me. I watched her just be her own boss and be real. Survival first and taking care of her fam, but just always working and always, no excuses. My biggest critic. No fluff. From the music to everything. She was just my biggest hero.

[Dax Shepard]

How well did you know your grandma and grandpa?

[Anderson .Paak]

I didn't. They passed away when I was really young.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, that's a bummer. They were probably pretty great if they were willing to adopt a kid from Korea.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, my grandpa was a pastor and he was also in the military. And my grandma was like a big lieutenant, high ranking in the military as well.

[Dax Shepard]

So how'd she end up in Oxnard and what age did she go up there?

[Anderson .Paak]

Oxnard has a big military base, Port Magoo. My grandparents were out there. They did travel around. They were in la and then my grandpa retired in Oxnard and that's where she moved and that's where she pretty much did her 20s. Ended up having my two older sisters and eventually having me and my younger sister.

[Dax Shepard]

And when did she meet your dad? And how long were they together?

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, she met my dad sometime in the 80s. And my dad was also in the military. He was in the Air Force. My pops has his own crazy story I'm pretty sure you're aware of. There's like a big, big article on my pops and his twin brother. They were twins from Philly. Crazy twins. And they used to do stuff. Like they snuck into the military. They used to go to prison for each other, like switch identities. Talk about like Freaky Friday. It was like that, but like the.

[Dax Shepard]

Hood version, by the way, like the worst. Like how you figure out who's serving time for another person.

[Anderson .Paak]

That's crazy. My dad got in trouble, like, aren't you supposed to be in jail already? And it's like, nah, my brother's in there. And like it was some crazy stuff.

[Monica Padman]

Oh my God.

[Anderson .Paak]

They grew up in Philly. They're just different type mentality. And like a house full of kids and their dad just kicked them out once. They were like teenagers. He's like, I can't afford this. You guys figure it out. And then they grew up in the streets and then they joined the military. And he met my mom in Oxnard because he was stationed at the base and they met at some club. And my dad was actually in the process of being discharged for drugs. He had weed or something. He was getting discharged from the military and she was going on the stand trying to like help him, but it didn't work and he got kicked out the military. But they had me and my little sister in Oxnard and he was an.

[Dax Shepard]

Ass My dad's an addict. Single mom, stepdads. I saw some gnarly shit. But what's interesting, as I was thinking about your story is, like, I was seeing a stranger hurt my mom, which was its own terribleness. But at the same time, I feel like it'd be more complex if I was seeing my dad hurt my mom, who I love. Like, I hated this motherfucker, so that was fine.

[Anderson .Paak]

Right? Right. I was in denial as a kid. I remember seeing, you know, my mom getting beat, bled in the street, and. And I didn't want to believe that it was my dad. I was like, no, it was my uncle, you know, and he had a twin. And I remember being like, no, it's not him. And to my sisters, and we were all there, and we had to get out the house. And that was the last time I saw my pops, because he got sent to prison after that. But I remember just being like, no way. The memories I do have. And I was like, seven when he got locked up. But I really do remember him being around, and he had, like, classic cars and he was working on.

[Dax Shepard]

He was cool.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, he was really cool. My mom always says she never down talk to him or anything. He was a perfect dad until he got caught up with the drugs. He just. He couldn't beat it.

[Dax Shepard]

What was his drug of choice?

[Anderson .Paak]

I think it was crack. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

You know, which was so many people back then in the 80s. He was also alcoholic and just a rough life. And my mom tried to do everything she could with AA and all this stuff. He just couldn't beat it. And he had a lot of issues with that. So he went to prison for 14 years, something like that. And when he got out, I was like, in my early 20s. I was a struggling musician trying to make it happen. And he started reaching out again. And at first I was like, I don't want to talk that kind of, like a grudge with him. Last time I seen him, he was beating my mom to death. And I was like, I don't know. I don't want to do it. And then my sister was like, you might want to talk to him, because I don't think he has too long. He would leave messages on my voicemail singing, and you could tell he was dealing with time and having less of it. And he was getting real religious. And he was just telling me, like, I'm really proud of you, and I know you're a musician and everything. And I was like, all right, I'm gonna talk to him. And I'm glad I did. We got to talk, and he was telling me things like, I really wanted to be a musician, too. And I had a group as well with my brothers, and we used to sing. And I found out he had a little singing group, and he was on the Gong show and they won't. Yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Did they blast the gong on them?

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, they actually won.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Okay.

[Anderson .Paak]

I was in my early 20s, but now I'm 40.

[Dax Shepard]

Aren't you glad you got that? Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

You kind of get an understanding, especially as a man. Like, when you're young, you see your parents as your parents, and it just can't do no wrong. But then you get older and, like, oh, they were adults trying to navigate through life. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

You expect them to have done it, right.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I did a ton of repair with my dad before he died. And at the time, I don't even know. It was forcing me to do it because I didn't want to do all that. Now that I'm 12 years out from that, I tell people all the time, you got to do that for you. Because for the rest of your life, you did the right thing. That's the reward of it. You had the opportunity, and you don't want to, but for eternity, you did the right thing. And then your kids get older and you're flawed, and you go like, in the lens I was judging him through was so unfair. That's what I wrestle with now. It's just like, man, I was so judgmental of him, and now I'm like, oh, I'm over that. Come back.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, straight up.

[Dax Shepard]

Let me try again.

[Anderson .Paak]

Exactly.

[Monica Padman]

It's hard, though. Anger is an easier feeling than sadness or heartbreak. So, like, I think it's one thing when you're that age. It's easier to just be mad at him and. And put him in this box and like, yeah, that guy's fucked up. And then when you get the truth and really, it's sadness. It's. He couldn't do this. And that's sad for all of us. That's a harder thing to sit with.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

When you realize they were little boys, too. Yeah, they're just all little boys. We're all little boys, and we're trying.

[Anderson .Paak]

To act like the environments that they were in. I grew up in Ventura county, and my pops is in the trenches of north philly in the 70s with crack and heroin, all this stuff, and. And just talking about the epitome of just trying to survive.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

And my mom. All this stuff, you know? So each generation because of what they've been through. You're blessed because they had to go through a lot of stuff that you didn't have to go through. And you know me young, in my 20s, I'm just like, I don't give a. I was, like, trying to pave my own way. And I was like, later for this guy, he wasn't there. But now I'm 40, and I got my own kids, and I'm like, wow, I can't get that time back. I'm glad I got to get a little bit of. Of repair with him and just talk to him, hear him out.

[Dax Shepard]

The thing that hit me recently is I was thinking of my dad as this individual person, and then I'm this individual person, and then I have these kids, and I'm like, we're not individual. We're still one thing. I can feel the one thing. And then I have to acknowledge. I don't know if it ever stops. I think it's just this weird line. My dad was an iteration, and I got to improve a bit, and then hopefully this next iteration, but it's just iterations. It's this thing like the iPhone. Yes.

[Anderson .Paak]

Some of them are shitty. Some of them are better.

[Monica Padman]

Some more cameras, but they're all up there.

[Anderson .Paak]

You gotta put a case on all of them, though, and just hope for the best.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, but mom was a hustler, right? So mom got kind of gifted a strawberry stand.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

That's bizarre. She made it something. Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. So we're in Oxnard, and it's all agriculture. It's ran off of strawberries. And you can grow everything out there. But my mom, she tells me she was a pie head. She was. Was going to community college. She didn't really know what she was gonna do. She had two older kids, my two older sisters and one failed marriage with their dad. After my pops in the prison, I had a stepdad.

[Dax Shepard]

We're gonna thank him for the drum set.

[Anderson .Paak]

We're gonna thank him for the drum set, thank him for being around. It was great. He came in, I was like, 7 years old, and he was my pops, but he was also an addict.

[Dax Shepard]

We're a good time till we're not.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

You either love him or.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

They're easy to fall for. And then. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

So, you know, they had a good time. Time.

[Monica Padman]

Was the first husband also an addict? Yeah, okay, sure.

[Dax Shepard]

My mom married four addicts.

[Anderson .Paak]

Sh. Crazy, too, because the first two husbands, they have the same name, too.

[Dax Shepard]

I got two days.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, it's insane.

[Dax Shepard]

My mom says if she met a Dave who's an addict, the next step was the chapel. Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. My mom has a type. So, yeah, he was cool. He did get me the drum set. He had his own issues to go back. My mom did get gifted a strawberry stand from another entrepreneur that was in the city. His name was Buster, and he had restaurants and strawberry stands, all the stuff. And he's like, you're not doing nothing. Run this. And he was her friend, and she just took it over and she turned that into multi. Million dollar business.

[Monica Padman]

Whoa.

[Anderson .Paak]

And so she was pretty much as a farmer. She. She started small and was delivering to local restaurants and everything. And then eventually got big and got investors and then got in over her head, and then that's how she ended up in prison.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, here's the sad part, right? It's like.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, you're like, w. In prison.

[Monica Padman]

I didn't know there was going to be that term.

[Anderson .Paak]

Don't get too.

[Monica Padman]

You didn't know either.

[Dax Shepard]

Probably the shoe will drop. Here's where the unfairness of this place is, which is like, you can have that hustle and you can grow and you can be so entrepreneurial, but if you don't have the parents that teach you about a tax lawyer and this. And that's ultimately it, Right? Tax evasion.

[Anderson .Paak]

That was it.

[Dax Shepard]

And you're a senior.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. And so her and my stepdad were in the business together and stuff piled on and they were gambling and. And all this money owed.

[Dax Shepard]

Was she addicty at all or no?

[Anderson .Paak]

Nah. My mom didn't smoke, didn't drink, doesn't curse opposite the tracks. Diet Coke. But she just quit. I quit smoking. She quit Diet Coke.

[Monica Padman]

That's fine.

[Anderson .Paak]

We're both hanging in there.

[Dax Shepard]

She doesn't need to quit Diet Coke. Go back on Diet Coke. I needed something.

[Anderson .Paak]

Cause she was on my top about the smoke. I went, well, look at you. You go a week without that crack. And she's like, I can do it. And then she did it. And I was like, oh, shit.

[Dax Shepard]

Weed or cigarettes?

[Anderson .Paak]

Both. I was a spliff guy.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, okay. You were a mix. Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

Sig of weed.

[Dax Shepard]

How long you been off that? That Couple hours.

[Anderson .Paak]

October. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Since noon.

[Monica Padman]

You're doing it.

[Dax Shepard]

Since his lunch with the girl discovered a black obsidian.

[Anderson .Paak]

I'm in Stones now.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, I kicked that. Finally.

[Dax Shepard]

How's the sleep?

[Anderson .Paak]

Sleep's been great. The dreams have been real.

[Dax Shepard]

Real dreams come back, right?

[Anderson .Paak]

The dreams are vivid.

[Monica Padman]

And now no booze. You're really just Taking out all the fun.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Wait, prison?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. So mom goes away. It's senior year.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, Senior year, I get in office, it's all over the newspaper, Ventura County. Not much happens. And so this was big news for the whole city. Like, we took down. She owed millions. She owed a lot of people.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, hold on, though. It sounds like maybe gambling might be her advice.

[Anderson .Paak]

Oh, that was it. Yeah. That was big vice, gambling. They were good at it. They would go every weekend and take my friends, like, you guys want to go to Caesar's Palace? And we'd be, like, 12 and, like, have our own room. Buffet bar. They give us little cards. Go see Carrot Top.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, we saw Carrot Top five times.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, come on. Let's see Carrot Top.

[Monica Padman]

You should probably incorporate Carrot Top into a song.

[Anderson .Paak]

That's my. That's my boy. Man, you gotta be doing something right, being that long in Vegas.

[Dax Shepard]

A couple million smiles.

[Anderson .Paak]

He's. Yes. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah. Don't underestimate it.

[Anderson .Paak]

Sure.

[Dax Shepard]

Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert if you dare. We are supported by all state. Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. That's smart. Smart. Not checking the pockets of your jeans before doing laundry. Classic oversight. That mystery clunking in the dryer. Yeah, that was your lip balm's final moments. And somehow there's always one random receipt in there to dissolve into confetti. Yeah, checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote. That could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary, subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate North America Insurance Company Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. You. We are supported by HubSpot. Did you know that most businesses, Monica, only use 20% of their data?

[Monica Padman]

That's like reading a book with most of the pages torn out.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, or paying for a coffee. That's 1/5 full.

[Monica Padman]

Yuck.

[Dax Shepard]

Point is, you miss a lot unless you use HubSpot. Their customer platform gives you access to the data you need to grow your business. The insights trapped in emails, call logs and transcripts. All that unstructured data that makes all the difference. Because when you know more, you grow more. And when you get a full cup of coffee, you can do more, too. But I digress. Visit HubSpot.com today we are supported by Kodiak Cakes. I've learned the hard way that if I don't eat something real in the morning, my entire day goes off the rails. I'll tell myself I'm too busy, then suddenly it's noon. I'M starving and I'm making a not so great decision. That's why I've been leaning on Kodiak's frozen power waffles and flapjacks. They're genuinely easy. Heat them up, eat, done. But they actually hold me over. They're protein packed with 12 to 14 grams of protein per serving, crafted with 100% whole grains and a good source of fiber, which makes a big difference for me. It also helps that they taste great. The buttermilk and vanilla ones are so good, but they've got blueberry, chocolate chip, even gluten free options. That's me. So it doesn't feel like a punishment breakfast.

[Monica Padman]

I love these. I've been eating these for years. Years. I'm so glad they're sponsoring us.

[Dax Shepard]

Power packed with the fiber and the protein. If you're trying to make a simple reset this year or just want a fast breakfast or snack that actually works, Kodiak makes it easy. Find Kodiak frozen waffles and flapjacks in the frozen aisle at your local grocery store. They're the ones with the bear on the box and a proud partner of U.S. ski and Snowboarding. We are supported by Quince.

[Monica Padman]

I love Quince.

[Dax Shepard]

Who did we just run into that said they were buying Quince because of our show? It was on the red carpet, wasn't it? It was o we were getting interviewed.

[Monica Padman]

Yes, yes.

[Dax Shepard]

And I said, well, you're welcome. I don't feel the least bit bad driving anyone to Quint because the quality is outstanding.

[Monica Padman]

It really is. Their clothes are great and also their homegoods are great.

