ALBUM OF THE WEEK
THUNDERCAT
It Is What It Is
Brainfeeder
A go-to collaborator for Kendrick Lamar and Flying Lotus, Stephen Bruner, aka Thundercat, continues his run of form on this follow-up to Drunk (2017), the album that boosted his profile after years of relative obscurity. That process began two years earlier with his Grammy-winning work on Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly. This time around, the Los Angeles scene stalwart can assemble a roll call under his own steam; collaborators on It Is What It Is include Childish Gambino, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil B and Steve Lacy of the Internet. The sounds of the 1970s are once again touchstones: Earth, Wind & Fire, the Doobie Brothers, Stanley Clarke and Steely Dan are conjured up,
Sounds of the Seventies: Thundercat
