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Anderson .Paak's "K-Pops!" Brings K-Pop to Hollywood With His Son by His Side
Nine-time Grammy winner Anderson .Paak's directorial debut is a semi-autobiographical comedy about discovering his estranged son is training to become a K-pop idol. Starring alongside his real-life son Soul Rasheed, with aespa on the soundtrack and G-DRAGON in a cameo, the film hits US theaters February 27.
February 25, 2026
A nine-time Grammy winner walks onto a K-pop set. It sounds like the setup to a joke, but for Anderson .Paak, it became a feature film. "K-Pops!", .Paak's directorial debut, hits US theaters on February 27, and it might be the most personal Hollywood movie about K-pop ever made. Not because it nails the choreography or the fandom culture, but because it grew out of a real family story: a father watching his son fall in love with music he didn't fully understand.
From Quarantine Boredom to the Big Screen
The origin story is disarmingly simple. During the 2020 lockdown, .Paak found himself outnumbered. His son Soul Rasheed and then-wife Jaylyn Chang, who is originally from Korea, had become fully consumed by BTS. "I was the odd man out," .Paak told the LA Times. "My son was 8, and BTS took over the whole house."
Rather than fight it, .Paak leaned in. He started making YouTube videos with Soul, fusing comedy skits with BTS dance covers. "I loved it," he recalled. "I was getting to know him more, and he was getting to know me." Those late-night editing sessions planted the seed for what would become "K-Pops!" The idea was straightforward: what if he hadn't known he had a son, and discovered the kid was training to become a K-pop star?
He took the concept to his longtime friend, rapper and comedian Dumbfoundead (Jonnie Park), who connected him with production company Stampede Ventures. "Anderson was like, 'Do you know anything about BET, son?' And Soul was like, 'No, but I know BTS,'" Park recalled of their pitch meeting. "They just understood it, the whole intergenerational, intercultural element of Black and Korean."
The Plot: Father Meets Idol
In the film, .Paak plays BJ, a down-on-his-luck karaoke bar drummer who travels to South Korea to join a televised music competition called Wildcard. There, he discovers that the youngest competitor, Tae Young, is his long-lost son. The role of Tae Young is played by Soul Rasheed, .Paak's actual son, and their real-life chemistry carries the film.
The cast runs deep with K-pop and Korean American talent. Jee Young Han plays Yeji, BJ's ex-girlfriend. Dumbfoundead plays Cash. Yvette Nicole Brown shows up as BJ's mother, Brenda. Cathy Shim plays Diamond. And Kevin Woo, the former U-KISS member, plays Kang. The cameo list reads like .Paak's phone contacts: G-DRAGON, SEVENTEEN's Vernon, Crush, Jessi, The Rose, Diplo, Saweetie, and even Earth, Wind & Fire.
Black and Korean: The Personal Thread
.Paak is himself Black and Korean American, which gives the film a depth that goes beyond a simple fish-out-of-water comedy. His mother was adopted from Korea by a Black military family in Southern California. He grew up almost entirely within Black culture and didn't connect with his Korean heritage until his 20s, when he met Chang at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood.
"In Korean households, you stay in the house until you get older so you can take care of your parents, and your parents can help take care of the kids," .Paak told the LA Times. "There's an infrastructure that's worked out." Through the character of BJ, .Paak gets to explore a version of the cultural reconnection his own mother never quite experienced. "My mom went abroad and spent a year in Korea, but when she went there, she just didn't like it," he explained. "In the movie, BJ doesn't really have any connection to his Korean side, but then he finds a bridge." That bridge is music.
The K-Pop Soundtrack Connection
.Paak's ties to Korean music are well established. He collaborated with RM on "Still Life" and G-DRAGON on "TOO BAD." For the "K-Pops!" soundtrack, he teamed up with aespa on a new single called "KEYCHAIN," adding another layer of crossover credibility. The film's score was composed by Emily Bear, while .Paak and Dem Jointz created original songs throughout.
"K-Pop is great," .Paak told allkpop in an exclusive interview. "I think it's an interpretation of Black music, and it's exciting to see how popular it's gotten. I think that as long as it continues to grow, people learn more and will study it more."
The Road to Theaters
The project was first announced in 2022. Filming started in Los Angeles in October 2023 after Stampede Ventures secured an interim agreement with SAG-AFTRA during the actors' strike. Additional shooting took place in South Korea and Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia. The film premiered as a Special Presentation at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, where it currently holds an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Aura Entertainment acquired distribution rights in June 2025.
"Directing this movie was one of the most challenging experiences of my life, but also one of the most fulfilling," .Paak said. "I can't wait to do it again."
What to Expect
"K-Pops!" opens exclusively in AMC Theatres across the United States on February 27, 2026. Running at 114 minutes, the film sits at the intersection of comedy, music, and a father-son story that .Paak has been building toward for five years. The film blends live-action with animation sequences that emerged from budget constraints during production, giving it a visual identity that sets it apart from typical music comedies.
Whether you're a K-pop fan looking for representation on the big screen or a .Paak loyalist curious about his filmmaking chops, this is the rare Hollywood project that speaks to both audiences without pandering to either.
"I want people to leave the movie inspired, joyful, and wanting to spend more quality time with their families," .Paak said. For a film born out of a quarantine YouTube channel with his 8-year-old, that feels like exactly the right ambition.
