Thundercat’s all over the shop songs

This week’s Take 5 is a dream come true. Ever since I first met Thundercat, I wanted him on this podcast. Stephen Bruner is one of those magical humans whose musical DNA you want to explore. Born into a family of legendary players, Thundercat grew up with a famous  drummer dad, who played with Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, and the Temptations. His older brother Ronald was a jazz drummer too, and a member of hardcore band Suicidal Tendencies. And his mum played as well, so it’s no surprise that Stephen Lee Bruner would come into this world strumming.

His path has been a kaleidoscopic one. In the early days he gigged with Erykah Badu, who helped him find his performative style as an artist. He became friends with Flying Lotus, and found a home on his Brainfeeder record label. And Thundercat’s profile was given a huge leg up when he helped craft the backbone of one of 2015’s biggest albums, Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly”.

With four albums of his own, and a recent collab with Tame Impala, I jumped at the chance to meet with him again, and go “all over the shop” with a Take 5. And from Stanley Clarke to Drake, this is a gorgeous conversation about music, and how the songs that we connect to land in the right place at just the right time.

• Steve Kuhn - The Meaning of Love 
• Stanley Clarke - Journey to Love ft George Duke
• Flying Lotus - Zodiac Shit
• Tame Impala - Apocalypse Dreams
• Drake – Successful ft. Trey Songs and Lil Wayne