[Dax Shepard]

They're solid. That's the thing with Quint. They figured out how to deliver premium quality without the luxury markup. We're talking Mongolian cashmere sweaters, Italian leather outerwear, wool coats that are built to last multiple seasons. They cut out the middlemen and work directly with trusted factories that have real standards for craftsmanship and ethical production. So you're getting the same quality you'd expect from high end brands, just at prices that actually make sense. These aren't trendy pieces that fall apart after one season. They're classic styles you'll reach for year after year. Refresh your winter wardrobe with Quince. Go to quince.comstacks for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q U I n c e.comdax for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.comdax. Okay, so you're making music in your room You're a drummer first, right? That's what brings you to the party. You start in sixth grade. But then this kid arrives, your stepdad. He wants to be a drummer, but he doesn't really fuck with it. And then you get into it, and then. When do we start adding? I don't know. What you get next? Some equipment?

[Anderson .Paak]

Yes. So my oldest sister is 10 years older, so they're, like, already out of college. And so I start playing in church.

[Dax Shepard]

Church.

[Anderson .Paak]

There's not a lot of black people in the county, but that's where all of them are at. A lot of people come from the military, so they find churches. So I grew up playing there, and it's like full on gospel. I learned how to play gospel, like, from 12 all the way till I could. I mean, that's what was my first job. I was getting paid. I played all the way to almost my 30s. And I learned so much just playing with me and organists. Jerry Mitchell was the one that played organ. He taught me so much just about musicality. And in church, it's not supposed to be about you. You're playing as a vessel and to provide a service. It's different than when, you know, I'm playing Coachella and it's like, o, come on, y'. All. It's like, yeah, we're, like, playing for church and you're playing for the choir. People are catching the spirit and stuff. And I had to learn how to play behind. Play Pocket is what they call it. Nothing flashy. Play the groove. You play straight. If you slow down, you get embarrassed. Like, it was very, very strict. But it's the best. Musicians come out of church and singers, as you know. So that was, like, my schooling. And I started there, and then my sister started dating this guy from New York, Will. He was the first real person I met from, like, Brooklyn, and he had dreams of being a rapper, so he came out to LA to be a rapper, and he met my sister, and she was dating him. And I just thought he was the coolest dude because I was, like, in the hip hop. He was like, you don't know about Jay Z. You don't know about Nas. Like, what the hell are you doing, Ghost Face?

[Dax Shepard]

Were you, like, in the Guru and jazz and all the music stuff?

[Anderson .Paak]

No, I was into, like, Snoop pop, Ice Cube, Lil Wayne, Nelly. Very west coast, because, like, we're from the west coast, and. And I grew up listening to Tupac and everything. It was very serious when he died, and everything was like, very much like West Coast. You Know Biggie, all that stuff. So when he came, we were still kind of dealing with the shock waves. Was like losing like Tupac and all these rappers. So he came. I just started high school and I was playing drums and I was like super Christian too, because I didn't grow up in church.

[Dax Shepard]

Can I also add, and this is not to embarrass you, Brandon was chubby. Yeah, no, he was Brandon then. Brandon was chubby and had braces.

[Anderson .Paak]

Bubba.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, he was Bubba Lovejoy and he had braces.

[Anderson .Paak]

It was 200 plus.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you needed a glow up.

[Anderson .Paak]

I needed a glow up. I needed something and I needed something fast.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, you needed like a mentor to.

[Anderson .Paak]

Help years before Ozempic. Yeah. So yeah, it needed something. He was definitely there. He was the Brooklyn dude.

[Dax Shepard]

Because you were all girls all around, you didn't have a dude in your life.

[Anderson .Paak]

Two older sisters, one little sister. Sister, God, sisters. It was a house full of women all the time.

[Monica Padman]

Estrogen fest.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, estrogen fest. I had Boo. That was fitting right in.

[Monica Padman]

Also the 10 year old older sister. That's this very specific dynamic. I have a little brother who's eight years younger than me. He just had two moms. Yeah, one was meaner than the other. Like, they're just all mean to you.

[Anderson .Paak]

Exactly. Everyone's fighting. I'm just breaking up stuff. Yeah, it was crazy. So he came through and he was like, yo. And I was playing drums, I was like, I wanna get into other stuff. I think I want to dj. You know, back then you could look at magazines, hit source and all this stuff. And I was like, I want to dj. I don't DJ my high school party stuff. And he knew how to dj. Aj, Everything I brought up, he's like, oh, I know how to do that. Teach you how to do that. And so I was playing drums and I would save up, I get my check from church and my parents would always be like, whatever you want. If you save half of it, we'll match it.

[Dax Shepard]

Nice.

[Anderson .Paak]

And so boom. So I was like, I want turntables. And I got turntables. That kind of sparked everything. I got the turntables and I started getting records and crates. And my brother in law was like showing me how to scratch and mix and everything. Then I started DJing, like at the Boys and Girls club. And I started DJing all my house parties in high school. And after that I was like, now to make beats, I want to make the stuff that I'm gonna get.

[Dax Shepard]

The 808.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. So I got the NPC. So I asked my brother in law, like, what should I do? And he's like, you gotta get an npc. I like, what the hell is that? And we go in the guitar center book and it's like right there. And he's like, this is what Kanye, Timberland, Dre. This is what they all use.

[Dax Shepard]

How empowering to see that. Wait, I can have the thing they're all using? It's not like only three grand. Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

Which should have been like 300,000 back then. And these guys were really using it. And it was just like a brick of a machine. I didn't know how I was gonna use, but I was gonna learn. And he knew how to do it. He's like, you chop up the samp. And so I saved. They met me halfway. I got the NPC 2000 and that's when I started making beats. And my mom had a CD collection of old school stuff, and I would take her CDs and that was it. I'm on studio in my room from high school on, and I had my mixer and my NPC and I started making beats. And that's when I was like, okay, I want to do this.

[Dax Shepard]

I want to add, not to get corny, but the democratization of sampling for musicians. I can't remember who was it Ronson that made that like multi part history? And it like goes into just sampling. The power of sampling these kids that can be in a bedroom and they don't have to have access to these instruments. You can have the whole world right there. It's so powerful, that breakthrough.

[Anderson .Paak]

It's how a genre is created. Hip hop was created off that.

[Dax Shepard]

And isn't it crazy if you open the gates and let everyone in, how much shit explodes out of it?

[Anderson .Paak]

It's insane. That just blows my mind that. That out of necessity, a whole genre, a whole culture is born with kids that had nothing and they just want to party. They want some sort of release.

[Dax Shepard]

They want to regulate.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, we want to cope with all this shit that's going on, and let's just go to park and just vibe out and taking ingenuity. We don't want this beat to ever stop. So how do we do that? Okay, let's take two of the records and make a loop and like, it doesn't have to end. That's insane to me.

[Dax Shepard]

We rarely feel good, so when we do, we don't want it to end.

[Anderson .Paak]

We don't want this to ever stop. We don't want the party to stop. And so. So these things were not made to do that. And that's pure ingenuity. Like, we're gonna do something that has never been done from there. It's births me. That's totally. Where I come from is like, watching hip hop, and I want it to.

[Dax Shepard]

Be that, you know, you've got the, like, out in the woods section of your life. Right. You got to, like, graduate to trimming weed in Santa Barbara, to getting fired, to married child. We should start with Venice. You decide. I'm gonna do a whole album. That's first.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yep.

[Dax Shepard]

And so how do you come to put that whole thing together? Because that predates Dre discovering.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

Right. So you do Venice first.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

You just a hustler, Right. You became a videographer and did all this work for Dumbledore.

[Anderson .Paak]

Dumbfounded, yes. He was one of the guys that championed me early on, moved to la, and I was trying to support my family and really make it, and he was already doing it. He was taking his YouTube following and was killing it and transitioned over to being his own artist and was showing me how to be an independent artist. He was like, you don't need a label. I got the platform. I'm making my own merch. I'm going viral. All these new things, to me, I.

[Dax Shepard]

Bring up that point in your life because I think a lot of people want to be a genius and get discovered. But Monica started as a babysitter at our house, and now she has the house across the street. Like, you got to figure out. You got to. To see whatever thing can be done for someone who can help and humble yourself and do it. That's why I want people to know that little part of the story.

[Anderson .Paak]

That's awesome. Trait. I've heard, like, Issa Ray talk about this. Instead of, like, looking up, just look to the side of you sometimes. It's like, the people right there.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. There's geniuses all around.

[Anderson .Paak]

Geniuses.

[Dax Shepard]

They just haven't been anointed yet. Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. So as I get older, I'm very much into that huge part of my content. My triple play, everybody. So that's awesome.

[Monica Padman]

Sometimes I'm, like, looking around at people who are so upset with their life. Like, I don't have a job. I don't think. I'm like, there's a job right there. Just go do it.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I think the step is, like, obscurity and then massive success. There's no in between.

[Anderson .Paak]

I was thinking that, too, though. I come from when my parents got put to prison. I was 17 before that, I was like, I'm getting signed. I was on that kind of trajectory. I was like, I'm making beats. I'm going to be signing Jay Z up. There's no reason why I'm not. I'm killing it. I'm young.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm gorgeous.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, I'm gorgeous. Smile. You know, who's going to deny this? And the whole world turned upside down. People were like, get a job, kid. I was like, oh, shit, I'm not signed and I'm 18. I guess I didn't make it, you know?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, it's over.

[Anderson .Paak]

It's over for me. I'm get a job. And that's what I did. I just sold my shit and was like, I'm just going to work. And so by the time I met Dumbfound, I had a kid, I was like, 21 or something, and I had so much going on, but I was humbled so much that I was like, hey, this guy is so cool. He's giving me a chance. I want to work with them. I'm be his hype man. I was like his Flavor Flav to his audience. And he just did shows for, like, thousands of Asian kids. And I had never really even paid attention to Asian people before that. Like, I'm Korean, but we didn't grow up Korean. I grew up black. Like, you know, I didn't know what biracial was. None of that stuff was like, when the cops see me, they see black. Like, that was always what my parents said. So when I met him, he introduced me to, like, all this stuff, and I was like, oh, yeah, I'm Korean, too. It became exotic. You know, I'm Korean as. Yeah, yeah, I'm Korean.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

And now we're trending hard, so I'm like, yeah, they're claiming me and everything and awards. But he brought me into all that world. He reached out, and that's when I went from the transition from breezy lovejoy. That's what I was all through high school and everything, to, okay, I'm gonna go by Anderson Pack, which is just my last name and my middle name.

[Dax Shepard]

And your middle name is really Pac?

[Anderson .Paak]

Yes, yes.

[Dax Shepard]

So people be in the comments going, you're saying his name wrong. It's like, we can go both ways. So clear that up.

[Anderson .Paak]

My old manager, that was his whole shtick. He was like, say it's Pack, but people will argue. And you want people to talk.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God.

[Anderson .Paak]

They won't know if it's packed talk and all this stuff, and it'll Be like, they won't know. If you're a group, you want the conversation to flow. And I was like, what the hell?

[Monica Padman]

Humans are so obvious.

[Dax Shepard]

I know. And yet no one capitalizes on it.

[Anderson .Paak]

They are. There's people that study them. They're like, yeah, this is going to work.

[Monica Padman]

What they do.

[Dax Shepard]

That's what I can do. Right. Can dispassionately just look at us and go like, well, here's a pattern. It doesn't get bogged down on your own. Yeah. So I guess what I want to say about Venice, though, is what's obvious is you're already somehow comfortable. You have to be comfortable with. You're availing yourself to help a lot. Right. Cause you're getting a ton of people to work with you. But maybe you didn't warrant yet. Would you say that you assembled a lot of people for that?

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, but honestly, everybody was coming up back then, and it was just timing. I didn't have no buzz or anything. But some of the people that were buzzier and were working on that project, it was a good time because a lot of people were coming out of the beat scene, the soundcloud scene, and there wasn't really a vocalist to pair with these kind of beats that were going on. All we wanted was like, yeah, get some views on SoundCloud SP. None of that shit mattered to us back then. There was a place called Low End Theory where they had the best sound system. People like Gaslamp and Flying Lotus, they will all be there DJing at the airliner, and every night that would be the spot. And so if they played your shit, that was the win, the epitome of getting a Grammy. We were making music to be played on that kind of sound system. And that's what very much what Venice was. I had songs like For Malibu, I had the Bird, I had all that stuff. But when I was hanging in this scene, I was like, damn, I want bangers. You know, I want something that go viral on SoundCloud. And then that's how I met with the producer, Low Death. And I met with people like Taku and tokimonsters, a bunch of people on there that were big in the beat scene. And that's where I was headed towards. And one of the songs that we did was a song called Drugs, where I'm like experimenting with, like, autotune and 808.

[Dax Shepard]

I had a question about Drugs. It seems to me that it's about that false intimacy of mdma.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, she don't give a fuck. She don't like. But when we have drugs, she'd be my wife. Wifey.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, it is. It's funny too, because you go like, yeah, it's fake. But then now I'm also older and I'm like, but nothing's fake.

[Anderson .Paak]

Ignorance is bliss.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, nothing's fake. It can be real for five hours.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, it was very much real.

[Monica Padman]

But also the drug of fame could be replaced in that too. It's like the exact same thing.

[Anderson .Paak]

Absolutely. Yeah. I was having a lot of fun with that. And that was like one of the first time I ever got in the studio and like played with Autotune. It was by mistake. Mistake. The producer, like, left it on. I was like, this is great.

[Dax Shepard]

At that moment, had you figured out yet what you were gonna bet on? Because you have a lot of things you could be doubling down on. Right. You don't know if it's going to be your voice. You don't know if it's your drumming and musicality. You don't know if it's your beats and creativity, if it's your lyrics. I mean, I think now, like, I was watching you and Quest love talk and the way he described your voice had to be so flattering.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, right.

[Dax Shepard]

He's just like, it is the voice we have. It has the most texture and the most everything in it. The whole story, the whole black stories in this rasp. And so now we know that. But then did you know that? What did you think then?

[Anderson .Paak]

I was trying to find it. I was very much just doing any and everything. Me playing drums and performing. I didn't even know that was gonna be that.

[Dax Shepard]

Say, that's the second thing that's most appealing about you.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. All these things, we were just trying to find it. We were playing all over LA and people didn't give a shit. It was like we were just trying to get something to stick. And like I said, we found this little scene and this pocket with like the beat scene and stuff. And it was like, hey, they're fucking with us.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm gonna compliment you. That's how talented and versatile you are is like, even if you find this little pocket for five minutes, you figure out how to make it work in that pocket.

