Thundercat | TheSocial.news

Stephen Bruner — Thundercat — grew up in Los Angeles, the son of Ronald Bruner Sr., a drummer, and the brother of Ronald Bruner Jr., also a drummer, making music a literal family language. He studied jazz and developed his bass playing to a level that placed him among the most technically gifted players of his generation before he was twenty, and his session and touring resume reflects that: he has performed with Erykah Badu, Suicidal Tendencies, Flying Lotus, and — most prominently — Kendrick Lamar, for whom he played on both To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) and DAMN. (2017).

His solo work — including Apocalypse (2013), The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam (2015), Drunk (2017), and It Is What It Is (2020) — demonstrates an artist whose virtuosity is in service of genuine songwriting rather than technical display, with songs that are funny, melancholy, and genuinely strange in equal measure. "Them Changes" from Drunk became his breakout single, introducing his music to audiences who had been absorbing his bass playing for years through other artists' records. Touring alongside The Strokes in 2026 creates an unusual and genuinely interesting bill pairing that puts Thundercat's experimental R&B and jazz-fusion in conversation with the Strokes' New York rock and roll for an audience that will likely appreciate both.

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