Thundercat

Born in 1984 in Los Angeles, bassist and singer Stephen Bruner took the stage name Thundercat after a career as a session musician that included a stint with the metal band Suicidal Tendencies in the late 2000s. Part of Los Angeles’ experimental scene around the Brainfeeder label and Flying Lotus, he developed a blend of jazz fusion, funk, soul and R&B with psychedelic overtones, driven by highly melodic bass playing and frequently falsetto vocals. His first solo album, The Golden Age of Apocalypse (2011), laid the foundations of this universe, which he expanded with Apocalypse (2013) and Drunk (2017), where the lyrics became both introspective and infused with pop culture and humor. With It Is What It Is (2020), Thundercat continued this approach—combining jazz-derived grooves, sophisticated harmonies and electronic touches. A sought-after collaborator on numerous hip hop and jazz projects, notably with Kendrick Lamar, Kamasi Washington and Erykah Badu, he contributes to the intersections between rap, contemporary jazz and electronic music.