Anderson .Paak Gets Tattoo Of His Wishes For Unreleased Music After He Dies

Anderson .Paak wants  to avoid the same fate as some of his peers, taking a step toward controlling his art after he’s no longer with us.

Source: Kevin Winter / Getty

As fans and fellow musicians lay out their criticism of Pop Smoke’s posthumous album Faith, .Paak  decided to leave explicit instructions regarding his unreleased music after he passes.

On Monday, one half of Silk Sonic took to his Instagram Stories to share a photo of his new tattoo, which makes his wishes very clear: he doesn’t want anyone in his camp dropping his unreleased songs after he’s dead.

“When I’m gone please don’t release any posthumous albums or songs with my name attached,” reads the tattoo on his forearm. “Those were just demos and never intended to be heard by the public.”

While some fans are confused by this decision, with many commenters saying this message would have been just fine as a tweet and not permanent body art, it just goes to show how anxious artists feel when it comes to those around them profiting off of their death.

While it’s not exactly clear what caused Anderson .Paak to get this tattoo now, there has been a recent increase in posthumous releases from artists including Pop Smoke, DMX, and Juice WRLD. While those late talents may have had different wishes, it’s hard to imagine artists–who are so possessive of their work–being okay with so many demos making their way into the world without their approval.

Despite the somber message, the Ventura native’s career (hopefully) won’t be coming to an end any time soon. After months of begging from fans, .Paak’s duo with Bruno Mars, Silk Sonic, recently scored another top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs with “Skate,” which debuted at No. 4 on the chart last week.