It Is What It Is
by Thundercat

It Is What It Is by Thundercat
Year: 2020
Release date: 2020-04-03
Overall rank: 3,209th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
72/100 (from 151 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 2020 (43rd)
Award Top albums of the 2020s (197th)
Award Best albums of all time (3,209th)

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It Is What It Is by Thundercat (Record, 2020)
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Thundercat bestography

It Is What It Is is ranked 2nd best out of 6 albums by Thundercat on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Thundercat is Drunk which is ranked number 2080 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 802.

Thundercat album bestography « Higher ranked (2,080th)
Drunk
This album (3,209th)
It Is What It Is
Lower ranked (10,104th) »
Apocalypse

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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It Is What It Is track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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It Is What It Is rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 3,209th | 2020s rank: 197th | 2020 rank: 43rd
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026FelipeBoorkesTop 61 Music Albums of the 2020s12/6116
2026mjp11Best of the 2020s (2/20/2025)73/100 -
2026 PurplepashRanked listening log 2020 201-30066/100 -
2026sweetnessTop 100 Music Albums of the 2020s52/10010
2026 videoheadcleanerTop 100 Music Albums of 20204/1005
2026jdizzle123456Top 91 Music Albums of 202076/911
2026JohnnyoGQ 2020 (2 B deleted)23/23 -
2026mjp11Top 100 Music Albums of the 2020s68/1007
2026 videoheadcleanervideoheadcleaner's 401-50048/100 -
2026 TamthebamTop 100 Music Albums of 202054/1002
2026TroutMaskGregTop 43 Music Albums of 202021/433
2026 flamingyesdeptTop 98 Music Albums of the 2020s82/983
2026 baystateoftheartTop 100 Music Albums of 202015/1004
2026Johnnyo2020 by Esquire (To be deleted)49/49 -
2026 videoheadcleanerTop 100 Music Albums of the 2020s13/10018
2026 imacgillTop 100 Music Albums of 202034/1003
2026 covecoveTop 100 Music Albums of 202031/1004
2026 Norman BatesTop 86 Music Albums of 202045/862
2026sweetnessTop 75 Music Albums of 20209/754
2026 DavyTop 100 Music Albums of 202086/1001
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 175
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 475
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

It Is What It Is collection

It Is What It Is ratings

Average Rating: 
72/100 (from 151 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 151 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
60/100
 
05/08/2026 08:46 TonySayers61  Ratings distribution  24,77464/100
 
70/100
 
03/25/2026 11:40 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  11,56170/100
 
80/100
 
03/20/2026 20:47 sweetness  Ratings distribution  1,12779/100
 
65/100
 
01/11/2026 16:13 Slewkey  Ratings distribution  27980/100
 
70/100
 
12/29/2025 17:03 mutant  Ratings distribution  1,67156/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album has a Bayesian average rating of 72.0/100, a mean average of 71.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 72.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 11.3.

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It Is What It Is favourites

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It Is What It Is comments

Showing all 6 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
65/100
From 12/27/2020 21:59 | #263309
This thing sounds great, but other than something about a do-rag, I couldn't tell you anything else about this record. There's just no direction or thrust to this thing.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 12/08/2020 12:07 | #262269
Risks being very samey, but it's a nice, original style. Just not sure it is good enough for a whole album.

"I Love Louis Cole" is a delight. Mostly because it is unlike the rest, yet it makes sense on the album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 06/03/2020 01:21 | #252782
"It Is What It Is is" never really settles on one concept or sound. One song will sound like a jazzy freeform and the next will be laid back funk. This variety helps the album by quickly moving on from the unsuccessful ideas but also prevents getting really invested in the good ones. The raw musical talent is what really holds the album together. Every instrument on here sounds fantastic. The most memorable song is easily the hilarious "Dragonball Durag". A scattered brained album but an enjoyable one.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/23/2020 15:26 | #250427
Cohesive, inventive, entertaining and emotional. The grooves throughout the album are fantastic and the production is great. Thundercat's approach to addressing loss is poignant and very much in line with his character. The saddest parts feel even more affecting because of his humorous angle on things. "I Love Louis Cole" is my favorite song of the year thus far.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/15/2020 10:43 | #249972
I like the dreamier, more experimental tracks. Great groove.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 04/04/2020 19:11 | #249538
Jazz, soul, funk, disco, electronics. Fusion. All this merges and solidifies along what is probably the most ambitious project of Thundercat. Bass lines take you on a journey of rhythms ranging from dizzying extroversion to dark zigzagging. The Stoic title suggests a work thought under the improvised control of Brunner’s jazztronic feelings.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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