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Apr 25, 2019Coming across as a familiar yet fresh sound, like a reconciliation of a past lover, Ventura’s soulful presence was crafted by time. Memorable and intimate from the start, Ventura completes Oxnard, as Malibu did to Venice; tying up all loose ends and graciously ready for the next chapter.
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Apr 11, 2019With sumptuous harmonies and a live band locked in on every track, .Paak finds a sweet spot between throwback soul and the 21st Century dancefloor. He sounds like the best version of himself. ... An exceptional return to form.
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Apr 12, 2019.Paak manages to both evolve and remind us why we’ve always loved him in the first place.
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Apr 18, 2019Ventura is lean and lovely.
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Apr 17, 2019.Paak’s newest project is less cinematic and epic than its companion piece but it’s just as ambitious, texturely rich, and bustling with pleasant surprises.
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May 2, 2019The album is a treat to the ears. It's unmistakably in the tradition of soul and funk older than the artist himself, but could not have been made any earlier than the late 2010s.
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Apr 19, 2019It's easy to imagine a superior album being made from sequencing it with the best of its predecessor. But there's a simple, unassuming quality that would be lost if you did.
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Apr 19, 2019Ventura serves as a reminder of the magic that can result from looking to the past to inform the future.
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Apr 18, 2019This album won’t please the fans who wanted ‘Malibu’ again because, simply put, it isn’t. But for those who are excited by an artist unafraid to reinvent and experiment, then look no further.
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Apr 17, 2019Every track is dripping with smooth chords, funk-influenced rhythms and a retro quality to the production, and is all the better for it.
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Apr 12, 2019Paak’s output is keeping pace with his ambition. But good as his records have been, this set included, you still get a sense that the best work still lay ahead.
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Apr 11, 2019It feels like evidence that Ventura is a less ambitious and grandiose project than its predecessor. But it’s also a better and more satisfying album that plays to its author’s considerable strengths and skirts around his weaknesses.
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Apr 11, 2019[Ventura] streamlines .Paak’s sound, making for a tightly packaged, melodic and danceable album.
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Apr 11, 2019This is a simple collection of woozy slow-jams and blissed-out recollections (a step back from the hip-hop stylings of ‘Oxnard’, which wrong-footed some fans).
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May 9, 2019He updates romantic tropes to suit the more woke, modern lady, and strips off the machismo that mired Oxnard.
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Apr 12, 2019It's a super-charged R&B record, laced with throwback Motown/Philly grooves, that hits hard but fails to land a knockout blow. It seems to be a case of not being able to fully satisfy the hip-hop heads, the R&B fans and the amorphous genre-less Venn diagram in between.
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Apr 12, 2019This tune-up album, at the very least, restores the underlying feeling of his signature stuff. But there, too, lies its flaw: it’s a hollow effort lacking in any real distinguishing characteristics. The album never becomes more than the sum of its sounds.
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Apr 18, 2019Ventura feels more like a collection of songs than a fleshed-out album, but the runtime is much slimmer than Oxnard and its highs are quite a bit higher.
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Apr 15, 2019Recorded at the same time as Oxnard, Ventura distinguishes itself from its predecessor by being looser and warmer.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 105 out of 116
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Mixed: 8 out of 116
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Negative: 3 out of 116
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Apr 15, 2019Fresh, New and maybe his best work. This album is a trip! For long rides with your girlfriend!
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Apr 16, 2019
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Apr 13, 2019