[Anderson .Paak]

And I was always person that was kind of thinking few years ahead. So I was always saving songs. I was like, these are good, but I know we don't have the audience yet, so I'm not gonna blow it. Actually. I'm gonna make my albums like locations because I want to be able to put these Batch of songs over here.

[Dax Shepard]

Compartmentalize.

[Anderson .Paak]

Compartmentalize them very much like that. Like still, even with all my side quests and all this stuff, it's because. Because I want a place to put all these songs and stuff so I need to posture them right.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, all the facets to you. Yeah, there's like a hundred facets.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

So like that's this facet. Yeah, that's this.

[Anderson .Paak]

I want it. There's a guy that wants to do the deep folky stuff. There's also the guy that wants to do MDMA and like have something for that too. Yeah. And I hate not having it. I want a banger too and. But I also want the deep stuff and the sad. So I was very much like that. But on Venice I was trying to find it and really wasn't until a few years later when I met Knowledge and started working with him that I found that kind of raspier tone.

[Dax Shepard]

Smooth as a. Yeah. Suede on the inside. Do you remember I sent you a video of my then 8 year old daughter singing that in the backseat? Do you remember that I sent you a video? She knows it.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

Beginning to end.

[Monica Padman]

That's so cute.

[Anderson .Paak]

Call you a.

[Dax Shepard]

It's because you're my bitch.

[Anderson .Paak]

Louder, baby.

[Dax Shepard]

As long as you ain't no one else call you then there won't be no problem.

[Monica Padman]

Was your.

[Dax Shepard]

What are you doing over there?

[Monica Padman]

I'm trying to get a question.

[Dax Shepard]

If I call you a trinkled state.

[Anderson .Paak]

Call you a treat and as long.

[Dax Shepard]

As you don't come up short then.

[Monica Padman]

There won't be no problem Switch to my mental state. No how. Okay. You just seem very happy. Like you have like a happy disposition and it's really lovely. It might be the smile.

[Dax Shepard]

I have the theme. It's the smile.

[Monica Padman]

Is that your disposition or during that time were you struggling? Yeah. Is it a mask?

[Anderson .Paak]

Part of it is probably like a tick.

[Dax Shepard]

It was survival where you're at.

[Anderson .Paak]

It was.

[Dax Shepard]

Because if you tried to be hard, you were going to get tested.

[Anderson .Paak]

Exactly. I'm a people pleaser. I'm like a host. I can feel it. It hurts me when people are embarrassed or like if something don't feel right. I wish I could be one of those dudes. Don't give a.

[Dax Shepard]

Show her your hard face. You did your hard face. Look at his hard face.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

He goes, I can't even do it because my teeth don't fit in my mouth.

[Monica Padman]

Very soft, physical.

[Anderson .Paak]

It just doesn't work. And I always tend to hang with people that just don't give a. Because I really admire that. But I'm very much like, don't sit. Come on. Why you say that? You know?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

And so I think a lot of that is that. And yeah, also too. You know, these big ass teeth are hard to keep, you know, the way. But Nori actually said something too. Is like someone that smiles like that, they must be trying to protect their peace. And I think that's probably like a big part of it too.

[Monica Padman]

In the time when your mom had to go to prison and you're struggling and you're having all these jobs, I imagine. I mean, I don't know, maybe you are just like a really optimistic person. Maybe you looked at all that. It's just like, oh, it's fine, it's going to be fine. Or were you like, fuck, yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

I went into a completely. I don't know if it's depression or whatnot, but I quit everything I was doing before that. I was real optimistic. I thought I was gonna get signed all stuff. And I went completely. I was like, punk. Stopped listening to hip hop. I did try to get signed and stuff and got really discouraged because the meetings I did have, they were like, you're cool, but we want to sound more like this. And I was just like, oh, it's not what I thought it wasn't gonna be. And I got rejected.

[Dax Shepard]

And, well, your lane didn't really exist. In their defense. They didn't. I don't know how we're marketing this guy's. He R and B. Is he soul?

[Anderson .Paak]

Is he. What do you do? And I was like, okay, whatever, I'm done with this. And parents locked up.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Did you feel guilty about. So when you said earlier your parents, like matched your money, which I think is like a beautiful thing. I can imagine that if then they had to go to prison because of money stuff.

[Anderson .Paak]

Right.

[Monica Padman]

I would be like, why'd you give me all this money if you didn't have any? Did you have any guilt around that?

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, we were all really spoiled coming up. Even my older sisters. We didn't know what was going on until it happened. Our world got turned upside down. Before that, we were, like, living in mansions. My folks took care of my older sisters and their husband. Everything and everybody was taken care of. And then the rug got swept up under us. And so it was a rude awakening for us. I was just like, why, God? Why us? My mom wasn't like a criminal. I was just thinking, like, the worst things could be happening to her in prison and stuff. And I was just like, this is terrible. I was just dealing with that. And then on top of that, I was so broke, I couldn't pay attention. My license would get suspended because I couldn't pay for parking tickets and stuff. Then I couldn't go visit my mom because you need a license and all this stuff. It was just, like, a lot of the guilt and shame, and I wanted to be doing better when I visit her. And she's like, so, what's new? And I was like, I don't know. I'm selling weed.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm doing about as much as you're doing sitting here in prison. We got about the same productivity level. I know, but I got no excuse. We made about the same amount of money this year.

[Monica Padman]

It's so sad.

[Anderson .Paak]

That's facts. Holy shit.

[Dax Shepard]

So you're promoting Venice, and you're on Sway, and that's where Dre hears you. Is that apocryphal?

[Anderson .Paak]

Venice. And Venice has, like, got a bunch of different styles on it. We were trying to get to Dre's here when I had Venice, but he wasn't feeling it at the time. And I did go on Sway and do some stuff. My style, it wasn't cohesive back then. It was like, I would have a song with Autotune, then I would have a future funk song, then I would have House. It was all over the place. And then I met Knowledge, this producer, through Twitter again, and he had Rebound. One of the songs that I had out, it was actually, like, a breezy Lovejoy song that I had out before Venice, like, from my mixtape pyp, and he had that remix. He was another kid that was in the beat scene and was doing remixes. I was a big fan of him. He was big on Bandcamp, so he was like, again, another indie thing. Wasn't doing the whole streaming thing. It was, like, straight direct to his fans, making money that way. And I was buying all his stuff from Bandcamp, and then he reached out, and I was like, oh, sick. And back then, it was like, the equivalent of getting hit up by Dre. Like, I was a big fan of him as well. He was like, let me. And he sent me, like, 100 beats, and suede was one of those beats, and I was recording at dumbfounded studio that he let me use, and that's when I wrote that song. I remember after I wrote it, it was like, the chorus is like, if I call you a bitch because you my bitch, and as long as someone else call you bitch, then it won't be no problems. And If I call you a trick? Cause you paid rent if you need.

[Dax Shepard]

Me to remind you it's been a minute.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. I was, like, a little on the fence about this song. Is this too much? His music put me in this, like, pimp from Mississipp and this Blaxploitation kind of feel, and it brought out that gritty tone that I've been kind of flirting with.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you know Van Hunt? Yeah. So I was a huge Van Hunt fan. And to me, when I heard that, I was like, oh, it's got that Van Hunt.

[Anderson .Paak]

And people used to always be like, you and Van, you know?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

I really leaned into that with his production. And we got signed to Stone's Throw as a duo, and they put Suede out. That was the first single. And then that was, like, making its rounds. And everyone was like, that song is important. You're that kid that does Suede. And I was like, cool. This is happening. That was my first deal with a group. But I was like, hey, at least I'm sign. And that made its way to Dre. So that song got to Dre's ears through his writers that he was working with at the time, which ended up being Compton. But he was working with these writers, Mez and jt, and they were like, come to the studio. Dre wants to meet you. And I almost didn't go because I didn't think it was legit back then. Everybody would be saying, dre wants to work, because there was Detox. And for years, you know, this mythical album that never came out was, like, a thing that everyone was working on. So at that time, I was like, I'm doing my own thing. I'm not a writer for other people. Like, I'm not to going. Going to do it.

[Dax Shepard]

All the fear talking.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, all the fear talk.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, you can create a really compelling reason. You can buy.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yes, but you buy.

[Dax Shepard]

It's like. It's logically sound. You can trick yourself, and you're just scared of shit.

[Anderson .Paak]

I was.

[Dax Shepard]

Because your hero just invited you over.

[Anderson .Paak]

Top of the Tops, number one. That's the top. So I had put it out my mind that I would even meet him. And then when they said, he wants to meet you this and that, I was like, nah. And then they begged me, and I went and I met him, and I was like, Whoa, he's like 10 foot.

[Dax Shepard]

Tall for the listener. He just pointed at me.

[Anderson .Paak]

He's like, you. A giant amongst men. Met him in dlc. They're just chilling. I go in the Studio. I meet the writers. They're like, we love Suede. I'm like, cool, let's work. And they're like, we want Dre to hear the song. I'm like, he hasn't heard it yet. And they're like, no. I'm like, okay, well, maybe you want to get kicked out. Like, what if he doesn't like it?

[Dax Shepard]

I can imagine the anxiety of the situation. You're in the room while he's listening to it. Do you look at him, or do you look somewhere else and try to peep him out the corner of your eyes?

[Anderson .Paak]

I was looking at his feet. I looked at his feet. That's why I realized he wears the same shoes every day, wears white Air Force ones. I was like, yeah, that's crazy. That's Trey's fit. Yeah. And he's, like, blasting it. And I look up, and he's like, play it again. You know? Then he goes like this. Like this.

[Dax Shepard]

Double thumbs up.

[Anderson .Paak]

Double thumbs up. He's like, let's work. It's gangster.

[Monica Padman]

Amazing. Do you replay that ever in your mind?

[Anderson .Paak]

All the time.

[Monica Padman]

You do?

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, all the time.

[Dax Shepard]

There's these little moments, right? And they're generally, I think, before you, quote, made it. And they don't really get better.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, they don't.

[Dax Shepard]

I gotta imagine that's gotta be close to the pinnacle.

[Anderson .Paak]

It was the hugest thing. And they were like, don't tell anyone about this. And, I mean, I told everybody as soon as I left. Where's Air Forces? He was banging my. They love it to play it 12 times. I'm on. Don't talk to me. I'm on, bro. Just letting you know we're done.

[Dax Shepard]

There's. Don't include changed.

[Anderson .Paak]

I changed a lot. Yeah. So I was on Top of the World, and they just kept, you know.

[Dax Shepard]

Inviting me back, and you end up on six tracks.

[Anderson .Paak]

You end up six tracks. And I would have never thought Dre would have put his album out before I did. I had been his out before that. And then he put out Compton. And so then I was just, like, on a rocket after that. And everyone was like, who's this kid? Before that? I couldn't buy a deal. And everyone was like, yeah, it's Dre, guy. I wasn't signed. Still had Malibu in the oven.

[Dax Shepard]

That didn't come out on Aftermath, though, right? Nah, he let you put that out even though he was about to sign you.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, he was doing his thing. He was very busy with the movie and with everything. They had just, like, did the Apple deal. After that, I was just starting the tour and stuff, and so I was taking meetings and everything, but I knew in my heart, like, I'm not going to sign anybody else unless Dre. You know, Dre gave me the chance. I'm going to go with him. But, yeah, he was taking his time. So I was like, okay, I'm going to put this album out indie with the same people I did. And it was really a blessing because now I got those masters. And that album really changed everything for me.

[Dax Shepard]

That was good, that album. And now you get a lot of critical acclaim off of Malibu. Dream Boomers on Malibu, which I just love. I already told you how powerful that is. Then this other magical thing happens, which is in promotion of Malibu, you do Tiny Desk. And for anyone who's not seen this Tiny Desk, it is the best of the Tiny Desk. Probably viewed it 200 times. And I just want to watch the beginning.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, no, we're making him watch a thing.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, no, no. He knows.

[Anderson .Paak]

He knows.

[Dax Shepard]

He looks cute in this. You look at this guy.

[Anderson .Paak]

They did me a real solid because they start in tight and then they back up and they're like, he's on the drums. Yeah. You don't see it. And I think that was huge.

[Dax Shepard]

What's with the cloth over the snare?

[Anderson .Paak]

What's happening just to dampen it? Snare can be really loud, especially in a room like that.

[Dax Shepard]

Because I'm gonna argue this is where the second thing, which is you playing drums.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Because now we go, this guy's a real musician. This is so 70s. And these are your Free Nationals.

[Anderson .Paak]

These are my brothers. We have been playing plan 15 years plus.

[Dax Shepard]

That's a great album, the Free Nationals album.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

It's amazing.

[Dax Shepard]

That happens. And what happens post Tiny Desk?

[Anderson .Paak]

That was our first viral thing, probably to date. My biggest thing. It's crazy, too, because, you know, before that, we spent thousands on these big promotional things. And the biggest thing is just us playing in office.

[Monica Padman]

Tiny Desk really has the power to do it. Like dochi. I mean, I feel like so many people get seen on a grand scale.

[Anderson .Paak]

With that and timing, you know, Tiny Desk was still a baby, too. I wanted to do Tiny Desk. And I was telling my PR at the time, I was like, I want to do tinnitus. They were like, what? The thing that made me want to do it was I saw T Pain do it. It went crazy for him, too, because that was like a performance that he did without the autotune. And people were like, he could really sing So I was like, this could be cool for us to just play, because we were very much. You needed to see us live to believe it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

And we had been playing in clubs and all this stuff, and we were trying to tour and all this stuff, but they didn't know what we were. And I would tell people, we're a band. We're like the Chili Peppers. The music is kind of all over the place, but once you see us, we're really just like a band. And we're a rock. Rock band. Yeah. And so this really made it plain. And I didn't really even know how big, like, the drumming and performing thing was until this. I was playing drums, and it came out of necessity. I would rather not. It's really tough. But my band was, like, really spoiled, and we're all spoiled. Like, I'm a drummer and we couldn't keep a drummer. All the good drummers that we had, they would all get gigs. They play with us for a little bit, then they're off playing for whoever. And so I'm like, it. I'll play. I would want to be front man.

[Dax Shepard]

You know, like, yeah, you want to dance around? Yeah, I'll dance around.

[Anderson .Paak]

Around, like, sweaty. And we're playing all these clubs, and they're like, whatever. After this, I was like, oh, I'm staying on the drums.

