Kevin Parker, the guy behind Tame Impala and one of the finest moments in Rihanna's discography, is finally gearing up to give us a proper follow-up to the 2015 breakup classic Currents. In a fresh Beats 1 interview, the 32-year-old Australian outlined his thought process as he enters a new era of Impala and shared details on a slew of recent collaborations.
"I hope so, man," Parker told host Matt Wilkinson when asked if the previously teased SZA and Mark Ronson collabs would ever receive an official release." Obviously, I think it's like, I mean, we were just super excited when it was happening. I hope it sees the light of day. ... This is not telling of the situation or anything, but when we were working with SZA that was like 10 days before her album came out and since then her album's just exploded and she's been a really busy person."
As for how many songs, exactly, the collaborative sessions resulted in, Parker said it's difficult to pinpoint. "It's kind of hard to say, because when you're in the studio and kind of spit-balling, I think we were messing around on a bunch of things," he said, adding that one song in particular—"Back Together"—is particularly exciting for him.
Speaking on his work with Kanye West, particularly the temporary credits mystery surrounding the Ye cut "Violent Crimes," Parker backed up what other collaborators have said about West's near-Warholian approach to songwriting.
"I think that's kind of just, like, the report everyone gives from working with Kanye," he said. "It's this whirlwind of things happening and then no one really knows. Kanye's got, you know, he's obviously in his space, throwing down ideas, taking ideas out, putting this with the this and seeing if that works. He might not even know which part of who worked on the song is gonna end up on the song until the last minute." As for his personal favorite of G.O.O.D.'s recent surgical summer drops, he wisely named Pusha-T's DAYTONA.
Parker also briefly addressed a seemingly recent studio session he had with Travis Scott. It's unclear if the session, which ultimately lasted about 30 minutes, has anything to do with Scott's recent assembling of top-tier artists and producers for AstroWorld, but I certainly hope that's the case.
