
Slovak: 
Nazdar, ako sa máš?
Z tvojej prednášky som sa dozvedel, že na basu hrávaš od svojich 4 rokov. 
Zaujímalo by ma, či existuje nejaký konkrétny muzikant, ktorý ti slúžil ako vzor počas celej tvojej kariéry?
Áno. Stanley Clark.
A aká veľká bola úloha tvojich rodičov, ktorí sú tiež muzikanti?

English: 
Hi guys. I'm here with Thundercat, 
we are at Red Bull Music Academy (Prague).
We just went to his lecture, where he mentioned his solo work...
...and collaborations with Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar, or Erykah Badu.
I am going to ask him some questions now, so let’s switch to English.
My first question will be:
I've learned in your lecture, that you have been playing bass...
since you were four-years-old and I had been wondering, is there any particular
musician, that was, that served as a role model throughout your whole career?
Yes, Stanley Clarke.
How big was the role of your parents,
who are also musicians, in your evolving?
Very, very important, you know.

English: 
Because their open-mindedness allowed me to be very creative
and there was nothing, they told me, that I couldn't do.
The more encouragement .
Do you see the difference between the people that are
not from musical families and they are
kind of rebelling against their parents maybe?
Is there a difference in their music and
the style of work? 
Absolutely
You know, it's always directly
affected.
It's like...
Sometimes, they're more intimidating
Because there's a lot of fire behind how
they feel at the same time
it's all part of the big sea of music, you
know 
At the end of the day, you just finally fit in sometimes, you know?
You are known also for your solo work, but  also for your
collaborating with other artists
Which one do you prefer more? 
Collaborating
Actually, no. I do prefer solo more. Because I want more people to see me
for me as an artist 
And you don't have to do compromises.
Yeah, there's that

Slovak: 
Veľmi, veľmi dôležitá, pretože ich otvorenosť mi umožnila byť veľmi kreatívnym.
Povedali mi, že neexistuje nič, čo by som nedokázal.
Veľmi ma podporovali.
A vidíš rozdiel medzi ľudmi, ktorí nie sú z hudobných rodín a v podstate rebelujú proti svojím rodičom? 
Je rozdiel v ich hudbe a pracovnom štýle?
Určite. 
Vždy je to priamo ovplyvnené. 
Niekedy sú viac zastrašujúci, pretože za ich pocitmi je veľa energie a hnevu, ale v konečnom dôsledku je to všetko súčasť hudby.
Si známy jednak pre svoju sólovu tvorbu ale aj pre kolaborácie s ostatnými umelcami. 
Ktoré máš radšej?
Spolupráce. 
Vlastne nie.
Preferujem sólo. 
Pretože chcem, aby ľudia videli mňa ako sólového umelca. 
A nemusíš robiť kompromisy.

Slovak: 
Aj to.
Ale zároveň si myslím, že spolupráca s inými ľudmi, a obzvlášť keď je to reálna spolupráca oproti tomu, keď iba hrám na basu, ukáže veľmi zaujímavú stránku veci.
Pretože nie je jednoduché vždy s niekým spolupracovať.
Počas prednášky si spomenul tvoju prácu s Kendrickom Lamarom...
...a veľa ľudí, obzvlášť tí, ktorí sledujú našu stránku by boli zvedaví...
...či pracuješ aj na jeho druhom albume, ktorý je v hip-hopovej komunite veľmi očakávaný.
Áno. Určite pracujem na Kendrickových nových veciach.
 Som si istý, že ľudia počuli veci ako “i”.
Vo videu je intro, ktoré som spravil a takisto mám basové sólo na konci.