[Dax Shepard]

When you perform now, how often are you on the drums?

[Anderson .Paak]

Half and half. I have a drummer that plays too well now.

[Dax Shepard]

You can afford the things. Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

It's like, you're going to stay now.

[Monica Padman]

I know. And now people want to see you on the drum.

[Anderson .Paak]

Exactly. So it's a whole thing. I got to keep it up. You got to keep it going, or else you get rusty. It's tough, man. But, yeah, it was huge. And I didn't know it was going to be huge. We were kind of. Of dreading it.

[Dax Shepard]

You know, we've been interviewing a lot of musicians lately, and we've had a couple. Like, Luke Combs had this moment. Chris Stapleton had this moment. These award shows can be that moment where it's like Carson in the 80s. If you're a standup, you crush, you get a sitcom. Literally Monday, right? For musicians, it's these little sparks. Like, I see that tiny desk, and I think, like, Van Hunt should have been you. He should have had a ride like yours. But he didn't have a tiny desk or he didn't have the award show. It's like the music was there. It's crazy how precarious, serious, all this Is.

[Anderson .Paak]

Isn't it timing? It's so crazy because we easily could have canceled that too. I woke up hung over. I forgot that I'm like, who booked this? And they're like, you did. Like, remember you were begging us to do Hungover. I'm not gonna do this. Playing in the office at 11:00am Like, I sound like an NPR job.

[Dax Shepard]

In the world.

[Anderson .Paak]

We don't have to do this. You don't have to listen to everything.

[Dax Shepard]

Aspirin.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, exactly. But we did it, and thank God it changed our lives. And after that, we were just, boom, every festival.

[Dax Shepard]

And you got music in an Apple commercial, you got music in huge video games. These IP video games. All right, so now you're starting to make money. So what does Anderson do with some money?

[Anderson .Paak]

I got my mom house. That was the first thing my mom gets out of prison. And each year it was getting better. But that was my main thing, like, taking care of my fam. My wife at the time was from Korea. She was full time mom. I had a little, little kid at the time, and so I was all about, like, I just want to pay my bills. I want insurance, I want a car.

[Dax Shepard]

What was the first car you bought?

[Anderson .Paak]

BMW. I ate, like, the first, like, fancy one.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

And it was the one with the doors lift up.

[Dax Shepard]

It kind of looks like a back.

[Anderson .Paak]

To the future car. It was really cool. They stopped making them. I thought it was one of the sexiest, coolest cars.

[Dax Shepard]

It was. No one knowing about those.

[Anderson .Paak]

Super not practical for having a family and stuff. You run over one pothole, it's finished. But, man, it was like a hybrid. It was so cool. Butterfly doors was like, I made it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Made that on the COVID of Oxnard.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. But, yeah, I was just doing things like that. I got my family into a proper place and got my mom a place. I was like, mom, I got some money. Like, where you want to live? And she was like, atlanta. I was like, thank God. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Get you into 3,4000 square feet.

[Anderson .Paak]

2 of those.

[Dax Shepard]

Let's. Let's do that. We got a hit on Silk Sonic. How do you and Bruno come to know each other?

[Anderson .Paak]

We met not too soon after that. 2016. He asked me to open up for his 24 karat.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wow. So, like, stadium stadiums.

[Anderson .Paak]

So we were just on top of.

[Dax Shepard]

The, like, I can get used to this.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Were you? Or were you like, oh, shit. Were you intimidated? Or were you just like, we got this.

[Dax Shepard]

This kid was born to show.

[Anderson .Paak]

I know I was born, but there was A learning curve. We came from, like, the festival scene, and then we got into his world, Life on Mars. We learned quick that a stadium arena show is different than a festival or, like an int club. There's different things that don't translate. We learned a lot from him and how he put together his show. He took us out for, like, 30 dates, and it was in Europe. And also we learned about stealing fans. No one's coming to see you, bro. As big as you think you are.

[Dax Shepard]

They'Re hoping you wrap it up quick.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly, yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

So you're up there to steal fans. People should be like, well, that opener was great. We learned how to put together a good show that showcased what we could do and was high energy, and that translated to, like, a big audience. And during that time, I got to really hang with him and, like, get to know him. And he's one that studies it. He studies the greats like Prince and elves, Elvis and all these dudes that know how they look.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, he knows. He's mastered it. Did you pick some of that up too?

[Anderson .Paak]

Because again, I was all vibes. Like, I just go with the flow. Like, I'm more, you know, hippie vibes. And he's like, you got to know your angles. You got to know when to do this. He also was a dude that was after my own heart, was very band oriented. Leans a lot with his group. Very much so. One of the greatest entertainers, man. And he taught me a lot about. It's about, you know, having a real handle on your artistry and not putting it in the hands of other people, directing your own vids, doing your own. Your own choreo, putting together your own show. And like you said, this is stuff that we could do. It's just like tapping into what we can do and making it sexy for us. Who are we? I learned a lot from him with that.

[Dax Shepard]

What do you think he was yearning for that he saw you were going to give him?

[Anderson .Paak]

I think both of us needed a friend at the time. When we linked back up with each other during COVID we needed answers. We're both workaholics and everything shut down. We couldn't do the things that we were used to doing. He doesn't have kids. I had kids. I was getting really inspired by them. Before that, I was always on the road, and now I'm just, like, with my kids, and I'm like, oh, you want to be a YouTuber?

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Anderson .Paak]

I'm realizing how talented my son is.

[Dax Shepard]

Sol Rashid.

[Anderson .Paak]

What do you call him? I call him. So, Rashid, because I was like, you don't want to get the nepotism thing, so, like, you'll thank me later. Yeah, exactly. But yeah, solely solido. I gave them black Muslim middle names because I was like, their mom got the name them Soul and Shine. I'm like, they're going to know it's black too. Rashid and Tariq, I don't know why.

[Monica Padman]

You'Re like, it's really important to me all of a sudden.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

Stay tuned for more armchair Expert if you dare. We are supported by Nordic Naturals. Oh, I'm a consumer of Nordic Naturals. Every night I get my Omega 3s.

[Monica Padman]

It's a good product.

[Dax Shepard]

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[Monica Padman]

That's not good. But really, that's the through line for all of us who did the blood test that we all need more. Yes, I bet you do too.

[Dax Shepard]

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[Monica Padman]

Yes, always.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. I've tried so many different brands over the years and most of them just don't deliver. Either they're uncomfortable, don't fit right, or they fall apart in a few washes.

[Monica Padman]

Same. And with bras, it's even worse. There's so many ways for it to become uncomfortable, but skims actually solved all of those problems for me. So I just got some new Skims underwear. They're cotton, they're very basic, but they're very chic. And this happens every time I get a new Skims product. I put it on my body and I'm like, God, they really know what they're doing. Chic, chic, chic, chic, Comfortable. It's so hard to do both.

[Dax Shepard]

And durable.

[Monica Padman]

And durable.

[Dax Shepard]

The thing is, what you wear underneath actually matters. It's not just an afterthought anymore.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly. It's the foundation for how you feel every day.

[Dax Shepard]

Shop our favorite bras and [e-mail] after you place your order, be sure to let them know we sent you. Select podcast the survey and be sure to select our show in the drop down menu that follows.

[Monica Padman]

And if you're looking for the perfect gift for your valentine or for yourself, the Skims Valentine shop is now open.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm going to bore you with my experience of the super bowl halftime show. So generally we all go to our friend has a party and for whatever reason that year 2022, I don't know why I decided I wasn't going. And I was down downstairs watching it by myself in the theater room. And that halftime show starts and I am getting completely overwhelmed with again, the chip on my shoulder is like I'm white trash. People think I'm. And I'm watching these dudes in the shadow of where they grew up owning the entire world. Eminem's here all of a sudden from Detroit. Who's from where I'm from. And when my wife comes down, I'm crying. They were burning those CDs and Tipper Gore was trying to get rid of them. And the whole the US they were ruining America. And what a come up is for every white trash, poor black, whatever that was. No, motherfuckers, we're going to win because we got that.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yes, right?

[Dax Shepard]

And so I'm already in that state. You're already my number one. And when they fucking pan over and I see been playing the drums on this with that smile, I screamed out out loud. I was like.

[Anderson .Paak]

On Lose yourself, Eminem. I'm just like coming up on the lid.

[Dax Shepard]

So cool.

[Monica Padman]

Oh my God.

[Dax Shepard]

I've never had a moment watching TV in my whole life that compares to that moment. I've watched that a thousand times. I mean for you to come out of the fucking ground. So I was so excited to learn that you aren't supposed to be there. So tell everyone how you got there.

[Anderson .Paak]

It got announced that Dre was doing the super bowl and this whole trailer came out. They're all looking like the Avengers. My mom's like, why aren't you on there? You're signing into.

[Monica Padman]

That's right.

[Anderson .Paak]

I'm like, mom, look, I can fix this. Hold on. I'm pretty sure there's going to be another trailer out.

[Monica Padman]

Don't worry, that's just the first one.

[Anderson .Paak]

Relax, everyone, relax.

[Dax Shepard]

They don't show Aquaman in the first trailer.

[Anderson .Paak]

I'm at the end credits. You know, that's the most I hit Dre. I'm like, dre, what the fuck? I'm signed to you, too. You probably forgot. Like, I'm not as huge as, like, some of your others that came before, but what's up, man? Can I, like, hold a symbol or something? And he's like, I got some ideas. I'm gonna see what's up. And I was like, well, cool. While you're doing that, I'm gonna make my own and put myself on there. I got a guy that's really good with Photoshop and just, you know, it's no rush, but I'm going just get ahead of this.

[Monica Padman]

I'm going to take this part into my own hands, take some liberties.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, yeah. I made my own poster. Photoshopped myself in there.

[Monica Padman]

You really did do it.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, I did. Boom. Put it up.

[Monica Padman]

That's amazing.

[Anderson .Paak]

And then, yeah, the next couple days, Drake calls me. He's like, what do you think about playing for Marshall? For lose yourself on the drums? I was like, yeah, let's do that.

[Dax Shepard]

I think that'll work fine.

[Anderson .Paak]

I think that'll work just fine.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, there's a great behind the scenes thing that I learned on one of the 80 interviews I watched. So Andy has his in ears in, right? You're panicked.

[Anderson .Paak]

Biggest gig of my life.

[Dax Shepard]

And immediately before it starts, we are like three seconds out from Showtime. And what do you hear in the inners?

[Anderson .Paak]

I hear snoop dogg ask Dr. Dre. Hey, cuz, is it li da da or do da da da da? 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Like them? I just hear Dre go, what the fuck? And like, that's it. Boom, you're gone. You go to stage.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God.

[Dax Shepard]

Was that a little comforting, though?

[Anderson .Paak]

It was.

[Dax Shepard]

I bet it was like, oh, good. He don't know what he's doing either.

[Anderson .Paak]

No one does.

[Monica Padman]

That's incredible.

[Anderson .Paak]

This is everyone's biggest gig of their life.

[Monica Padman]

I know, but that's the thing about him. He doesn't have a biggest gig, and that's why he's so cool.

[Anderson .Paak]

Snoop was going to do Bar mitzvah. Probably that same day exactly down the street, you know? And so he's a big inspiration too. Just do it, man. You never know what's gonna happen now.

[Dax Shepard]

I learned this when we interviewed Leon Bridges, who, again, couldn't be a bigger fan of Leon Bridges. What a dude. And you directed Motorbike? Was that the first thing you directed? How do we get into directing?

[Anderson .Paak]

My son in Covid, he wanted to be a YouTuber, and I was, like, stuck in the house. I'm like, okay, let's see. He had no subscribers, so I was like, let's juice it. Like, come on, let's figure out. Utilize your dad. You know what I'm saying? Like, let's do some skits. I start doing skits, and I get more into it than he is. I'm like, oh, my go. This is great. When I was younger, I used to do home videos all the time. My sister in high school, I was into video editing. I went to, like, a technology school, magnet school. So one of the electives was video editing. It was a whole world that I was obsessed with, and I used to love editing and making my own videos and doing all that stuff. So when I got with my son in Covid, it brought all that back, got my laptop out, and I was like, dude, let's do some funny skits. And I would be up all night to post. And so he inspired me to write a script, and I wanted to do a movie. And I knew that I needed some experience. I needed some time on set working and learning the language to even get a reel so that people will fund it. I was watching all this stuff, and I was like, okay, the movies that I like, nine times out of ten, it's like they wrote it themselves, and they just did it themselves. And I grew up on watching, like, Ice Cube Friday and Spike Lee, all these stuff. So they kind of just took it in their own hands again. They worked with the people next to them. And so I was like, cool, I'm gonna just do that. But I need some experience. So I was like, I'm gonna do a bunch of music videos. I want to get, like, 10, 15 music videos. I told my team. I was like, anybo. Anybody who's down to let me direct, I'll send treatments and let them know I'm serious. And Leon was one of the first people, and I was working with a really talented DP who showed me a lot, showed me the ropes. Tehila. And we put together a treatment where we want to do film, and I Was like, I want to do narrative music videos because eventually I want to do a movie. So this is all to help me get experience with that. And Leon was down. And Leon was great. I had this whole narrative. I'm like, at the end, you're going to get shot in the gut. He was just down. He was such a sweet guy.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, he's so sweet. He needs to be protected.

[Anderson .Paak]

And I was like, we're gonna make you sex symbol and I want you to, like, be with the girl, making out and all this stuff. And he was like, so shy, and I had to, like, switch some stuff up.

[Monica Padman]

He's very shy.

[Dax Shepard]

That's his best song.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

So, yeah, he was great. But that's how I got into directing.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, and now you've written this script.

[Anderson .Paak]

Co wrote it with another talented writer, Kayla Amazon.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. How'd you meet her?

[Anderson .Paak]

I met her through the production team Stampede, who gave me the initial funding for this idea I had called K Pops, where I'm like a washed up musician that finds out his son could be the next K Pop star. Oh, it was totally inspired by my son. And in the house, my ex wife, now they were obsessed with K Pop. Everyone was going crazy. So I was kind of the outside guy looking in hip hop, like, well, you need to know about Tupac as well. And like, you know, like, they were just like, screw you. You know, like, we're Korean. And so I was like, oh, this could be funny. The disgruntled, salty musician that begrudgingly has to go into this K Pop world, but ends up finding he takes a.

