I first heard of  Anderson .Paak from Number One Son and Number Two Son, but I didn’t bother to find anything about him until I saw him featured in this commercial for Modelo beer.  “Fighting Spirit” is definitely an appropriate description of what he has, given his incredible route to success and multiple Grammy Awards.  Brandon Paak Anderson was born to a mother who was adopted from Korea and raised in Compton, the orphaned daughter of an African American soldier and a Korean woman.  Paak’s father went to jail after assaulting his mother.  His mother built up a successful strawberry business, but lost it all and eventually went to jail too.  Paak met his wife while studying music, but became homeless, along with his wife and infant son, after he lost his job working at a marijuana farm.  With the help of a number of people, he persisted in a music career, winning his first Grammy for the song Bubblin. He also won a spot on the 2020 A100 list of Influential Asians and Asian Americans.

Paak’s wife, Jaylyn Chang, is from South Korea, and she stuck with him during the hard times when they were homeless with a young child.  The Daughter mentioned that she is active in music for her church, as you can see from her Instagram.  If you listen to Bubblin, you might think that he is just a rapper, but he can sing and play the drums and other instruments also.  Number One Son and Number Two Son say that he is the best performer that they have ever seen.

Anderson .Paak’s music was featured on the Apple Homepod commercial below, directed by Spike Jonze.  You can see more about Anderson .Paak from his website.  His “Fighting Spirit” has indeed taken him far.

(Photo Credit:The Come Up Show / CC BY)