{"id":1866860,"date":"2026-04-02T15:09:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T12:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1866860"},"modified":"2026-04-02T15:09:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T12:09:33","slug":"thundercat-is-distracted-and-thats-the-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1866860","title":{"rendered":"Thundercat Is Distracted \u2013 and That\u2019s the Point"},"content":{"rendered":"
Thundercat Is Distracted \u2013 and That\u2019s the Point<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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Making his return six years to the day since his last album, the musician sits down with Hypebeast to discuss all things doomscrolling, fame in the digital age, and why distractions can actually be a really good thing. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Words by Elaina Bernstein \nPhotos by Zach Sokol<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cDistractions help me focus,\u201d Thundercat earnestly tells me atop the Hypebeast roof. He dons a custom, layered cape, silver body armor and a pair of alligator skin gloves.<\/span><\/p>\n
It\u2019s an outfit appropriate for a grand return, which the multihyphenate musician will make in just about 12 hours now with his first album in exactly six years, down to the day. Signalling the successor to 2020\u2019s It Is What It Is<\/em> comes Distracted<\/em>, which just might be his most dialed in work thematically to date.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Distracted<\/em> dives deeper into Thundercat\u2019s fixation on the juxtaposition between overstimulation and introspection in today\u2019s technology-driven ether, probing questions on just how far we\u2019ve progressed \u2013\u00a0and at what cost.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019d think we\u2019d have flying cars by now,\u201d Thunder laughs. \u201c<\/span>Star Trek<\/span><\/i> made the future look really different.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
But, alas, as Thunder knows all too well, you can\u2019t really dodge all of the things that coming at you full speed ahead \u2013\u00a0be it technological advancements or unexpected sh*t life throws at you. For Thundercat, the past six years have been focused on the latter. Since the release of <\/span>It Is What It Is, <\/span><\/i>the musician realized he \u201cneeded help,\u201d and got sober, eventually allowing him to approach his music \u2013\u00a0and day-to-day life \u2013\u00a0with what he feels to be a clearer vision.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
And as he knows, since you can\u2019t control what life throws at you, rather, it\u2019s just about how you deal with these things. And that\u2019s what <\/span>Distracted <\/span><\/i>is all about: the awkward DM interactions, the even-more-awkward IRL interactions, the doomscrolling until the sun rises, the intrusion of AI into both our creative and merely human spaces, and the fact that we still don\u2019t have flying cars.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
A core unit of collaborators \u2013 all individuals whom Thunder calls his friends \u2013 contribute to the expansive tracklist, spanning A$AP Rocky, Mac Miller, WILLOW, Lil Yachty, Channel Tres, Flying Lotus, and Tame Impala. On the production side, Kenneth Blume (formerly known as Kenny Beats), The Lemon Twigs, and superproducer Greg Kurstin offer their expertise to further hone the record.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Thundercat sat down with us to share specifics on just how he sourced the album\u2019s stellar lineup of featured artists in a conversation on all things <\/span>Distracted \u2013 <\/span><\/i>and how the only way to deal with<\/span> fame in the digital age is by \u201cpunching away the pain\u201d on Sonic the Hedgehog<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n
Distracted<\/em> lands six years to the day after your last album, It Is What It Is. Why was now the time to return with a full-length studio album?<\/strong><\/p>\n
The process of the last album was really intense, but life has a way of telling you to sit down. After the last album, it was one of those moments. I just needed to chill for a second. And at the same time that that\u2019s the case, I feel like my approach to music has always been kind of all-encompassing in my life. Even when I think I\u2019m chilling, I\u2019m still making music, and it took me a while to feel okay with just sitting with my emotions and creating.<\/p>\n
Ranging from Rocky and Yachty to Tame Impala and The Lemon Twigs, the collection of contributing artists on Distracted is impressive. How did you go about curating the collaborative lineup?<\/strong><\/p>\n
In terms of collaborative work on the project, I was trying to approach it really naturally, and just feel out where it would go, and follow through that direction. There is a bit of cohesiveness to it, and I feel like that\u2019s only because everyone on this album is one of my friends. These are people I really enjoy working with. I genuinely like them all, and I\u2019m happy that the feeling was mutual.<\/p>\n
From Kenny to Flying Lotus, to The Lemon Twigs, Yachty, and Greg, these people are my friends. Kenny has been a friend of mine for many years, through many different changes in life. We worked on lots of stuff together, and a lot of the time, the music we created was never really contrived. It\u2019s about enjoying the feeling of making music.<\/p>\n
It was a bit of an uncharted territory working with Greg, so we were just genuinely excited about the chance to work together finally. It was just a joy in the studio with him all the time.<\/p>\n
With Lotus, his work has spoken for itself throughout the years, and the moment that he shows up on the album is one of the more tender moments of the project, which, again, I\u2019m grateful for.<\/p>\n