[Dax Shepard]

Job as a drummer on this competition show in Korea. And when he gets there, he kind of meets this little kid. Who's your real son.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Which is incredible. He's dangerous.

[Anderson .Paak]

He's 2.0. He's killing it. He's bilingual. I took it to them and they were like, we love it. And they were like, we'll give you the money for it. And I was like, wait, serious? And it was the toughest thing I ever did.

[Dax Shepard]

How about leading up to day one of production?

[Anderson .Paak]

I almost didn't do it. I tried to weasel out of it. I mean, in over my head. I'm a sham. Yeah. I'm going to get exp.

[Dax Shepard]

I charm my way into this situation.

[Anderson .Paak]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

And now we're. Cuz I don't have the goods.

[Anderson .Paak]

Chickens have come to roost.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

I owe a lot of people, you know, so it's like. And I got my family involved now I got my son. Everyone's looking at me. This is the crazy part. It was like the strikes were happening. I was about to, like, use that. I'm like, you know the strikes.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Again, you start building the story, and it's just sounding better and better.

[Anderson .Paak]

We tried.

[Dax Shepard]

This is logical.

[Anderson .Paak]

I want to do it. Don't want to be a prick. Yeah. Like, come on. I'm on a picket line. I can't. Can I do it? I'd love to. I love to.

[Dax Shepard]

I kill to. They won't let me morally, you know. Oh, God.

[Anderson .Paak]

And I remember talking to my son. I'm like, do you even want to do it? Because that's the other thing.

[Dax Shepard]

For you.

[Anderson .Paak]

You tell me you don't want to do it.

[Dax Shepard]

You ain't got to do this. My son's my number one priority. Exactly. We're also full of shit.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, dude. Dude, I was gonna pull that one. He's a child. He wants to be a kid, let him be a kid. Looked at me, he's like, I better do this. You had me in acting classes for a year straight. And, Cory, all.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm like, the leap is just like. Just start the thing for. And there's really no space for the fear.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. As soon as I got on set, I was like, this is the greatest.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, good.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

I was waking up every morning, like, gotta be the first one on set. Set and the last one off. I got to learn so much, and my team was the best. My DP was like, old school dude. That comes from tv. He had been wanting to do something with music, and this was, like, his first real film that he got to do. And he was, like, on the set of not mash, but those kind of shows. So everyone was rooting for me.

[Dax Shepard]

He's 106. He's 106.

[Monica Padman]

We had to take nap.

[Anderson .Paak]

Breaks.

[Monica Padman]

Take nap.

[Dax Shepard]

He did die. He did die in the middle.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

No longer with.

[Dax Shepard]

Camera. Knew the vision. The camera stepped up.

[Anderson .Paak]

Exactly. You're my A now. All right. You would have wanted it this way.

[Dax Shepard]

You were at cam yesterday. You had a DP today.

[Anderson .Paak]

Look who's got a promotion.

[Dax Shepard]

Where did you shoot?

[Anderson .Paak]

I shot on Rafford. I shot in K town. I shot in Korea.

[Dax Shepard]

Is the record shop in the alley here or there?

[Anderson .Paak]

It's there.

[Dax Shepard]

That felt real.

[Anderson .Paak]

You saw the film?

[Dax Shepard]

I watched it last night.

[Anderson .Paak]

Oh, my God. What do you think?

[Dax Shepard]

I loved it. You know why I loved it? If you can go. I got the thing in my head out onto the screen in the exact way I wanted to. That's the victory of a lifetime. And I'm watching your movie and I'm like, this is Anderson Paak. Yeah, this is Anderson Paak's soul. It's wall to wall music. It's dancing. It's so fun. There's so much love for your kid in it. Everything that is you is on the screen. And I was like, what an accomplishment for him for his. His first thing to have gotten his soul out in such a palpable and tangible way. So it's a huge victory. It made me so happy. The exact same way your music makes me. And watching you play drums makes me. It's another little domain that you executed, who you are, which is hard to do.

[Anderson .Paak]

Very hard.

[Dax Shepard]

And I hope you feel that when you watch it. Like, oh, I did the thing. My spirit is there.

[Monica Padman]

That's awesome.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. The music. Was that part easier for you or also is very challenging.

[Anderson .Paak]

It was tough. I mean, doing like needle drops.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

I was having a ball, sure.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. That's the fun part.

[Anderson .Paak]

They told me how much it cost and I was like, let's just use my stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

But you got some favors. I think I did. I was listening to the needle drops and I was like, that's an expensive song.

[Anderson .Paak]

I don't know what version you saw, but yeah, up until recently, I had to fucking update. Some of them are cooked in there. We can't. But it was like, oh, man, shit costs. But that's the thing you learn every time. If it's, like, important for you. If you want needle drops, that has to be a very important thing for the budget. Like, now I know. Now, you know, going in. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And you can get married and it can be the scene.

[Anderson .Paak]

A lot of the scenes. Like, I'm thinking about the music first. I'm making the scene based off the song that I know I want to use. I'm very much making movies like how I make an album, you know, so that's one thing I learned. But the scoring is a whole different thing. The first I got the score, she's like a prodigy. She was like 12.

[Dax Shepard]

One of Sol Rashid's friends.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. His girlfriend.

[Monica Padman]

Who's that little prodigy kid?

[Dax Shepard]

Who's your girlfriend?

[Anderson .Paak]

Pretty sure she can do it. She had a violin. Tell her bring that. She's like a, you know, virtuoso. And I don't know how to speak the language. I'm like, can you just make it happier? Darker hair, make it blue? I don't fucking know. The score will make or break a scene, especially for, like, the more emotional parts that I want it to be cheesy.

[Dax Shepard]

You're dancing this fucking line where it's like, I need the emotion but I don't want to be caught manipulating.

[Anderson .Paak]

Exactly. I don't want to tell them how to feel. But then also it's like we're not making these deep, ethereal things either. I want to feel good, warm. Family. There's a family movie when my mom and like my sister is gonna watch it. And I love those kind of like Sundance, deep Oscar things. But I'm always the odd man out wanting to watch that kind of. And then my sisters are like, what the is this?

[Dax Shepard]

You know?

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Like, can we watch Zootopia?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah. Exactly.

[Anderson .Paak]

Put on Tyler Perry, bro. So it's just walking that fine line.

[Dax Shepard]

I think it reminded me the most of is Pitch Perfect Weird.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, I love Pitchfork.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't know why that just kept coming up. Because everyone in the cast is young.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And they're hungry and they're cute. And just learning to dance and learning to rock.

[Anderson .Paak]

That was like our movie Bible Sing street and stuff like that. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

I assume you feel an extra pressure with the music because you're like, people are also going to be looking extra hard at the music because it's me that's annoying too.

[Anderson .Paak]

My DP was like, they're going to be on your ass about directing and acting. No one's going to cut you any slack. The most you could do is just make it you. That's why I'm really happy that was a part of the writing. Honestly. It wasn't a stretch to play the character. I'm playing pretty much myself. But like a watched version, which is really fun. I love the like self deprecating shit.

[Dax Shepard]

I was like, oh my God, he's so fucking natural. And then your son is so goddamn natural.

[Anderson .Paak]

That's who I was like writing the coattail of. That was the whole point. I was like, son, you got this. Let me ride your wave.

[Dax Shepard]

Are you going to make more movies?

[Anderson .Paak]

I would love to.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

If I ever get to work in this town again, I will continue to make some more movies.

[Dax Shepard]

You had Earth, Wind and Fire in it.

[Anderson .Paak]

Earth, Wind and Fire.

[Dax Shepard]

How'd you get that, Dude?

[Anderson .Paak]

Big favors. I owe a lot of people. A lot of promises have been, was.

[Dax Shepard]

It fun to play with them?

[Anderson .Paak]

It was so much fun. And I got to do a little improv with them. And they were so cool. They loved the story. They were like, cool, we'll do it. It was so nerve wracking. For me, because that was a big scene. And we did it in the Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood Boulevard, and we're renting it out for a certain time. And I got extras, and I got them, and they're like, one of my biggest idols. And I'm just like, ah, I got cameras and I gotta do this. This is okay. If we do another take here, then I got my son.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

And it was like one of the last shots, too. So I was just like, ooh. It was a lot going on. I chain smok brains out, that whole process. But, yeah, they were great, and they were really cool. And I got to do funny improv with them. And it was a huge, huge thing.

[Dax Shepard]

My thing I do when I'm directing is. And I had an assistant say to me, I'm a little worried about your Starbucks order. Because I would get a Venti drip and then three Dopios to start the day. That's a Dopio double shot of espresso. That was like the morning coffee order for me. And she would go, I don't know.

[Anderson .Paak]

Straight up.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God.

[Dax Shepard]

The movie's great. People should see it. K pops.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. February 27th, it comes out AMC theaters.

[Dax Shepard]

So on your stomach now. Some personal curiosities. Trust your gut.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

That could have come about for two reasons. Because you didn't, and you need a reminder. Or you have, and it's the reason. Why is it on there?

[Anderson .Paak]

I was just trying to get out the house. It was in Covid and I was losing my mind. And I was like, I'mma go get a chess piece. I'll be back. And those are, like, the only spots, like, kind of still open. Like, sketchy. Like, we're open. Get a tattoo, you know?

[Dax Shepard]

Give a fuck.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. I was like, can we drink there? Yeah. And I would go to this garage, and I got a bunch of tattoos. Mac was another one. It was like, get one part a limb or something where it's just for, like, funny tattoos. And I was like, okay. His leg had, like, a bunch of stuff. So, like, on this arm, I got, like, Marge with, like, Homer's eyes as her boobs and, like, crazy, you know.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, you got animals.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, I got animal. The drumming got this whole thing. So I had a different tat that I wanted to do, and somehow that didn't work out. So I was like, okay, well, let's just do a stomach tat. That should be cool. I had no clue how much pain I would be in. And they were like, what do you want? I was like, trust Your gut. That seems ironic. It's funny. I'm very much like, just go with my instinct. I try to. And it's a good reminder for me too, because every time I didn't like why the did I do that? I should have just listened to. To myself. It was excruciating, but I felt, like, accomplished. Like, after you do a movie too, you know, it's like, I did that. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

If you had to. What are your three favorite songs of yours?

[Anderson .Paak]

I mean, come down is a big one. Another one that I really like. It's not like a huge one, but it's called Fire in the Sky. I really like that one. It was on the Shang Chi soundtrack that I did with Roger, who also does stuff for the soundtrack. But I really like that one. And I like. What more can I say? It's another one that I did with knowledge. If you kind of, like, need an overall of, like, who I am and my struggle as an artist and a hopeless romantic and just me, I think that kind of sums it up. And it's a really short song, but it's new.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Now you've said a few times, my ex wife, you guys did 13 years together.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I have said this numerous times on here. Like, should my wife and I ever get divorced, I would refuse to ever look at that as a failure. Because it's been such a successful 18 years.

[Anderson .Paak]

Years.

[Dax Shepard]

The things we've created together and these children we've created together. Do you walk from that with a feeling of, like a failure?

[Anderson .Paak]

I talked to my mom about it too, because it's like, everyone's like, is there anything you can't do? And I was like, well, marriage. And I feel the same way. I feel so close to her still. And we're family. We came from couches. We grew up in our 20s.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

She's like a music student from Korea.

[Anderson .Paak]

She came from Korea.

[Dax Shepard]

Even sing, talk about we marry our mom.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, exactly.

[Anderson .Paak]

So it's weird. I don't even know, like, even how to say it.

[Dax Shepard]

Sometimes it feels, like, diminishing.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah. Did battle with that. I look at couples that stay together forever, and it's not about, like, your happiness. You just mustered through it. And so I was like, damn, maybe I could have been like that. But over time, it gets better. They think that's what it is. Everyone's happiness matters. And I'm seeing her flourish. And she came out here, could hardly speak English and from Korea, and just trusted me. And we're just young, in love and had a kid and all this stuff that came about.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

And now she's getting to experience that now, learn more about herself. I'm seeing it now and she's rich.

[Dax Shepard]

Now, so it's cool.

[Anderson .Paak]

And I wouldn't have changed anything. And we're getting to learn how to be co parents and my sons are so resilient. You don't know how these things can affect kids. And I'm pretty sure he's dealing with it and we're both very much in his life and making sure like he's okay. I'm seeing now he has such interest in playing guitar and he's doing the same things that I'm doing, like same trajectory now. He's making beats. He grew up playing in church, his little brother singing and all this stuff. And he's such a good older brother. So I'm seeing how they're taking.

[Dax Shepard]

What's the little one's name?

[Anderson .Paak]

Is it Shine?

[Dax Shepard]

Who's Kenzo?

[Anderson .Paak]

I used to call my oldest Kenzo.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. I was gonna say Kenzo. Swagging like his Paul. Yeah, yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

That soul. He's like a full grown man now. He's 15 now.

[Monica Padman]

It's good for them.

[Anderson .Paak]

He really is good. And we're getting along better than ever and we each getting like our time with the kids and it's cool. We're getting to do like holidays on my house and everybody's easing into it.

[Monica Padman]

Are you still religious?

[Anderson .Paak]

I think I'm more spiritual, I guess now. But yeah, I'm still very much believe in God and have that in me. I think that's part of my foundation. And I'm very happy that I did grow up and have that foundation.

[Dax Shepard]

Because you came to la, you came to it to go play drums there and it got you, right?

[Anderson .Paak]

Absolutely. Throwing away all my Snoop Dog CDs and stuff. I'm only gonna listen the guilt and I'm gonna get baptized and stuff. Never having sex.

[Dax Shepard]

Feeling shame after you beat off.

[Anderson .Paak]

Exactly.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

That's why.

[Dax Shepard]

Trying to quit beating off.

[Anderson .Paak]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

Good luck.

[Anderson .Paak]

I gotta get married so I can do this legit.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Oh, dude, this has been so fun. I'm so glad this finally happened.

[Anderson .Paak]

It's been a pleasure.

[Dax Shepard]

You know, open up a steakhouse so I can.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, come, come. I got one. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, okay. You're serving. Yeah, come.

[Monica Padman]

Nannies.

[Anderson .Paak]

Live music. I got steak. I got everything for you.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, and then everyone check out K Pops. It is Anderson Pack on screen. In all the ways that you, you could be on screen. Love you. This was great.

[Anderson .Paak]

Love you too. Man. Thank you.

[Monica Padman]

Thank you.

