Whether or not you know who Thundercat is, you’ve most likely heard him before. He’s played bass for people such as Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Travis Scott, Mac Miller, Joji, Jhene Aiko, Pharrell Williams, ScHoolboy Q, SZA, Erykah Badu, Janelle Monae, Flying Lotus, Kali Uchis, Miguel, and many more. With co-signs ranging from Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Brad Pitt, Ariana Grande, Stevie Wonder, and many, many more; Thundercat is one of the most respected people in the industry. And he does it all with his pikachu backpack and a dragonball durag.
Thundercat always comes to have a good time, and this is no exception. Just watch his episode of Kenny Beat’s show, The Cave, and you’ll get a pretty good idea of who Thundercat is. That manic
and sarcastic energy comes through in his music as well. For example, there are quite a few songs under the two minute mark that serve as almost ideas rather than full songs. The four song stretch from Miguel’s Happy Dance through Overseas shows this greatly. Each is about two minutes and they all just mold together, almost as one just everchanging, lighthearted jam. They hop in and out of each other just like Thundercat bounces off the wall with energy.
There are just as many fully formed and high quality songs, some of them being Thunderat’s best. Dragonball Durag has one of the best grooves of 2020. Black Qualls features three different Steve’s (including Thundercat himself) and Childish Gambino, all of which come together to make an anthem about not living in fear. Interstellar Love and I Love Louis Cole (which features Louis Cole himself) shows off Thundercat’s ability to blend jazz into his sound. Both songs feature insanely quick drums played by Thundercat’s brother, Ronald Bruner Jr. Thundercat even brings out a leader in the current jazz scene, Kamasi Washington, for one of his patented solos for the second half of Interstellar Love.
This album isn’t all fun and laughs though. Mac Miller was one of Thundercat’s best friends, and he took the loss of Mac pretty hard. The last few songs on the album, especially the title track which ends the album, are about Thundercat working through the emotions of losing Mac. Existential Dread features just a short verse about the song title, but still manages to hit hard. The first part of the title track, It Is What It Is, starts with him coming to terms with losing Mac, with lyrics like, “When I sit back and reflect from a broken heart, sometimes there’s regret. It is what it is.” The second half of the song, and last part on the album, is the first thing Thundercat and Flying Lotus made after Mac passed away. It’s a somber way to end the album, but it’s an accurate representation of what Thundercat has gone through since his last project, Drunk, in early 2017. After losing your best friend, everything isn’t always songs about dragonball durags and partying with loved ones. There’s gotta be music as an outlet to get out those emotions, and it leaves us with the most personal Thundercat album yet.
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