HILLARY: There is a long history of rock-rap collaborations.
But as hip-hop continues to eclipse rock as the most popular musical genre,
there’s one rock outfit today that stands out as a go-to source of inspiration and collaboration
amongst rappers like Kanye West and Travis Scott as well as pop’s biggest star—
and that's, Tame Impala.
HILLARY: The Australian rock band known for its modern take on trippy, melodic psychedelic rock.
HILLARY: The group performs live with several members, but nearly all of the vocals and
instruments on Tame Impala’s albums are written, recorded, and produced by one person:
Kevin Parker.
KEVIN PARKER: It’s when I feel like I have a use, when I’m kind of just in my studio, in my own realm.
HILLARY: Parker released Tame Impala’s debut album ‘Innerspeaker’ in 2010,
garnering acclaim from rock fans and critics alike.
HILLARY: And one of Tame Impala’s biggest and earliest supporters in hip-hop was Tyler, the Creator
back in 2012, the same year Tame released their second album, “Lonerism.”.
HILLARY: Frank Ocean admitted that his Odd Future-cohort told him about the Aussie.
FRANK OCEAN: I love Tame Impala.
Tyler actually put me on Tame Impala.
ZANE LOWE: He shouted them out on our show last night as well.
HILLARY: Tyler also shouts out the band on the Wolf cut “Bimmer,” which also features Frank.
HILLARY: And the respect is mutual.
In 2013, Parker gave props to Odd Future, saying
“I like how they're not afraid to say whatever they want. They're not feeling confined – it's refreshing.”
HILLARY: In 2014, Kendrick Lamar hopped on the instrumental of Tame’s
“Feels Like We Only Going Backwards” for the 'Divergent' movie soundtrack.
HILLARY: A$AP Rocky was also an early fan.
In 2014, he released “Unicorn."
HILLARY: But perhaps the biggest homage to Tame Impala came from the R&B world
after their third studio album, ‘Currents’ dropped in 2015.
Rihanna covered “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” on her 2016 album 'Anti'
with barely any changes to the original--except for a little shortening of the title..
HILLARY: Rihanna learned about Parker from SZA during one of her recording sessions with the singer and Kendrick Lamar.
KEVIN PARKER: Her managers got in touch because she wanted to use it on her album.
She wanted to do something with it. I didn’t know what it was.
But yeah, it was pretty crazy.
HILLARY: Naturally, Parker was more than happy to oblige Rihanna.
KEVIN PARKER: To have it in that R&B realm, sung by an R&B singer.
It just felt like it got what it finally deserved, by Rihanna no less.
HILLARY: The next year, Kevin and his mentor, Mark Ronson, DJ’d Governor’s Ball where
they played a little bit of their collaboration with SZA called “Back Together."
Unfortunately we may never hear an official release.
HILLARY: In 2018, Rocky sampled the band again on his track, “Sundress.”
HILLARY: And Tame Impala even brought out Rocky at Coachella in 2019 to perform “Sundress”
and “LSD” live.
Back in 2018, Kanye West released ‘Ye’ and took a while to announce the
final production credits.
Parker initially thought he was on “Ghost Town” but realized he was actually a co-writer
on “Violent Crimes,” when he listened to the album himself.
HILLARY: In an interview, Parker said that creative director and set designer Willo Perron
linked he and West when Kanye said he needed some “psychedelic guitars" for the album.
That same year, Parker grabbed writing, production, and vocal credits along with Kanye West,
Pharrell and the Weeknd on Travis Scott’s “SKELETONS” from his 'ASTROWORLD' album
and joined Travis and John Mayer on “SNL.”
HILLARY: Elsewhere Houston’s Maxo Kream sampled Tame’s “Reality in Motion” on his cut, “Pop Another.”
HILLARY: In 2019, Parker has worked with Theophilus London in a group, affectionately nicknamed
Theo Impala, on songs like “Only You,” a cover of Steve Monite’s 1984 track…
… and “Whiplash.”
HILLARY: Parker didn’t always see himself fitting in with hip-hop, but his collaborations
and friendships have turned Tame Impala into a not-so-secret melodious weapon.
He even admitted in an interview, saying quote:
"I never really looked at it as something I could do.
Even on the things I’ve collaborated with, they’ve still got me star-crossed.”
HILLARY: In March and April, Tame dropped two new songs, “Patience” and “Borderline”
and the crew are embarking on a world tour this summer, meaning a new album
and fresh collabs could be on the way.
I’m Hillary with Genius News, bringing you the meaning, the knowledge
and the very tiny scarves behind the music.