Stephen "Thundercat" Bruner -- a bassist, producer, accompanist and songwriter -- is a common assistant of Kendrick Lamar and has formed with the rapper on his acclaimed green album, To Pimp A Butterfly, and the majority of his new project untitled unmastered.
The Brainfeeder signee, who played bass and lent his vocals to several advance on untitled unmastered., explains the significance of the activity and why it hits aloof as adamantine as TPAB.
"I anticipate [Kendrick] capital to accord bodies a gift," the 31-year-old tells XXL. "Or he capital to accord bodies article like the activity that they been adage they’re activity about the anthology in a altered way, which is like the apotheosis of a artistic spirit of the music. Then with To Pimp a Butterfly, he capital to accord bodies added to antithesis it out almost. To accept an absolute abounding ambit of what it meant to do that album. The advance from [untitled unmastered.], they hit aloof as adamantine in my opinion. It still is alike a altered articulation of how able the bulletin was on To Pimp a Butterfly album. It’s about ambidextrous added with him as a actuality himself."
Thundercat, who is best acclaimed for alive with Flying Lotus and acceptable a Grammy for his assignment on Kendrick's song "These Walls," got on the buzz with XXL to altercate what he has planned for 2016, unreleased music with Kendrick, his acknowledgment for Pharrell's ability and activity to aerial academy with Jay Rock.
XXL: How abundant unreleased actual does Kendrick have?
Thundercat: Alike me alive the songs that still didn’t accomplish it [to be released], there’s a brace of songs that I bethink that arena out of my arch a little bit because they were ballsy actuality recorded. To me, on a claimed level, I was like, "Dang!" aback it didn’t accomplish it on the album. It wasn’t like “Why didn’t it accomplish it on the album?” You affectionate of go, "Okay, I understand." He got a ton of stuff. I bethink one time Terrance Martin arena me a track, I was sitting in a car and he arena me a clue that he did and it was some absolute airy stuff. I was aloof like, "Sheesh." Passing tones to get to the altered genitalia to the gem we would alarm To Pimp a Butterfly. Nobody may anytime apprehend it [laughs].
So what do you accept planned for 2016?
I’m absolutely alive on a new album. I’m still alive with Flying Lotus and achievement to be alive with a few added artists. Pharrell, I really, absolutely would adulation to get a adventitious to work with him. He’s been my hero aback I was a adolescent kid. And I got a adventitious to acquaint him that. I was like, “Hey man, your N.E.R.D. album…” You don’t appetite to be the air-conditioned stereotypical… "Your rap afflicted my activity man” [laughs], but he was like, “Okay, cool, great.”
I absolutely would adulation to assignment with Pharrell. I’m accessible to altered account and aloof kinda befitting aggregate moving. Aggregate is affectionate of amped up so it affectionate of sharpens altered senses for me. As an artist, it fabricated me sit aback and anticipate for a second. Like the catechism you aloof asked. I’m in that mode, that apperception accompaniment appropriate now. I’m absorbed to see what is activity to appear for 2016. There’s still a lot of music actuality created and there’s music a lot of music that I’m complex in that hasn’t appear out. It’s activity to be interesting. But yeah absolutely alive on my new album.
How generally do you assignment with the blow of TDE?
As awe-inspiring as it is, they don’t ability out as abundant all the time [laughs]. I anticipate it may be awkward because they feel like I assignment with Kendrick, so bodies may try and go. I don’t apperceive if it’s weird. For a little while I was alive with [Jay] Rock. I still would adulation to assignment with him. SZA, I aloof did that "Sobriety" song with her. Again, I would adulation to accumulate alive with SZA too. I absolutely went to aerial academy with Jay Rock. You appetite to apperceive funny, Jay Rock was quiet in aerial academy man. He was air-conditioned [gang] bangin’. Me and him sat in Mrs. Bounders’ chic and he would consistently beam at how brainless I was. Somebody asked me a catechism and I was on my own arete accomplishing something, he would aloof be like, “What’s amiss with you?”
I never balloon walking, it was at the Kanye concert, and the accomplished crew, TDE was blind out backstage at the Staples Center because he was aperture for Kanye. Top Dawg alien me to Jay Rock and I was like, “Jay Rock? What?” He was like, “Yeah man” [laughs]. I feel like there’s some abracadabra to absolutely analyze there but in due time it will be article that can be perused. I assignment a little bit with Punch. As we heard on that track, Punch is a monstrosity. I attending advanced to be alive with him of course.
What’s you’re admired N.E.R.D. album?
Deep bottomward in your heard you apperceive the acknowledgment to that. It’s In Search of...
I adulation Seeing Sounds too.
Yes, the one with the big apache on the cover. Put it this way, in a time aback musicianship affectionate of was on the aback burner, so to speak, that anthology kept me afloat creatively. It let me apperceive the music still abide and it can be blue and it can be aggregate that it is declared to be now and it’s okay. It was a accustomed thing. I bethink sitting nights alert to that album.
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