[Dax Shepard]

He is an armchair expert, but he makes mistakes all the time. Thank God Monica's here. She's gotta let him have the facts. Is this a recording?

[Monica Padman]

Are we in a recording? Yeah. So to catch everyone up, I have. My back is hurting a little bit, and my.

[Dax Shepard]

You have a uti.

[Monica Padman]

Stomach is hurting. I don't know what it is, but I have something making maybe. And it's, I think due to an increased water intake.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah. To which I said only you would think drinking a lot of water detrimental.

[Monica Padman]

But the reason I drank more water.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Tell me.

[Monica Padman]

I have something that's changed my life.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, my goodness.

[Monica Padman]

I know. It's a big deal.

[Dax Shepard]

Big update.

[Monica Padman]

Huge update. I got it. A new planner.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Like a day planner.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

But it's specific. It's like.

[Dax Shepard]

Is it digital or paper?

[Monica Padman]

It's paper.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Good.

[Monica Padman]

It's a paper planner. And it's. It's very specific. It has your top three priorities for the day, and then it has tasks. You can write your tasks. And it has, like. It has.

[Dax Shepard]

How do priorities differ from tasks?

[Monica Padman]

Right. So you could have, like, eight tasks, but you have three priorities for the day. So, like, you might not get everything.

[Dax Shepard]

Done, but, like, the priorities are the most prioritized.

[Monica Padman]

That's right.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so what were your priorities? I'm really curious. I wouldn't even know how to answer what my priorities are.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, so today my priorities. I think one of them is to visit a friend who is hospital after having a child.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

That was a. That's a priority.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, Big one.

[Monica Padman]

There was.

[Dax Shepard]

Shoot.

[Monica Padman]

I didn't bring it.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. But that's not a task. That's a priority to me.

[Monica Padman]

I mean, I wrote it also in the calendar as a thing to do.

[Dax Shepard]

So you can. It can double up tasks.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, you can do whatever you want.

[Dax Shepard]

Get a uti.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. And I got to check that one off. No, I had, like, start setting up utilities for my house.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, right.

[Monica Padman]

I have to do that. I keep pushing it off as a task, and it has to happen today.

[Dax Shepard]

Kicking off the can.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly. And there was one other thing that I forget. But then you have a daily intention.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Which I love.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And there is a. I'm grateful for.

[Anderson .Paak]

Uhhuh.

[Dax Shepard]

Nice. Yeah. Okay. So that's like a spiritual journal too.

[Monica Padman]

It's great. It's all of it. So I do those things in the morning.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Is now part of your morning routine? You get your day planner out. Is it Franklin day planner. That was the one that Was very popular when I worked for my.

[Monica Padman]

No, that one was fancy.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And you could even, I think, go to, like, a weekend seminar about your Franklin day planner, which I never attended, but my mom did get me the whole kit, and it had a nice little bound leather case, which was nice.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, I need to find the brand. I'll find the brand. There's a really cute little store in Atwater that has all these notebooks and planners and pens and greeting cards, and it's so cute now. I did. So I went and I got this planner, and I used it the first day, and I was like, oh, my God, my life has changed. So I told Jess about it, and so we walked there the next day, and we got him one. But. So.

[Dax Shepard]

But you walked to Atwater from your house. Oh, how long does that take? Half hour?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, about a half hour. 35, 40, 48 minutes. Yeah. So we walked there, and then I had, like, a real panic because I bought a blue one. And it's beautiful. It's a beautiful light blue. But there was one more color. And I was having a hard time deciding when I was in the store, when I was buying it, there was one that was, like, a little more green, and I ended up picking the blue.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, cool.

[Monica Padman]

But it was tough. It was tough. I was holding both, and I was.

[Dax Shepard]

Like, were you saying, I prefer the blue? But I know green equals genius. I should have the green.

[Monica Padman]

No, it's just they were both such beautiful colors and unique, like, really pretty shades of both colors.

[Dax Shepard]

Unlike this year's Pantone color. That's not a color.

[Anderson .Paak]

Cloud Atlas.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

I mean, Cloud Dancer.

[Dax Shepard]

I mean, who cares? It's not a color.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. So then we go. And, you know, I picked the blue. I felt good about my blue. I came home, I used it, love it. And then when Jess and I go. He was like, well, I should get the other color, since you got this. And when I saw him holding it, I was like, I want that one.

[Dax Shepard]

This is dangerous. If someone gets the one you are debating between, that's rife for disaster.

[Monica Padman]

It was really tough. Cause all of a sudden, that was the one I want. I needed it. And I. If I could get another one, I could have two.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

And he said no.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, good. He helped put some limits on it.

[Monica Padman]

Said, you can't.

[Dax Shepard]

He said, no, you can't really use two planners.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly. I mean, I could write in it twice.

[Dax Shepard]

That's crazy.

[Monica Padman]

And then.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, that would be.

[Monica Padman]

It's wasteful.

[Dax Shepard]

And that could be in an admittance form. For a psych ward. Are you using multiple planners with duplicate pages?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Anderson .Paak]

Ramona and Ruth.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wonderful. We found it.

[Monica Padman]

R and R. It's really cute. And today my daily. Yeah, that's it. My morning routine is the left page. Today my intention was to accept acceptance.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, great.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, great.

[Dax Shepard]

Always a great intention.

[Monica Padman]

So today I accept that I have the blue planner.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. And by the way, I already see now what happened with the water because there is. Is a.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

A little chart with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 glasses of water outlined. And presumably you check those off as you.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly. So my nighttime routine is the right side, where you write down it's. There's a nourishment section. So you write down what you ate. It has like morning, lunch and night.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Then there's a water intake I've added on my own and alcohol in intake.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, all right.

[Monica Padman]

I think that's good for me to be tracking.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, I see. Not as a reminder to drink alcohol, but as a. Let's make sure we're not drinking too much.

[Monica Padman]

Well, yeah, it's like, how much am I consuming?

[Dax Shepard]

That's much better. You can see where I thought it was. Like, that's on your to dos alcohol.

[Monica Padman]

And then there's a notes section. At the bottom, there's favorite part of my day today.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, this is pretty great. I gotta say. It's kind of a rethink of a day planner.

[Monica Padman]

Yes. At the top right, there's a box that says today's act of self care.

[Dax Shepard]

We don't need that. People need to stop spoiling. Spoiling themselves.

[Monica Padman]

No, self care can be just. I went to bed.

[Dax Shepard]

We're getting weak as a nation.

[Monica Padman]

No. And then there's today's movement. And there's options. There's walk, run, yoga, Pilates cycle, weights, stretch. So. And then there's top three priorities for tomorrow, which I like. Then you're planning ahead.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. So this is great. So that's why we walked to Atwater. Because I was like, we gotta. I gotta get my movement in tomorrow.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, right. Okay.

[Monica Padman]

So we did the walk.

[Dax Shepard]

It should track other movements too. You should have a bowel movement.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, I can add it.

[Dax Shepard]

It's part of your health. I mean, more so than I would argue some of the others.

[Monica Padman]

That's true. And there the water was interesting for me because I was like, I got it. I got it.

[Dax Shepard]

You want to.

[Monica Padman]

Want to check it off?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. You're such an achiever. Like, all you need to know is how to get An A.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly. It's a good for me.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Monica Padman]

But I drank too much and now I have a uti, Right?

[Dax Shepard]

Probably not.

[Monica Padman]

So there can be backfires.

[Dax Shepard]

You ever drink cranberry juice? That's supposed to be real helpful to keep the urinary track healthy.

[Anderson .Paak]

Reminder for Monica.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God.

[Dax Shepard]

What the was that? You're now playing voicemails?

[Monica Padman]

Walgreen. I don't know how that happened. I don't like what just happened.

[Dax Shepard]

Your computer is way too emboldened and atomic. Autonomous.

[Monica Padman]

I agree. It's scary.

[Dax Shepard]

It rings and stuff. It shouldn't do anything. You should tell it, like, hey, I have a phone for this stuff.

[Monica Padman]

I know. I don't like that what just happened. It actually reminds me of something.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, tell me.

[Monica Padman]

There's, like, a gossipy part of this conversation which I'm not really interested in having.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Just Blake Lively.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

So, you know, obviously that everyone knows what's going on with Blake. Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni and the court case.

[Dax Shepard]

And then Taylor's texts were subpoenaed.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. So that's what I want to talk about. So. So not just hers, but, like, she had a text exchange with Ben and Matt. And that's available?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And I got very startled by this. I was like, oh, my God. Nothing is private.

[Dax Shepard]

Like, yeah, if you're in court. Yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

But you don't know. But Ben and Matt aren't in court, and now they're.

[Dax Shepard]

They're drug into court.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. That does feel like they should redact who it is. But I'm sure it's relevant.

[Monica Padman]

I mean, kind of. I saw them. It was a. It was about. She was talking about the movie, and then they said. Or. I don't know what Ben said, but Matt and his wife are dragged into this, and they're saying, like, if you wanna next. Like, if your soul isn't fully, you know, burned by this, come direct your next movie at Artist Equity. Very sweet and kind, but I'm like, what? That doesn't. We don't need to see that. And I got defensive on their part because they're my boyfriend's. And I got defensive on Taylor's part because I love her.

[Dax Shepard]

I wanna know. I'm more curious. These were all on her phone or they subpoenaed other people's phone that they knew she had been communicating with, and it was on their phone. Whose phone got subpoenaed? Call me, your lawyer, and explain that you need a subpoena. My phone. Go ahead.

[Monica Padman]

Hi, is this Dax Shepard?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

[Monica Padman]

Hi, this is Monica Padman. I am a podcaster, but also a lawyer.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, great.

[Monica Padman]

And your friend Dan Stinklestein, huh? I don't know if you've heard, but he. There. There's a.

[Dax Shepard]

He's in a dust up.

[Monica Padman]

He is? Yes. And we need to subpoena your phone for your interactions.

[Anderson .Paak]

Oh, we.

[Monica Padman]

There. We know you do, because we see his text.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't. Yeah, I don't have it anymore.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. We do have a warrant to come search your home.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, come look. I don't have one.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You're being really difficult.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Sue me for difficulty. I guess.

[Monica Padman]

I think we might have to.

[Dax Shepard]

This reminds me, you know, I have a story like this. Some people might not like this story. I guess I can live with that. Which was, you know, this story already, which was when I directed Hit and Run. I hired an animal wrangler. I didn't hire an animal wrangler. I needed a pit bull in a scene. So you have to hire an animal wrangler. Production hired it. The guy came with a pit bull, and then all of a sudden he was inviting people to the back of his car to look at a tiger. He had, like a baby tiger in his back. Yeah, whatever. Again, I don't think anything of it. Animal wrangler. I'm sure this guy was a permit for this. Maybe he's going to another job with a baby tiger. I just don't even think about it. Yeah, but he gets Bradley Cooper to hold this tiger in the parking lot, and then he takes a picture and then he. I think allegedly, I think he leaked it to the tabloids. And all of a sudden there was a. A tabloid photo of Cooper in that crazy dreadlock wig holding a fucking tiger.

[Anderson .Paak]

Oh, no.

[Dax Shepard]

Whatever movie comes out, I am then finishing that movie editing in my house. When I'm not at Parenthood, I'm also shooting Nike. I've resumed Parenthood. And so I'm filming full time on that show. And then on every off minute, I'm editing this movie I made. So I'm on set and the phone rings. It's like, is this Dax Shepard? And I was like, yeah. I don't even know why I answered, but I did. Yeah, this is Detective so and so with the ATF or agent so and so. And I go, okay, yeah, what's up? He's like, so I'm calling in regards to a movie you directed. Hitting around. I'm thinking, what on earth would the ATF be calling me about? A movie I directed? Yeah, okay. And he's like, you. You hired an animal wrangler who we've been tracking who's been illegally moving exotic cats across state lines, which is illegal. And I go, oh, okay. And he said, so I'd like to get to. Together. Tell me a time you have. I'd like to get together and talk about this. And I said, well, that would be a waste of your time and mine. I know nothing about that guy. I didn't hire the guy. I told a producer I needed a pit bull. And then this guy shows up.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

He goes, great, so let's just pick a time that we can get together. And I go, no, no. I just told you every single thing I know about it, which is nothing. He goes, great, well, we're going to need to meet and talk about it. And there was this long beat, and I was like, do you have to meet them?

[Monica Padman]

Right?

[Dax Shepard]

And I go, no, I'm not gonna meet you. Yeah. And like, I refuse to waste your time in mine. I don't know anything other than what I just told you. I didn't hire.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Because I don't know the person's name. And he was really flummoxed. I can tell. I could tell. Then people don't say no.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly. No. There's a lot of this.

[Dax Shepard]

It was kind of a crazy. I hung up and I was just. I was even feeling like him. I'm like, oh, was I allowed to do that? No.

[Monica Padman]

No one knows what they're allowed to do and not allowed.

[Dax Shepard]

And you're allowed to say no. They can, like, yeah, they could do a warrant or they could, you know, haul you in and charge you, whatever. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

No one knows. These things were not really hot.

[Dax Shepard]

I just simply didn't have the time to go meet a fucking guy and talk about something I didn't know for an hour. So I just. To me, it was very cut and dry. Like, No. I refuse to try to make.

[Monica Padman]

I know, but, like, we don't know if it's illegal, but it's not like you can say no to things.

[Dax Shepard]

I was never found in contempt of or anything. And my consistently disagreeable self just thought, well, I'm going to start with saying no, and then we'll find out. Maybe.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Because then they'll show some legal documents saying they can't. Even. Some of those are tricky.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Like, you don't always have to comply. You have to, like, know which ones are real.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Tricks.

[Dax Shepard]

I was also very confused why the. At. Why exotic animal trade fell under the jurisdiction of the atf. I mean, I guess it has to fall some somewhere in the federal system. And it certainly wouldn't make sense in the dea. I feel like maybe FBI might have an animal. I don't know. But it was Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

[Monica Padman]

That is. Makes no sense.

[Dax Shepard]

Maybe because there's so much. Interstate trafficking is what they actually patrol. Like, you can have a fire. I have a handgun here that's registered to me. It's very legal for me to have this here, but I can't travel across state lines with it. And then that becomes a federal crime once I do that. So maybe because it's. There's so much about trafficking, they just grabbed exotic animals maybe. Any who. Sorry, I hijacked your story.

