Billboard - 28.03.2020

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TIMBERLAKE, LIPA: KEVIN MAZUR/GETTY IMAGES. DOJA CAT: ANDREW LIPOVSKY/NBC/NBCU PHOTO BANK/GETTY IMAGES. SZA: BRIAN ACH/GETTY IMAGES. THUNDERCAT: TASIA WELLS/GETTY IMAGES. HAMMACK: RICK DIAMOND/GETTY IMAGES.

W

HEN PRODUCER

and Brainfeeder label

boss Flying Lotus

first worked with

renowned bassist

Thundercat in 2011

on his debut album, The Golden Age of

Apocalypse, the duo was tempted to

lean on Auto-Tune. Nearly a decade later,

Thundercat’s falsetto is stronger than ever

on his upcoming album’s second single,

“Dragonball Durag.” Says Flying Lotus:

“He wasn’t excited about singing when

we first met. Now he has turned into

that motherfucker.” The pair had met at

South by Southwest around the time the

producer released his own debut album

— and quickly formed a deep connection.

In 2008, Flying Lotus (born Steven Ellison)

founded his label Brainfeeder and signed

Thundercat to its roster, which has gone

on to include acts like Teebs and Kamasi

Washington. Come April 3, Thundercat

(born Steven Bruner) will release his fourth

album, It Is What It Is, entirely produced

by Flying Lotus. It’s a tight, reflective

project, influenced by heartache and

loss, specifically the 2018 death of close

friend and collaborator Mac Miller. But

Thundercat says that even though the

album came together “under unfortunate

circumstances, it’s still beautiful.”

What are you proud of with this

album?

THUNDERCAT I’m proud that there is an

album, period. Kamasi [Washington] used

to say it to me: “Any day you get to play

your instrument is a good day.”

FLYING LOTUS It’s such a somber

record in a lot of ways. There are a lot

of possibilities with bangers and dance

songs — music he can make that’s more

accessible and easily enjoyable. But with

this record, he had to be honest. He took

the darker path, and it’s beautiful.

What complications arise when you

mix friendship and business?

THUNDERCAT The reality is, you want

that. You want somebody who cares.

Closeness can breed contempt, and it

can feel like somebody’s overstepping

boundaries, but these are productive

problems. My mom would say, “It’s going

to hurt falling downhill or climbing uphill,

but which way would you rather be going?”

FLYING LOTUS I do believe that those

relationships make the work better

and deeper. It can get a little slippery.

Running Brainfeeder has complicated my

friendships. Me and Cat have been through

shit that no one knows about, but I can

always see past any kind of weirdness

between us, because the work is the most

important. I’ll fight for the work always.

How would you describe Brainfeeder?

THUNDERCAT It’s like-minded

individuals who want to explore different

places, who want something else. Lotus

has always been a fine purveyor of other.

FLYING LOTUS It’s a place for the

misfits. A lot of people are doing things

that are very same-y. And it’s great — let

those people do that. I’m curious about

the outsiders.

What advice would you have for

someone starting a label in 2020?

FLYING LOTUS Don’t! Don’t do it.

Just run. I’m in a unique situation,

and I have good people around me

that I can trust 100% — but I don’t

recommend it. A few years ago, I

wasn’t as inspired and was thinking

about stopping. But because of all our

amazing new artists, we’re entering a

second phase of the label.

Dynamic Duo

Why friends and collaborators

Thundercat and Flying Lotus crave

creative complications

BY ROSS SCARANO

Q&A

Flying Lotus (left)

and Thundercat in

Los Angeles in 2019.

MARCH 28, 2020 • WWW.BILLBOARD.COM 35

ONE TO WATCH

Caylee

Hammack

FROM Ellaville, Ga.

AGE 26

LABEL Capitol Nashville

FOUNDATION In 2012, when

Caylee Hammack was 17, she

passed up an opportunity to

attend Nashville’s Belmont

University on scholarship; her

then-boyfriend convinced her to

stay home in Georgia with him,

much to her father’s disapprov-

al. “I wandered around playing

more shows, building a fan

base, but was ultimately lost,”

she recalls. At the end of 2013,

Hammack packed up and drove

to Nashville, where she slept

in her car at a Target parking

lot for weeks before getting a

regular gig on Lower Broadway

at Tootsies Orchid Lounge.

DISCOVERY After two years

of playing shows on Nashville’s

famed Broadway and co-

writing with anyone who would

work with her, Hammack was

introduced to Universal Music

Publishing Group Nashville vp

creative Cyndi Forman by her

longtime ASCAP rep, Robert Fil-

hart. Forman signed Hammack

to a contract as a staff writer and

a year later arranged for her to

meet Red Light Management’s

Mary Hilliard Harrington. “What

I really love, looking back, is that

I’ve had a lot of female cham-

pions,” says Hammack, adding

that Harrington “helped me

rebuild my life.”

FUTURE In 2018, Hammack

signed a recording contract with

Capitol Nashville. Her debut

single, “Family Tree,” arrived

last year, peaking at No. 32

on Billboard’s Country Airplay

chart. In February, she released

the confessional “Small Town

Hypocrite,” about the ex she

left behind in Georgia; her first

album, which she coproduced

with Mikey Reeves, will arrive

later in 2020. “The theme is the

universal thought of if you’re not

growing, you’re dying,” she says.

“That’s something that I tried

to focus on — I want to keep

growing.” —ANNIE REUTER

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