English: 
but then at the same time I feel like the 
working with other people
and being a genuine collaboration as compared to me playing bass
is one of those things that's like
It also does show very interesting side of
things because
it's not easy just to always
collaborate with everybody
you've mentioned during the lecture
your work with Kendrick Lamar
and a lot of people, especially the people, who are following
our website, would be curious if
you are working on
his sophomore album, which is very highly expected in the hip-hop community
yeah definitely I've been working on a lot of
new Kendrick stuff. Like I'm sure people can hear
things like "I"
in the video where is like the intro of the song, that I created
bass solo at the end. I definitely had a bit of a role in

English: 
the music
How do you feel about
the way that particular song, it's like
maybe a little bit revolutionary in a
way that
it is positive without it being the positivism in hip hop
is usually like flexin'
so how to feel about that, that he brought that into it?
I feel he's amazing for that, you know?
I feel like...
he is in a class in a league of his own
because he holds such a special place
in hip-hop you know like you know you
even if its you know even if its always fleeding or
always changing. The fact that he can say how he feels
and people hear it and take it for worth
more than just to turn up for the
you know you said flexin',thats like, that can be part of it too, but at a lot of a time, 
it's more about
Its like, I compare him to Gill-Scott Heron, 
because its like
his word, his ability
to

Slovak: 
Určite zohrávam na jeho hudbe úlohu.
Aký máš pocit z toho, že je ten song možno trocha revolučný v tom zmysle...
...že je pozitívny bez toho, aby to bolo predvádzanie sa?
Aký máš pocit z toho, že toto Kendrick priniesol?
Myslím si, že je úžasný. 
Je vo vlastnej triede a lige.
Pretože má veľmi špeciálne miesto v hip-hope. 
Aj keď je to stále meniace sa miesto. 
Fakt, že si môže dovoliť povedať ako sa cíti a ľudia to príjmu a zoberú si z toho viac než len zábavu...
..alebo ako si povedal predvádzanie sa...
...to môže byť tiež súčasťou hudby, ale veľakrát je to...
...ja ho prirovnávam ku Gil Scot Heronovi...

English: 
convey the feeling and emotion through words is
really intense you know is intimidating
a lot
you know
Imagine like the Control verse. That just
scared the shit out of everybody
and nobody responded because it was like
can't really respond to it because it's a
he's just very
well rounded.
It wasn't a diss though.
it wasn't if you know better you know
it wasn't a diss, it was his ability, you know. 
And one of the people 
you've mentioned
was a Drake you've mentioned that you would love to collaborate with him
what's special about Drake to you? is
is really musical
He's just really musical.
you know, he's really musical and I
really appreciate that more than
anything you know
even if even from when the sound was unpolished
to where is polished now, whatever. its like he's just genuinely musical cat I feel
you know and
I like being around cats like that
Its easily noticed because you've been working

Slovak: 
...pretože jeho schopnosť preniesť myšlienku a pocity skrz slová je veľmi intenzívna. 
Často krát je to zastrašujúce.
Zober si napríklad jeho slohu na skladbe Control. 
Každý sa z toho posral. 
A nikto neodpovedal pretože to bolo…. 
Nedá sa na to moc odpovedať, pretože je to veľmi dokonalé. 
Nebol to ale priamy diss. 
Áno. Ak sa vyznáš, tak vieš, že to nebol diss, ale išlo o jeho schopnosti.
Jeden z ľudí, ktorých na tom tracku spomenul, bol Drake. 
Ty si spomínal, že by si s ním veľmi rád spolupracoval. 
Čo je na Drakeovi špeciálne, že s ním chceš spolupracovať?
Je veľmi muzikálny. 
A to si ja vážim viac než hocičo.
Aj keď bol ešte jeho zvuk nevyšperkovaný a teraz už je. 
Je proste skutočne muzikálny človek, ktorý ma baví. 
A s takými ľudmi som rád. 

