Music
Go behind the scenes of Thundercat's new video “Dragon Ball Durag”
The Brainfeeder artist dives deep into his creative partnership with Zack Fox and the style advice at the centre of his latest video.
Beyond being a bass guitar polymath, Thundercat has built a reputation for his eclectic fashion sense, love of Dragon Ball and his ability to not take himself too seriously. All of those aspects of the artist come to a head in his latest video for “Dragon Ball Durag,” the second single off of his upcoming fourth album, It Is What It Is, out April 3 on Brainfeeder.
Shot in a single day and directed by comedian, musician, illustrator and Twitter exile Zack Fox, “Dragon Ball Durag” centres on Thundercat himself, facing constant rejection while he shoots his shot with seemingly anyone in the vicinity -- namely comedian Quinta Brunson, R&B phenom Kali Uchis, and pop-rock sisters Haim. Like the song’s lyrics, there’s an unrequited longing for affection in the video, although Fox and Thundercat emphasize it to creepy, overbearing and hilarious proportions. Not to be the brunt of a joke, Thundercat takes each denial in stride -- his drip is too good to let anything sink his spirits. The sun is out and he’s truly feeling himself in the titular durag.
Below, Thundercat discusses how the video’s concept came about, Zack Fox’s magical abilities, and more.
Laughter as a creative spark
“Me and Zack Fox have an interesting energy between each other -- we met on the internet being complete jackasses,” Thundercat reveals about the pair’s creative relationship. “He is really magical when it comes to these things -- he just woke up one day and said ‘we need to shoot this video.’ I just feel like that’s something that comes naturally to me and him. It always starts with us laughing. If we’re laughing about it, it becomes a reality.”
Working with Zack Fox helped him be himself on screen
“Music videos are meant to be fun. I like to laugh a lot, it has a bit of playfulness to it, but to be honest, I get nervous doing music videos because I’m always self conscious,” Thundercat explains about the conflicted feelings he has about filming videos. Having Zack Fox as director, who he’s worked with multiple times, allowed him to be a little more loose, a little more free, a little more himself.
He totally understands what I’m doing. That’s the reason why this stuff comes across the way that it does, because we both kind of get each other.
The creep factor was horror film inspired
The way Thundercat slowly inches his way toward Quinta Brunson, stalks Kali Uchis outside her place or lurks the members of Haim from a dumpster screams creepy, and apparently modelled after a couple of legends. “Yeah, it’s almost like Jason Voorhees. It’s got a little bit of a Michael Myers thing going,” he laughs. “There’s something funny about popping out of a trash can. In this day and age, that has a certain denotation.”
Vulnerability but make it fashion
As a piece of clothing, the Dragon Ball durag is an expression of Thundercat’s individuality and personality. As Thundercat explains, like the song’s relentless pursuit of love, donning the anime-printed durag is also an act of vulnerability. “It’s something so personal that you’re not supposed to wear it outside. You’re supposed to have yourself together before you come outside with a durag. But at the point when it becomes a fashion statement, that’s when it becomes a Dragon Ball durag. You’re not seeing me in my underwear, you’re seeing me in something that has a bit of character to it.”