\u201cThunderWave\u201d with WILLOW is one of my favorites. I know you two have a close relationship. Could you share more about how this track came together?<\/b><\/p>\n
To know WILLOW\u2019s work is to love her work. I\u2019ve been a fan of her music, her growth, and watching her progress. People don\u2019t realize that moments like this are not guaranteed between artists, moments where you can collaborate and genuinely get a chance to take things to a new place. Both of us were very excited about the possibilities of what that place could be. I say the song is \u201can exercise in trust\u201d because she just really trusted my vision on the song, and we both ended up just feeding off of each other in the creation, both lyrically and melodically. It felt so right creating this song.<\/span><\/p>\n
What about working with Kevin Parker? Thundercat x Tame Impala feels like a collaboration that\u2019s been a long time coming\u2026\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Working with Kevin Parker was a dream for me. Back when I was working on <\/span>The Golden Age of Apocalypse<\/span><\/i>, I remember I said to myself, <\/span>I hope one day to work with this man<\/span><\/i>, because I felt like he understood, you know, the feeling I wanted to convey. \u201cNo More Lies\u201d was the first thing anybody had heard from me in a long time. Once people began to hear it, I realized that <\/span>Oh shit, this is the starting point for my album.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cShe Knows Too Much\u201d with Mac Miller was another one many of us were waiting to drop. Tell me more about working with Mac Miller.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
When we recorded this track, Mac had just moved houses. It was very much a fresh, new Mac. He was the kind of person who kind of continuously flowed, like a very continual, constant stream of consciousness. He and I carried a very similar energy. Recording this song was just a fresh start for us, and how we showed up in the music together. That\u2019s really what it felt like: a fresh start. A genuine, new, sonic chapter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A big theme of <\/b>Distracted <\/i><\/b>is, well, distractions, and how, as your fame has increased, so have the distractions you are inundated with. How do you deal with the pressures of fame?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Just play some <\/span>Sonic the Hedgehog<\/span><\/i>. Just punch away the pain. In reality, though, I feel like it just comes with the territory. So I try not to think about it too much,<\/span><\/p>\n
What is your relationship like with distractions? Do you think they can be good?<\/b><\/p>\n
I\u2019ve always been very observant of, I guess, like, the dumber moments in life. We\u2019re watching it happen right now in real time. Distractions can take on many different meanings. I think that there are both positive and negative aspects to it. I compare the positive side of a distraction to when a child is getting a shot at the hospital. They fixate on the needle. It\u2019s going to be an uphill battle. If you distract the kid with some candy, you can get what needs to be done, done. And I think that the distractions can help me to focus. But at the same time, as we\u2019re seeing, distractions can be the devil. It\u2019s twofold.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
How has the progression of technology impacted your distraction levels?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve really progressed that far. You would have thought we\u2019d have flying cars by now. We didn\u2019t really get past vampiric, global, draconian bullshit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
What about social media? Do you read what people are saying about your music?<\/b><\/p>\n
Do I doomscroll about myself? Never. [laughs]<\/em> I try to create music in an honest way. I\u2019m not here for the critics when it comes to stuff like that. I didn\u2019t start learning my instrument because I cared what people thought. I learned my instrument because I loved it. And with that love comes the critiquing and the criticism and the pain and all that. But it\u2019s not mine; it\u2019s not my burden.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cADD Through The Roof.\u201d \u201cAnakin Learns His Fate.\u201d Tell me more about these song titles.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
[laughs] You want to know what inspired \u201cADD Through The Roof?\u201d I think that everybody kind of wants to be sick. And I think that there\u2019s a part where once you hear that <\/span>Are you struggling with looking at the screen? Do you make weird noises? You might be diagnosed with this. <\/span><\/i>And you\u2019re like <\/span>Oh yes! <\/span><\/i>It\u2019s a system that\u2019s meant to fail. And that\u2019s not saying these conditions aren\u2019t real, and things like that, but a lot of it is in your mind. Sickness is starting to feel like the norm. I don\u2019t know one creative person who\u2019s not from space, and as much as I rag on technology, I feel like there is so much information at our fingertips now. But that just makes it really hard for anybody to focus. There is no way to focus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
You have to have some ways. After all, you\u2019re dropping an album.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Well, I think everything is a decision. Ultimately, you have to choose to focus. That\u2019s kind of where the title of the album comes from: being distracted helps me focus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
How would you sum up where this album falls in line with the rest of your discography?<\/b><\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know. It just feels like whoever I am right now. This is what that is.<\/span><\/p>\n
What message do you want to leave listeners with?<\/b><\/p>\n
That distraction can be good.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n