Slovak: 
Je to ľahko spozorovateľné, pretože si spolupracoval s Kendrickom...
...a tvoja túžba spolupracovať s Drakeom ukazuje, že rád spolupracuješ...
...s umelcami a rappermi, ktorí nie sú obyčajní.
Myslíš, že by si niekedy radšej robil s niekým kto je z tradičného...
...možno gangsta rapu, alebo ti je to trápne?
Je mi to trošku trápne.
Takže žiadny Chief Keef alebo niekto taký?
No, nenazval by som to gangsta rap, je to proste nová moderná doba rapu. 
Je to “thug oriented”.
Trapová hudba.
Áno.
Nevadilo by mi robiť s Travisom Scottom.
Zbožňujem Travisa Scotta.
To už je úplne iný level.
Travis Scott.
To by sa mi páčilo, ak by to bolo urobené správnym spôsobom.
 Jeden z mojích najobľúbenejších je Lil B.
On je najavantgardnejší rapper.

English: 
with Kendrick and your desire to
work with Drake shows that
you like to work with artists and
rappers that are
not ordinary but do you think you would
sometimes maybe wanna go work with someone who is from the
traditional, maybe, gangsta rap, or
something like that, or do you find
that corny?
Kinda corny, yeah.
So no Chief Keef?
I wouldn't call that gangsta rap.
That's like the new, modern age of rap. It's more like "thug oriented".
Trap music.
I wouldn't mind working with the Travis Scott
or working with...I love Travis Scott.
Whole another level.
yeah like you know Travis Scott, like you just mentioned
I love that a bit
you know it was just I would I would
love it if it was in the right manner
you know one of my favorites literally
one of my favorites is Lil B
he's like, he's the most avantgard rapper there is

Slovak: 
Vždy to hovorím, pretože je to človek, ktorý sa nebojí ničoho.
Napíše song tak rýchlo ako ho aj zarapuje.
Zbožnujem Lil Bho. 
Niektoré jeho skladby sú veľmi inšpiratívne.
A on miluje Kevina Duranta.
On miluje, MILUJE Kevina Duranta.
Sľubujem, že posledná otázka ku Kendrickovi.
Posledný rok bolo v Amerike dost kontroverzie...
...ohľadom celebrít spomínajúcich incidenty, špeciálne vo Fergusone. 
Vieš čo Kendrick povedal ohľadom Mika Browna?
Myslíš, keď povedal, že musíme mať radi najprv sami seba?
Áno. Aký si mal z toho pocit?
Mám pocit, že je to súčasťou toho.
To je veľká časť problému.
Pretože pravda je táka, že nikto by tak s nami nezaobchádzal, keby sme sa k sebe navzájom tak nesprávali.

English: 
And I always say that cause it's like, he doesn't, he's not, he don't, again, people that don't
shy away from stuff
like he'll write a song really quick too just
as quick as he'll rap
and not look at them separate you know
like, I love Lil B, man.
Seriously. Some of his songs are just so inspirational...
And he loves Kevin Durant.
He loves, LOVES, Kevin Durant.
I promise, last question about Kendrick...
you know last year in America there was
a lot of controversy going around with
celebrities
mentioning
incidents, especially in Fergusson
do you know what Kendrick said about
Mike Brown, what...
Yeah, when he said the one thing where he... 
he said we gotta love ourselves first
yeah
How do you feel about that? 
I feel like that's part of it.
That's a very big part of it because the truth is, nobody  would treat us like that
if we didn't treat ourselves like that, you
know.

Slovak: 
Ale veľa ľudí ho za to dissovalo.
No samozrejme.
Pretože je to jedna z tých vecí, kedy niekto zdieľa svoje osobné pocity, tak vždy nastane reflex.
A každý má priestor na to aby niečo povedal...
...takže nie vždy sa to stretne s pochopením.
Veľakrát však musíš vidieť skrz a pochopiť, čo tým myslí.
Pravda je, že niektoré veci sa z rasového pohľadu nikdy nezmenili...
...ale zároveň to vyrastá z rôznych miest.
Pretože je to ako keby si povedal... 
Si n**er vo svojej mysli?
Alebo si n**er navonok?
Mám pocit, že to tým myslel.
Pravda je, že keď ta tak niekto nazve, tak to neznamená, že ním si. 

