Thundercat Covers Diana Ross For Candy Crush Saga

As I understand it, Candy Crush Saga is a phone game where brightly colored pieces of candy fall from the top of the screen and you need to arrange them in a way where big blocks of its will disappear in satisfying, cascading ways. It’s like Tetris or Dr. Mario or whatever. I don’t know what this thing has to do with a Thundercat cover of a Diana Ross disco-pop classic, but that’s what’s happening.

Chic bandleader Nile Rodgers wrote and produced “Upside Down” for Diana Ross in 1980, and she recorded it with the band. Ross reportedly didn’t like the track, but the single was a huge comeback hit for her, and it’s an absolute platinum-plated classic. In his Candy Crush-sponsored cover, mystic space-funk wizard Thundercat does a lot of glimmery starchild stuff. As you might imagine, he leans hard into the bassline and adds lots of jazzy flourishes, but he keeps the song’s pulse intact.

According to a press release, this Thundercat cover kicks off the “latest Music Week” for Candy Crush Saga, whatever that means. It’s got “a playable music video and limited-edition bone-conduction lollipops that literally let you taste the beat.” Amazing. I have always wanted to taste the beat of a Thundercat “Upside Down” cover. Unfortunately, I had the song’s music video playing in another tab while I wrote this, and the fucking sound effects kept drowning out the song. It’s really annoying. Don’t watch that. Instead, listen to the sans-music-video Thundercat cover and the immortal Diana Ross original below.

The “Upside Down” single is out now on Brainfeeder. In September, Thundercat released a couple of new songs, “I Wish I Didn’t Waste Your Time” and the Remi Wolf collab “Children Of The Baked Potato.”