[Monica Padman]

No, the text. Sorry. It just made me think, like, oh, my God. Any. I got. And I'm not someone at all who, like, cares about privacy. Really, I don't. But. But all of a sudden I was like, h. Like on behalf of all these people, it's like, why does everyone get to read Taylor's text? And like, you know, people are like, oh, my God. She like texts like this. She. There's a space. She does a space between. And I'm like, oh, my God, this is so annoying for her.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, there's texts that would take me out at the knees. You know, I have friends that I've been friends with for 40 years that I say mean stuff to as a joke. I mean, there's. Yeah, yeah, I know you and I have exchanges all the time. Then I'm sure it would be like, boy, these two are heartless. But it's like, oh, or make making fun of. So I don't know.

[Monica Padman]

I. It's just. If you're gonna have real. Yeah. I was like, I hate. I hate all this. And I was like, oh, my God, I gotta delete my entire phone. And the cloud, like, the cloud. It's all in the cloud. And I hate, like, why this is bad.

[Dax Shepard]

That's why I threw my phone away. Back to you being a detective. That's why I threw it away.

[Monica Padman]

So you don't. How do you communicate with people?

[Dax Shepard]

Letters.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And then I have some folks I work with that schedule. My professional life.

[Monica Padman]

And do you. Do you have a calendar on your phone?

[Dax Shepard]

No.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Because I. We did have to subpoena Monica, your co worker.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, she uses a calendar.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah, we see that. She has. She has access to your calendar.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't use it though. Yes, she has access to a calendar I used to use.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. But it did say you added a something to the schedule. Just, let's see. No, it says, it's clear that it was you.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, that's not me. All right, man, I gotta run. I don't even want. I don't even know how you called me because I don't have a phone.

[Monica Padman]

Sir, we're on your telephone, Right? This is a landline.

[Dax Shepard]

I got my kids a landline and they love it. It's called Tin Can. You should check it out. Keep your kids busy for days. Right? And then call grandma. Oh, I want to give a testimonial to Frankenstein.

[Monica Padman]

I'm seeing it this weekend.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, I have a testimonial. And agreements, as always. I always have agreements. First of all, this movie is fucking incredible.

[Monica Padman]

Great.

[Dax Shepard]

And what was fun is we started it with Molly and Eric at the birthday party and then we finished it last night. But before it started, I said. And they, lest you think I'm really annoying in lecturing cinephile, they like when I explain some show business stuff because that's not their world. So I just said, before it started, do you guys know anything about Guillermo del Toro? And they're like, not really. And I'm like, okay. Pan's Lab. I started naming movies. I said, what he is a absolute master at is the visuals are off the charts. He's just so visually stunning.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

So that was fun. And it immediately delivered like frame one. It's like this backlit sunset. It's just gorgeous. Everything's so gorgeous. I'm like, I gotta know if he paints this stuff. Like, how on earth did they get to this? It's so impressive. Yeah, the movie's awesome, man. And it's heartbreaking. And these stories, they keep coming up and I think they're cuz male writers. You know, these stories where someone's a beast and they can't have love. But at any rate, the movie's phenomenal. We're both going. I didn't even know Oscar Isaac was in the movie. Really. I just knew Jacob Elordi was the monster. That's what's been getting all the attention. Yeah, that's who I'm seeing on carpets and stuff.

[Monica Padman]

He's there, but. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Is he?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, he is.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so. So he is phenomenal.

[Monica Padman]

He's phenomenal.

[Dax Shepard]

And it is a thankless role in that. He's detestable.

[Monica Padman]

He's Frankenstein's. He's the.

[Dax Shepard]

He's Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein, the doctor who creates the monster.

[Monica Padman]

Right?

[Dax Shepard]

And he is absolutely zero vanity. He gives a performance of A lifetime. He's so fucking good. And Jacob Elordi's great. He's great. I'm delighted he was nominated for an Oscar. But Chris and I are both spinning out about most of the movie is Isaac. And so then we're like, did he get nominated for an Academy Award and Jacob did? Yeah, he did and Isaac didn't. And I was like, oh, my God. This is the frailty of human objectivity. Because he's a detestable character, people were put off by him. I mean, clearly he deserves. I mean, it's outrageous when you watch it, that he wouldn't have nominated. And I think it's because you don't like him so much. People couldn't.

[Monica Padman]

Do you think that? Because, I mean, maybe I do.

[Dax Shepard]

There's no other explanation.

[Monica Padman]

But, like, Sean Penn was nominated, as he should be. And he plays.

[Dax Shepard]

I think you can. In a supporting role. Oh. But as the lead of our movie, we want our hero to be someone we root for. It's so baked into what we're used to.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

That you have this weird subconscious conflict going on that he is our hero. In an essence. He's who we're following the most. But I just think you hate him. And so people didn't want to reward really the character and not the actor.

[Monica Padman]

It might be true. It's a hard year, though. I will say, it is a hard year for nominees.

[Dax Shepard]

Who are the male lead? Nominees.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, Male Oscar.

[Dax Shepard]

Because I obviously love Chalamet and I love Leo. They both were great.

[Monica Padman]

This is why nominations for movies are impossible.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure.

[Monica Padman]

You can't. They're all different and they're all amazing. Like, how can you. Okay, so Leonardo DiCaprio. Timothy Wagner Mora, who's been winning. He. He's the one.

[Dax Shepard]

Secret Agent.

[Monica Padman]

The Secret Agent, which is a Brazilian movie. I haven't seen it yet.

[Dax Shepard]

I love that actor, but I haven't seen the movie.

[Monica Padman]

Well, that movie is supposed to be amazing. The Secret Agent. I really want to watch that too, but. Yeah. Wagner, Mora, Timmy, Michael B. And Ethan Hawke is also nominated.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

I didn't see Blue Moon, so I don't either. I don't know. But. But we love Ethan Hawke just too. Look, I just. I think these things are really hard. There's not. All those actors are phenomenal.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. It's just, you know, the monster's so sympathetic. Your heart is just breaking for the monster the whole time.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Wait, I didn't see Jacob Elordi on that.

[Dax Shepard]

He's not a supporting actor.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, sorry. I just looked up the mains.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah. I think he's got a supporting nomination.

[Monica Padman]

That probably is, right. Yeah, he did. He did. Yes. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

But you know, your heart is just breaking for this monster from the second you meet him. And I do think that infects. You want to reward the monster. Yeah. And then you want to punish Victor Frankenstein maybe.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

It's just a. It's. It's just an off the charts performance, I guess, is the most important thing I want to say.

[Monica Padman]

I'm excited to see it.

[Dax Shepard]

He's incredible.

[Monica Padman]

Very excited. I love him. He's such an incredible actor. Okay. Yeah. So. Okay. So that's a grievance and a endorsement. Endorsement. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And a call to action. Watch that movie. It's spectacular.

[Monica Padman]

I'm excited to watch it. I saw Sinners for the first time, which I'm late on. Very, very late on. And it was so good. I thought it was so. I thought they were juggling. Ryan Coogler was juggling so much. He's telling so many stories at once while also like telling a very important history lesson.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And I thought it was beautifully done.

[Dax Shepard]

And I love the parallel between the Irish and the black folks is my favorite. That whole music sequence.

[Monica Padman]

Oh my God. All the music is.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't know how they assembled that whole thing where there's a DJ all of a sudden. So remember this was the movie I had come back from and I told you I was like looking at the black dude next to me and I'm like, does he feel this wonderful pride and connection to that?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

You could also feel like, why don't I feel a connection to that?

[Monica Padman]

I'm sure it's individual.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes, I think so. I. Well, that's what I was thinking is, I guess what my fear would be, that you somehow grew up completely outside of black culture. And then you would have some guilt. It would induce some guilt that you should be connecting in a way that you're not. I don't know. I felt. I don't know, I was just so curious.

[Monica Padman]

Sadness that you missed out on that. But I don't. I feel that it's probably pretty rare to be a black person in this country and be totally void of a connection to it. Cuz it's all around.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

It is not like what I could do.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes, yes. But ding, ding, ding. Anderson pack. Right. Like that thing we're talking about, like, close the door, step inside, feel the vibe. We got this stuff like that's also like. It's just such a rich culture that A lot of people have got to experience that backyard barbecue bliss.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And then some people didn't get to experience that.

[Monica Padman]

They might not have gotten to experience that, but they definitely got to experience what it's like. Black in America. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

But again, that's kind of. My point is, like, it would suck if it's all you felt was the prejudice and you didn't feel this other thing, which is so beautiful and unique and lucky.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. And part of the fabric.

[Dax Shepard]

You didn't get the trade off of it. That was like, kind of what I was obsessing about is like, it would really suck if you got all that. Only the downside and none of this very enviable part of it all. Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert if you dare.

[Monica Padman]

It was really. It was so good. I really recommend that, too, if people have not seen it, but I think a lot of people have seen it.

[Dax Shepard]

It's pretty stellar.

[Monica Padman]

It's really good. It got the most nominations.

[Dax Shepard]

Did it? Anderson.

[Monica Padman]

Anderson, you want to do some facts? Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, I just. I love them. I want to. I want to say how excited I was to have Anderson. Didn't you know, the craziest thing was I. I think I told you already. I had. I had dinner with Malcolm that maybe two days later, and he interviewed him right after we did. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

No way.

[Dax Shepard]

And that's cool. I said to him, do you think you could ever describe that guy to somebody and not use that. The adjective light? And he's like, absolutely not. He's like. He walks in and smiles and it's just like.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

It's so powerful.

[Monica Padman]

He said something really beautiful about that. Like, it's sort of a way to find peace.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And, yeah, life is hard.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Life is really hard. Much harder for some, but hard for everyone emotionally. It just is. Okay, what. What is happening?

[Dax Shepard]

Play a message from cvs.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, no. I was looking at the things I wrote. I don't know. I'm sorry. I don't know why I wrote this, but I do have a scratch on my boob that I don't understand where it came from.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, look, you have a UTI and scratches on your boob. You've hooked up with someone and you're not telling Rob and I. I don't know any more clues that we need to. And the best part is you hooked up with a guy with long fingernails.

[Anderson .Paak]

There's a hickey on my thigh.

[Monica Padman]

It's my kink. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't know. This hickey on my thigh and my UTI and my scratchy boobs.

[Monica Padman]

Do you ever wake up and there's just weird stuff?

[Dax Shepard]

Constantly. Monica, I tell you this all the time. Like, I'm constantly bleeding and I'm like, when? What did I nick? I currently. I did it yesterday. At least I know where that one came from. But so often I feel like my Papa Bob, just, like paper skin and I have, like, cuts and.

[Monica Padman]

But for me, it's always in this. In the night.

[Dax Shepard]

Right? You're wily.

[Monica Padman]

What's going on in the night? Nobody knows.

[Dax Shepard]

You have epilepsy, seizures. You pee your bed.

[Monica Padman]

That was reconnected.

[Dax Shepard]

I know.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. I just don't want people to think that's something I do not.

[Dax Shepard]

Seizure induced.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

Nocturnal emissions.

[Monica Padman]

No. If I did that, I would be wearing a diap.

[Dax Shepard]

A diaper. Which again, we found out guys wouldn't mind at all. Yeah, you so cute. Got to throw a diaper. I don't know. She's 38. But it. Who cares? Guys just wouldn't care. But girls, every girl care, right? No girl would date a guy that wears a diaper.

[Monica Padman]

Well, I don't want to say no. We don't know why they're.

[Dax Shepard]

That's true. We just. Kings.

[Monica Padman]

Ding, ding, ding. Exactly. I was about to say Easter egg. There's a Armchair Anonymous about kinks. That's really, really good.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

So there's. There's a pot for. There's.

[Dax Shepard]

If we compare the averages.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I have to imagine far fewer women would be willing. They'd be like, well, this is the final step. Like, you probably live on your mom's couch. You wear a diaper still. When are you going to grow up and be a man?

[Monica Padman]

I know, okay. But now that we're talking, talking it through, I feel like a lot of.

[Dax Shepard]

Women want a guy on a diet.

[Monica Padman]

No, they don't want. But they are. Like, they put up with a lot of.

[Dax Shepard]

They do, but they find out later.

[Monica Padman]

I mean, they're not gonna have sex with their.

[Dax Shepard]

That husband if he's got to remove his diet. They're like, yeah, if you can feel his erection through his diet. Someone's gonna write in mad about that.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, that's. Well, never mind.

[Monica Padman]

What?

[Dax Shepard]

The monster. The monster wears a diap.

[Anderson .Paak]

You know?

[Monica Padman]

He does?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Jacob Elordi. He does.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, no. And is it hot?

[Dax Shepard]

I think Eric, it might have been me, was like, well, I wonder, did he give him a penis? Like, because he builds this monster out of dead bodies from a battlefield. So he's picking what he's going to and Then you're like, well, did he take the time to give him a penis? Probably. And if you're going to select penises on a field of dead soldiers, watch, wouldn't you select a big old hog? And I'll tell you, it looked like he had a lot of business going on in his diap. You could see, oh, it's bulging like crazy. It's a choice. I mean, they definitely really. It's a massive package in the dipe. You can't wait to see it now.

[Monica Padman]

In the Dyke. That's. That's tough. And he doesn't speak. He, like, speaks like a child monster.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't want to ruin his progression of language competency.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. There's something a little feel tough about seeing a big dick in a dice.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, it's conflicting and probably a great.

[Monica Padman]

And if he's acting like a baby, there's a lot. I'm glad he got nominated.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Seems.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm just saying there was a ton of equipment in the D. I could.

[Monica Padman]

Ask him about the D. Very attractive.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, it's insane.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

And look, the frame is outrageous.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

His frame is. I know.

[Monica Padman]

Duh. Everyone knows Jacob Lord. He's hot. Like, duh.

[Dax Shepard]

He's kind of the first guy that my kids are saying, you know.

[Monica Padman]

Right. Oh, wow, that's funny. My Leonardo DiCaprio or David Boreanaz.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Speaking of that in Sinners. Okay, if you haven't seen it, this is kind of a spoiler, which my.

[Dax Shepard]

Hunch is a big spoiler's coming just from the way you just rolled that out.

[Monica Padman]

There's something that happens in the movie that is revealed that is supernatural, natural. And I'm like, what are the rules of this monster vampire?

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah. Well, you're learning them.

[Monica Padman]

You're.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, well, you know that they have to be invited in. Is that one you're talking about?

[Monica Padman]

Well, yeah, I forgot.