English: 
A lot of people dissed him for it.
Yeah, well of course.
Because it's like, it's one of those things...
you know, when somebody shares something, a personal feelings about stuff, it's
always going to be
is going it's almost like a knee jerk it
shows like something is jerking reaction
you know
in and then everybody you know everybody
has a platform to say something so
it's like
it's now I was gonna come across the
right way with the and you have to be
able to see through
and see what he means a lot time you
know because the truth is
you know it's like, the truth is, certain things have never changed
racially, but at the same time it's a it's
one of those things where it's like it
it stems from different places
you know because it's almost to say like 
are you a n***er in your mind, or are you a n***er out here
 that's what I feel like when he was conveying more
you know it's like, the truth is, if somebody told me, or someone calls you that
or someone says that to you, that doesn't meani t's who you are. But the minute you
think
the minute you call yourself that and that's how you talk about yourself and that's

English: 
who you are
that's when it becomes that's one is a
problem because at that point
they're not they don't have to say to
you. It's something that you know you're
already perpetuating it
So you don't like
when n-word is being tossed
around among African-americans?
I don't mind it. It's all
about the intent where is coming from.
About the context.
yeah because the funny thing is...
throughout history
things are always, you know like, some
things are always like
bad being turned into good you know and
it's like the truth is
the fact that everybody uses that word
it's more
a lot of the time because of hip-hop opening
those barriers
it's like the context which people use it
is more of a term of endearment 
you know it's like between brothers you, like, you feel comfortable calling
your brother the N word
like it's not like saying your brother's black.That's how you talk...
to your friends, that's how you talk to your friends
but the minute, it turns into the old stuff, you know, where it came from
that's when it's a problem. And I mean
it should be dealt with accordingly

Slovak: 
Ale v momente, keď sa tak nazveš ty sám, a začneš sa tak označovať....
...v tom momente je to problém.
Pretože v tom momente to oni už nemusia hovoriť tebe.
Vtedy to už udržuješ pri živote ty sám.
Takže sa ti nepáči, keď sa n-word používa medzi afroameričanmi?
Mne to nevadí.
Záleží na úmysle, s akým sa to hovorí.
Ide o kontext?
Áno.
Pretože skrz históriu sa niektoré zlé veci stávajú dobrými.
Pravda je, že fakt, že každý to slovo používa, je kvôli hip-hopu, ktorý odstránil tie zábrany. 
Dnes ľudia to slovo používajú skôr ako kompliment. 
Medzi kamošmi.
Nazveš tak svôjho brata, ale neznamená, to, že je čierny.
Proste sa tak rozprávaš so svojimi kamarátmi.
Ale v momente, kedy sa to vráti do svojho starého významu...
...do doby odkiaľ to prišlo....
...tak vtedy je to už problém.
A mal by sa vyriešiť adekvátne.

English: 
you know
another maybe kinda social question
you've mentioned drug use
during the lecture
how do you think that transfered to
into your music?
well i think is the inevitable sometimes of people
you know, at first I didn't, I
didn't feel very comfortable
like, people knowing certain things like
that, you know
at some point or other, people come
to different points in life where
they're experience things
the funny thing, ironically, even like writing the DMT song on Lotus's
Until the quiet comes with Austin, that's kinda like,
that will always have a lasting
impression, because that's the only song
that...
you know like Austin's gone now and that's
his legacy
and i can't not be, I can not be proud of that
but I thought more of how do you think, the
fact that a lot of musicians
and you
mentioned it also, when they use drugs, do
you think that it
alters their vision of music or something
like that
or do you think that's bullshit?

