Thundercat's New Single "Dragonball Durag" Embraces Vintage-R&B Groove
Featuring co-production by Flying Lotus.
Announced last month, Thundercat is getting ready to drop his first full-length studio album in three years: It Is What It Is. The album will mark the singer-songwriter’s fourth studio album and is expected to drop in a little less than two weeks from now. But ahead of the LP’s official release, the artist has decided to offer a cut off the upcoming project with a new single dubbed “Dragonball Durag.”
Clocking in at a little past the three-minute mark, “Dragonball Durag” is steeped in a light-hearted vintage-R&B midtempo groove that was co-produced by Flying Lotus. It features the virtuoso bassist’s signature harmonic vocals layered with lush synths and swirling guitar licks, while Kamasi Washington delicately works in the sax.
If the song title wasn’t obvious enough, the track was partly inspired by the anime Dragon Ball Z. In a statement with Apple Music, Thundercat explained a bit of the idea behind the song: “there are two types of people in the world: the guy with the durag and the guy who doesn’t know what a durag is. The durag is a superpower, to turn your swag on, it does something, it changes you. The durag is a life-changing thing. If you have one in the wardrobe, think about wearing that tonight, that may pop off because you never know what’s going to happen.”
Scroll below for a listen of Thundercat’s latest single “Dragonball Durag.”
In other music news, Anderson .Paak has dropped a new instrumental album dubbed Ventura.