[Dax Shepard]

Which is so cool.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

I love being reminded of all the vamp stuff.

[Monica Padman]

I know. But I think it's. So I was watching this with Jess, and all of a sudden, one of them flopped eyes.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure.

[Monica Padman]

And I was like, no, I think.

[Dax Shepard]

If they're powerful enough.

[Monica Padman]

Jess said yes. He said the Twilight vamps flew.

[Dax Shepard]

And. And I think the more powerful they get, the better they get at flight.

[Monica Padman]

But angel on Buffy, David Boreanaz, first love, he did not fly.

[Dax Shepard]

That didn't have the budget. They would have loved to have had him fly. It wasn't digital either. You had to put them in wires and it, like, looked crazy. But they would have loved for him to fly.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

I think they flew in an interview with a vampire.

[Monica Padman]

They did.

[Dax Shepard]

I feel like Tom Cruise took flight a few times.

[Anderson .Paak]

Cuz originally. They're bats too.

[Dax Shepard]

Dracula.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

D Would you rather be a vampire or a.

[Dax Shepard]

To wear a D. Oh, my gosh.

[Monica Padman]

Would I rather be a vampire or a Frankenstein? Frankenstein's monster, I guess.

[Dax Shepard]

Definitely a vamp because they can intermix and fool people. They can have a life. The monster cannot get a fair shake from anybody.

[Monica Padman]

I feel bad saying this and because it kind of seems like I didn't understand the point of the movie, which I did. I did. I did. But I was kind of like, being a vamp seems kind of fine. Like when they're all resist.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, they're eating people. We don't care about that.

[Monica Padman]

I mean, I care. I care. It's bad. It's bad.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

It's bad.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

But I did have the thought got like. Which I guess is. This is the temptation. This is the thing. Like, God, if we're all vamps, well.

[Dax Shepard]

Then we would all die because there's nothing to eat. We can't all be vamps. It's like a pyramid scheme. Eventually the last person invests and then everyone's.

[Monica Padman]

But do they have to eat people every night? Like, again, like, I don't.

[Dax Shepard]

The cons. That's their struggle is constantly having to suck blood. But that's the premise of True Blood.

[Monica Padman]

I never saw it.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, it's a great show.

[Monica Padman]

Shout out to Alexander Skarsgard.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. And another sexy. They know to keep these monsters sexy.

[Monica Padman]

They do.

[Dax Shepard]

They're smart.

[Anderson .Paak]

They.

[Dax Shepard]

You can't give us a hunchback and then also make him a monster. Also be rude.

[Monica Padman]

It would be rude.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

You got to be like, make a gorgeous guy look disgusting.

[Monica Padman]

Well, it's also like, that's part of the struggle.

[Dax Shepard]

It's like, yeah, you want to be tempted. It's not fun if you're not tempted. You want like, every woman would be tempted by Alexander in True Blood.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, he's very. Did he fly?

[Dax Shepard]

I can't remember.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Anderson .Paak]

I don't think so.

[Monica Padman]

That also was that CW or is that like hbo?

[Dax Shepard]

Hbo.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Ellen Ball. That's a high quality show. Yeah. They could. Could have flown if they wanted to.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, sorry. Back to Anderson Pack.

[Dax Shepard]

I did text him and say the moment you're gonna be dancing at Andes, you gotta call me.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, I know. I want to go to Andy's.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, me too. Will you dance?

[Monica Padman]

I'll think about it. They Danced a lot in Sinners and it was cool.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

I just can't dance like that.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

And I only like doing things I'm good at.

[Dax Shepard]

That's normal. I think.

[Monica Padman]

I think it's normal. Okay. He mentioned the Gong show because his dad. Brother went on the Gong show, remember? And then they were twins and acting wily.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And I asked if they got the Gong and he said no, they won.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. But you know, that show worked is you'd be performing and if it was so bad they could get up with this mallet and hit this six foot in diameter gong.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And send you packing.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

It was a big show in the 70s in this. In 76. The original with Chuck Barris, who claimed.

[Dax Shepard]

To be a CIA operative who had murdered people.

[Monica Padman]

Yes. This came up on another episode, Confessions.

[Dax Shepard]

Of a Dangerous Mind.

[Monica Padman]

Right.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Because Sam Rockwell played Chuck Barris in this. And I think Clooney directed it.

[Monica Padman]

Maybe. Yeah. Speaking of who also didn't get a nomination. See Hard Year. Hard year. Who? Clooney.

[Dax Shepard]

What would he have been nominated?

[Monica Padman]

Jay Kelly. If people want to get nominated, they should come on our show.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

We had someone cancel on us that I. I have real. I have like a real beef with. I'm not going to say who it is.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

It would have been a great episode. And I'm angry.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. G. Rodriguez.

[Monica Padman]

Uh huh. And this person got snubbed. And I just think that if they wouldn't have. If they came on that that was karma or. And my dad.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Okay.

[Monica Padman]

And people need to be more scared of my dad.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Wrath of my dad now. Gong Show. How long has Carrot Top been in Vegas? Since 2005.

[Dax Shepard]

So 21 years. Is he still active?

[Monica Padman]

Carrot Top has been a headliner in Vegas for over 20 years. He began his residency at the Luxor Hotel in November. On November 22, 2005 and celebrated 20 years. 20, 25. But yeah, I think it's still good going.

[Anderson .Paak]

It's still going.

[Dax Shepard]

Wowzers. Good for him.

[Monica Padman]

Good for him.

[Dax Shepard]

He's probably at this point sold like 11 million tickets.

[Monica Padman]

It says often six nights a week. His residency is extended through 2030.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh my gosh. Where?

[Monica Padman]

At the Atrium showroom at the Luxor Hotel in Castle.

[Dax Shepard]

Still at Luxor?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

Never forgot who brought him to the dance.

[Monica Padman]

He's one of the longest running headlining comedians in Vegas.

[Dax Shepard]

That's the scene of my infin. Infamous stairwell.

[Monica Padman]

That's right. You had.

[Dax Shepard]

Someone had a funny. I posted the stairwell at Lafayette, Coney island, which is the dice. See A stairwell in America. Did you happen to see that post of mine? I'm walking down these insanely tight stairs that are way too steep, and I got a duck. It's like a submarine ship.

[Monica Padman]

That's at.

[Dax Shepard]

For the restaurant that's at Lafayette. Coney Island. Yeah. That's how you get to their bathroom. Oh, and someone wrote in the comments, is this the infamous stairwell with the Australian girl? And I was like, oh, my God, I can't even walk down these stairs, much less make love.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, but you were younger back then.

[Dax Shepard]

That's true. I mean, I would have tried. Let's be honest. I would have had sex on a ladder if that was the only option. Sure. Bed of nails.

[Monica Padman]

I, I, I regret. That's one of my regrets from this show, because I really, I did shame her.

[Dax Shepard]

You did.

[Monica Padman]

And I, I regret that.

[Dax Shepard]

You take it back.

[Monica Padman]

I take it back.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, great. You're clear and free.

[Monica Padman]

I do think people need to be careful, and that's.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, you're going backwards. Two steps forward. I take two steps back.

[Monica Padman]

I just. People are scary, you know.

[Dax Shepard]

You did a good job handling how many lyrics I, I just want to say, I know that was tough, and I just want to applaud you. You, you did a good job.

[Monica Padman]

I appreciate that.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I was.

[Monica Padman]

Well, you set my expectation, and that.

[Dax Shepard]

Was going to be rough.

[Monica Padman]

That was helpful.

[Dax Shepard]

And I was policing myself, if you can believe that.

[Monica Padman]

I could feel it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I could feel it way more.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, so, yes, the Mark Ronson show about music is called Watch the sound.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, right. And that, That's. Okay, great.

[Monica Padman]

We talked about.

[Dax Shepard]

I was right about that. Where it comes from.

[Monica Padman]

Love, Mark Ronson, friend of the pot. Great episode. Okay, now remember, he talked about black up city stone.

[Dax Shepard]

Black up city stone.

[Monica Padman]

Was I mishearing it?

[Dax Shepard]

In reference to what?

[Monica Padman]

He had lunch with this girl and she was talking about black obsidian. Oh, my God. Okay. I was so. And I kept googling it, and I was like, what?

[Dax Shepard]

He's getting flagged speech.

[Monica Padman]

He said it sounded cool and he wanted to use. Use it in a lyric. But I thought he was saying black up city, which does sound cool.

[Dax Shepard]

It does sound. Yeah. Chocolate city.

[Monica Padman]

Yep, that's black.

[Dax Shepard]

Observe volcanic glass.

[Monica Padman]

I think I actually have some of that.

[Dax Shepard]

Some of our most complicated tool technology, early hominids, was their mastery of this volcanic glass. They started making really sharp cutting instruments.

[Monica Padman]

It's beautiful. It's renowned for its protective and grounding properties and spiritual practices often used for healing, clearing negative energy, and reducing stress.

[Dax Shepard]

I can't Say about all that, but you could carve a stag really well with that 200,000 years ago.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, well, I'm glad that got cleared up. And, you know, that's one of those, like, you know, misunderstood lyrics. Like if he wrote. If he sang a song.

[Dax Shepard]

Blacked up like a douche into the middle of the night.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

It's wrapped up like douche.

[Monica Padman]

Most misunderstood lyrics. And I hope it's a hundred. A list of 140. Oh, it's from. I'm going to do Buzzfeeds. Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

I'll tell you my. Can I tell you my three that Dean made shirts of? I know I've already told you this, but. Well, some are lyrics, some are words. Mine was, as you know, I thought an acorn was an egg corn until I was 27.

[Monica Padman]

Yep, yep.

[Dax Shepard]

Aaron thought a silent but deadly fart was called a silent Bedelli.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

Which I and Dean thought the Jake Isles band was called. The Jake Isles band.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

That to me, is the most reasonable.

[Anderson .Paak]

Yeah, yeah, sure.

[Dax Shepard]

Silent is my favorite, but we would always say, like, did you be deli? It's so much better to say Bedelli is better. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, Now, Waterfalls. Tlc. Great song. They're saying people think it's. Don't go, Jason. Waterfalls.

[Dax Shepard]

No, that's. Who thinks that?

[Monica Padman]

Some people. Okay. Oh, Drift Away by Uncle Cracker. You know that song? You do? Misheard lyric is Give me the Beach Boys and free my soul.

[Dax Shepard]

Give me the beat, boys.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, I actually think that at least makes sense. Yeah. Okay. Lucille by Kenny Rogers.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Do you know that song?

[Dax Shepard]

Well, hit me with the misunderstood lyric.

[Monica Padman]

When I was a kid, I heard Kenny Rogers as saying, you picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille, with 400 children and. And a crop in the field. So the actual lyric is, you picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille, with four hungry children. Oh, instead of 400.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Yeah, that's great.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

We have another Aaron and I one when you're ready.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, I'm ready.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Jerry Reed, who played the snowman in Smoking the Bandit, also had a great country career.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

He's saying, raised up son that could eat up his weight in horse ride. Named him after the man of the cloth called. The name is Moses. Could eat up his weight in horse wrasse. So Aaron and I are always like, what is horse wrasse? Is that horse ass? And that is how Jerry Reid pronounces groceries. Groceries. He's really saying, could he eat up his weight in groceries? But it literally sounds like could heat up his Weight in Horserass. Do, do, do, do.

[Monica Padman]

Name the map with him.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

So, of course, we also call Groceries Horserass.

[Monica Padman]

Of course. And they'll give you a Bedelli occasionally, obviously. This is a huge one. Most popular. It's from friends. Hold me closer. Tony Danza.

[Dax Shepard]

Hold me close now. Tony Danza.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. And we know it's Tiny Dancer. Oh, Purple Haze.

[Dax Shepard]

Purple Haze.

[Monica Padman]

Jimi Hendrix. This is a different.

[Dax Shepard]

Excuse me while I kiss the sky. People are gonna say, excuse me while I kiss this fly.

[Monica Padman]

No, this guy.

[Dax Shepard]

Excuse me while I kiss lots of guys.

[Monica Padman]

This guy. That's the popular one.

[Dax Shepard]

I thought it was kisses fly. People thought, like, it was maybe as a drug reference, like blotter acid in the shape of a fly.

[Monica Padman]

Wow. That was funny. Okay. All right. That's cool. That was fun.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm gonna listen to some Hendrix in my clubhouse. That just hit me.

[Monica Padman]

And now you're excited, too.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, because I'm loving listening to music in my clubhouse so much.

[Monica Padman]

What's. What do you mean, your club?

[Dax Shepard]

I already told everyone about my clubhouse. Okay. I watched the Jeff Buckley document. It made me very nostalgic for my Jeff Buckley cd. And I was like, I have this great CD collection, and I want to listen to CDs, so I'm going to go over to my sister's house where I believe I've left my old receiver, my really good B and W speakers, and I think a CD player.

[Monica Padman]

Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

I go to her house, I realize only the BMW speakers are there. So then I go, I'm going to go up to Best Buy. I went to Best Buy, and it was the most exciting trip of my life because I, as a kid, as you know, I saved up for sometimes a couple years to get a receiver or another one was a tv. Most of my life was saving for audio, video equipment.

[Monica Padman]

Sure.

[Dax Shepard]

So to go there and pick out what I wanted, I felt like I literally had hit the super lotto that day. I came home, I set up, I got a powered subwoofer. I already have my BMW speakers. I got a CD player, new receiver, and I set it up upstairs.

[Monica Padman]

In the attic?

[Dax Shepard]

Yes, in the attic. Oh, and I've been up there sitting in the Lazy Boy at night, listening to music really loud, and it sounds so good. It's got me so nostalgic for high school because all I did is lay on my water bed and listen to music.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, I wish I won. Where all my CDs are. All my burned CDs. Where are they?

[Dax Shepard]

Where are they now?

[Monica Padman]

Great show. All right. Black Obsidian. That was a fact on a fact.

[Dax Shepard]

Fact on a fact on a fact.

[Monica Padman]

Love it. That's it. We loved Anderson Pack. We love Anderson Pac. We loved Andy.

[Dax Shepard]

We love Andy.

[Monica Padman]

I.

[Dax Shepard]

We love Brandon Pak Anderson, AKA Andy, AKA Pack.

[Monica Padman]

We love him in all of his names.

[Dax Shepard]

He can call himself anything and I'm in.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly. That was such a joy.

[Dax Shepard]

I love him. I love you.

[Monica Padman]

Love you.