Slovak: 
Ďalšia, povedzme sociálna otázka. 
Počas svojej prednášky si spomínal užívanie drog.
Ako si myslíš, že sa to pretransformovalo do tvojej hudby?
No, myslím, že je to niekedy nevyhnutné.
Najprv som sa necítil príliš príjemne, že to ľudia o mne vedeli.
V určitom momente sa ľudia dostanú do bodu, kedy zažívajú v živote rôzne veci.
Je iróniou, že aj keď sme písali DMT Song na Lotusovom Until The Quiet Comes s Austinom...
...tak to bola vec, ktorá vždy zanechá najdlhší dojem.
Pretože to je jediný song, ktorý… Austin už nie je medzi nami...
...a toto je jeho posolstvo.
A ja na to nemôžem byť hrdý.
Ale myslel som skôr, že veľa muzikantov má pocit...
...že keď užívajú drogy, tak to zmení ich pohľad na hudbu. 
Alebo si myslíš, že je to blbosť?

English: 
I think it's bullshit. I think it's one of those things like
you're already there
these things, it's almost like, their
kinda like,
you open certain doors, but you're still the
same person every time you do something
that's, you put yourself under the
influence of anything,
it will slightly change what you do but
it was already there
to begin with, you know, you just didn't
know it was there, you know, it was like
I don't condone doing a bunch of drugs
and writing music because
a lot of a time when you do a bunch of drugs and try to write music, it comes out like
shit.
you know, because..it's not to try to
force your hand into something, I think that
once you've done and it influences what you do,
that's a different story
but at the same time it's like
I feel like you could attain the same things
if you push hard enough...
a lot of people don't push hard enough
the motivation for doing
things is
rooted in different places, you know...
Do you think they wanna take a shortcut?
year yeah and I mean I i mean as
like I'm not to be so judgemental
because I've had my one

Slovak: 
Myslím si, že to je blbosť.
Myslím, že je to jedna z vecí, kedy by si mal vedieť, že už si tam, kde si.
Otváraš určité dvere, ale stále si tá istá osoba, vždy keď niečo robíš...
...aj keď si pod vplyvom niečoho.
Možno to niečo trochu ovplyvní, ale stále si na tom istom bode.
Ty si iba nevedel, že to v tebe je.
Nepodporujem branie drog a písanie hudby...
...pretože veľakrát, keď sa nafetuješ a skúšaš robiť hudbu...
tak je z toho sračka.
Pretože by si sa nemal snažiť robiť niečo nasilu.
Ak si ich už bral a to ovplyvnilo to čo si robil, to už je niečo iné.
Zároveň si však myslím, že dokážeš tie isté veci, keď sa budeš snažiť. 
Veľa ľudí sa dostatočne nesnaží.
Motivácia robiť veci, je zakorenená na rôznych miestach. 
Myslíš, že sa snažia nájsť skratku?
Áno.
A ja nikoho nesúdim, pretože sám som si niektorými vecami prešiel.

English: 
share of stuff that I've shared with, I've
shared with everybody
but at the same time it's like that'd
make me play how I play
you know, I always played like that, you know
And...
do you work...you are working on Kendrick's album, you've mentioned, and are you working
on some solo stuff maybe
do another album?
Absolutely, absolutely been working on new music.
I feel like that's a never ending process
yeah
is there a certain time frame, when could we
see your next solo project?
 I don't know
hopefully, but I know, definitely be
another coming up on Brainfeeders.
That was Thundercat for Refresher.sk.

Slovak: 
Vecami, ktoré som zdieľal s každým.
Ale zároveň viem, že ma to nedonútilo hrať tak, ako hrám.
Vždy som tak vedel hrať.
Pracuješ na Kendrickovom albume, ale robíš aj na sólových veciach? 
Možno na ďalšom albume?
Určite.
Je to nikdy nekončiaci proces.
Existuje nejaký časový horizont, kedy uvidíme tvoj ďalší sólový projekt?
Netuším.
Dúfajme, že čoskoro bude ďalší album na Brainfeederi.
Ok. Ďakujem ti za rozhovor. 
