Thundercat Pays Subtle Tribute To Mac Miller During Kimmel Performance

Thundercat and Mac Miller were not only musical collaborators, but great friends. Since Mac’s passing in September of 2018, Thundercat has made clear many times how important the 26-year-old recording artist was to him. Thundercat (real name Stephen Bruner) has spoken about his now-legendary NPR Tiny Desk performance with Mac, which was recorded shortly before he died. In a recent interview, the revered bassist also opened up about how difficult the grieving process was for him. 

On Monday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! (Mar. 9), Thundercat paid tribute to his departed friend in a spirited way. While performing the first single off his forthcoming album, “Black Qualls”, he transitioned to playing an instrumental interlude of Mac’s “What’s The Use?”. Thundercat played bass on “What’s The Use?”, which appears on Mac’s 2018 album, Swimming. Towards the tail-end of his Kimmel performance, Thundercat and Steve Lacy (of the Internet) started jamming the easily-identifiable bassline of Mac’s track. At the 3:17-mark, the two can be seen getting in to the funk in their matching gem-covered sweaters. Thundercat was also accompanied on stage by Steve Arrington (vocals) and Flying Lotus (keys). 

“Dragonball Durag” serves as the second single off Thundercat’s next project, It Is What It Is, which will be released on April 3 Brainfeeder.