It Is What It Is is Stephen Lee Bruner's fourth album as Thundercat and features the singles 'Black Qualls', 'Dragonball Durag', 'Fair Chance' and viral hit 'Funny Thing'. Joined by a stellar cast of musical friends – Ty Dolla $ign, Childish Gambino, Lil B, Kamasi Washington, Steve Lacy, Steve Arrington, Badbadnotgood, Louis Cole, Pedro Martins and Zack Fox – the record was produced by Thundercat and his longtime partner Flying Lotus who was Grammy-nominated in 'Producer of the Year, Non-Classical' for his work on the album.

Silly, sentimental and serious – often all at the same time – "This album is about love, loss, life and the ups and downs that come with that," Bruner says. "It's a bit tongue-in-cheek, but at different points in life you come across places that you don't necessarily understand… some things just aren't meant to be understood." The record is dedicated to his close friend Mac Miller who...