Reexamining Thundercat’s stellar song, Black Qualls

A song that takes us through funk music’s past, present, and future.

Is Black Qualls the most important funk song of the 21st century? It’s undoubtedly so. On the single preceding his latest album, It Is What It Is (2020), the jazzy funk bassist and vocalist Thundercat managed to unite three generations of funk artists together on the same song with success. This intergenerational collaboration includes the legendary funk drummer and vocalist Steve Arrington — who came to prominence first in the 70's Dayton, Ohio funk scene, established funk bassist and vocalist Thundercat, and the fledgling funk superstar guitarist and vocalist Steve Lacy.

Steve Arrington started as the drummer for the Dayton-based band Slave before becoming their frontman in the late 70’s. At the time, Dayton was the funk capital of the world as the home of groups such as Ohio Players, Lakeside, Heatwave, and Zapp. Slave gained national notoriety thanks to hits like Watching You, Slide, and Just a Touch of Love. They were a large part of the fertile funk ground in Dayton — which is now host to the Funk Music Hall of Fame.

In the 90’s the funk made its way from Dayton, Ohio to the West Coast in the form of samples for G-Funk hip hop songs. For instance Slave’s song Watching You was sampled on Snoop Dogg’s song Gin and Juice. These samples were heard by impressionable young musicians — like Thundercat — growing up in Southern California.

Thundercat has paid homage to the funk legends of past and shown love to Dayton, Ohio. He performed there in 2019 for free at Dave Chappelle’s Block Party which was hosted to benefit victims of a mass shooting in the community. Perhaps that trip to Dayton had an impact on Thundercat, because this song featuring Arrington, the born and raised Dayton legend, was released early the next year.

Thundercat has been making waves in the funk world for some time now. His 2017 album, Drunk, was a smashing success. It encompassed the energy of funk’s origins, focusing on having fun with lyrics backed by absolutely filthy basslines. Thundercat is a student of the funk and has become a savant. The album which includes Black Qualls, It Is What It Is, cemented Thundercat’s status as a member of modern funk royalty.

It was a genius move on Thundercat’s part to include Steve Lacy on this song as well. Not only do his futuristic guitar riffs and backing vocals complete the track’s sonic flavor, it also makes it so the song encompasses funk stars of past, present, and future. This was right after Lacy’s breakthrough solo album Apollo XXI, but still before his most recent 2022 project Gemini Rights — which catapulted him into superstar status. It’s almost as if Thundercat made a bet that he was going to be the next big thing in funk music. He sure was right. It’s awesome that because of this collaboration, Steve Arrington’s legacy is now tied to Lacy’s ascending career.

Each artist was in a very different stage of their careers when this song was created, and as a result, each one brought something different to the table. Steve Arrington brought the old school style, Steve Lacy the futuristic new school, and Thundercat bridged the gap between the two to make a timeless, cohesive, and fun song. That’s music history right there.

The song itself is a masterpiece. Lacy’s spacey guitar licks flow perfectly over Arrington’s rock solid drumming. Of course Thundercat steals the show with his crazy bass playing which cannot be matched by anyone in the world at this time as far as I know. The three come together into a funky flow.

Additionally, the lyrics convey a great, positive message about shifting from a fear-based mindset toward a confident one. This is exemplified by Thundercat’s hook “no more living in fear” and Steve Arrington’s lyrics “I’m just trying to live my life, doing my best and that’s alright, yes I’m comfortable and that’s what’s tight”.

That’s what the funk is all about.