The craziest thing Dr Dre made Anderson Paak do in the studio: “You don’t have to drown me!”
Dr Dre is known for his precision. On many occasions, his collaborators have spoken about his perfectionism when it comes to recording music. He isn’t afraid to tell someone to record a line dozens of times, or tinker with a sound until it meets his high expectations. Someone who knows what it’s like to work with Dre closely is Anderson Paak.
The Oxnard singer signed to the NWA legend’s Aftermath label in 2016 and made multiple appearances on his Compton album. He’s released two albums on the label, including Oxnard. Dre served as the project’s executive producer, contributing to the production, mixing, and sequencing. He produced and featured on the song ‘Mansa Musa’, while lending production to ‘Who R U?’, ‘Cheers’, and ‘Left to Right’.
Despite all of the stories about Dre’s studio antics, Paak hasn’t had the same experience. For him, the process has been quick and easy. “I don’t do a lot of takes, that’s everybody else’s story,” he told Complex. “I mean, we do a few here and there, but when me and Dre work, we work fast. We have a good [snaps fingers twice]. I know what he’s getting at and he knows what I’m getting at – that’s the reason why we work so well.”
While he admits that there have been a couple of times when he’s asked him to record his verse again, it’s a rare occasion. He’s witnessed it plenty of times in person, but more often than not, he’s not on the receiving end of his demands.
Paak considers Dre his “big bro” or “big uncle,” which he’s aware is a crazy thing to get used to, considering he’s one of his heroes. He’s passed down a wealth of knowledge in terms of mixing and producing as a result of him truly believing in Paak’s craft. Dre will do whatever it takes to make a great record, which includes making his artists make strange sounds into the microphone.
When asked about the craziest thing he made him do in the studio, Paak said, “When we were recording ‘Compton’, he had me drown,” he recalled. “It was this many people in the room and I had a bottle of water, I was like [gargling sound]. He was like, ‘When you do it, just be more panicked!’ I was like, ‘Man, is he trying to tell me something? He doesn’t want me on the album.’ Like, you don’t have to drown me, OK, you can just tell me [laughs]. He had me drowning on the track, that was crazy.”
He’s not lying, either. You can hear him choking in the intro for Dre’s song ‘Deep Water’ from Compton. Paak can be heard struggling behind a skit, where a woman says, “What is going on in Compton? I don’t understand it/ Well, as it relates to this, this is not in my field as the clerk, so anything that relates to this, you’ll probably have to get an answer from Dr Dre.” He accepted Dre’s request, and it ended up being one of the highlight on the album.