Thundercat proved time and again that he is a world-class bassist who has worked with several of music’s biggest names over the course of his still-evolving career. The Los Angeles native dropped his fourth studio album It Is What It Is and the early returns from Twitter fans have been largely positive.

Thundercat, born Stephen Bruner, etched his name in the books with stellar appearances on jazz giant Kamasi Washington’s amazing The Epic album, Kendrick Lamar’s acclaimed To Pimp A Butterfly, and working alongside his good friend, Mac Miller.

The loss of Miller hangs over the record and the Pittsburgh rapper gets a tender shoutout at the end of the project but not before we’re dazzled by Thundercat’s amazing production and songwriting skills. It isn’t the free-wheeling fun of his previous album Drunk, but between the somber moments, there are expressions of joy. Thundercat’s “Hey Mac” shout on the album’s title track is both beautiful and heartbreaking as the song morphs into a celebratory jam in honor of Miller.

Other guests include Ty Dolla $ign, Lil B, Childish Gambino, Zack Fox, Pedro Martins, Louis Cole, Steve Arrington, and Steve Lacy.

Twitter fans haven’t had much time to get into this latest drop from Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label but the quick-hit reactions have been approving thus far. We’ve got those tweets listed out below. And to illustrate just how much this record meant to Thundercat, check out this tweet from Fly Lo below.

Check out It Is What It Is in the streams below.

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Photo: Getty

Source: HipHopWired.com

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