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Tunde Adebimpe — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Solo work and collaborations

Prior to launching his solo career, Adebimpe rarely performed away from TV on the Radio. He did, however, regularly collaborate with other musicians. He provided backing vocals on the track "Dragon Queen" on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' 2009 record, It's Blitz!, which was produced by fellow TV on the Radio member Sitek. He appeared on several tracks of Dragons of Zynth's Coronation Thieves, also partially produced by Sitek. He produced and provided guest vocals on "Your Glasshouse", a track from Atmosphere's 2008 record When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, and was featured on the song "Deathful" on Subtle's album Yell&Ice. In 2008, Adebimpe formed the experimental side project Nevermen with Mike Patton and Doseone. Their self-titled debut album, was ultimately released in 2016.

In early 2009, he performed three shows as a duo with Tall Firs drummer Ryan Sawyer, the latter two under the name Stabbing Eastward. Also in early 2009, Adebimpe released a combined single/DVD under the name Fake Male Voice on the Japan/Brooklyn label Heartfast. He performed one show under that name with a pickup group at the record's release party. Fake Male Voice again performed at a Heartfast showcase during CMJ 2009, as a duo comprising Adebimpe and Gerard Smith.

In 2009 Adebimpe collaborated with Massive Attack on the track "Pray for Rain".

In 2010, Adebimpe was featured on Sitek's project Maximum Balloon on the track "Absence of Light". Adebimpe, with members of TV on the Radio, were featured on three tracks from Tinariwen's album Tassili (2011), and on the Amadou & Mariam track "Wily Kataso", from the 2012 album Folila. Ian Brennan was a producer on the record, which went on to win a Grammy.

In 2012, Adebimpe formed the band Higgins Waterproof Black Magic Band, who released their self-titled EP on their own ZNA records in October 2013. Adebimpe provided the vocals on Bad Radio, a track on Leftfield's Alternative Light Source album in 2015. Adebimpe provided the vocals on "Thieves! (Screamed The Ghosts)" on Run The Jewels' album Run the Jewels 3 in 2017.

Adebimpe collaborated with Rockstar Games and released Speedline Miracle Masterpiece (ft. Sal P. & Sinkane) as part of the Welcome to Los Santos soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto V. The song was also used for the trailer music for the Further Adventures in Finance and Felony DLC.

In October 2022, he contributed a cover of Sleater-Kinney's "The Drama You've Been Craving" for Dig Me In: A Dig Me Out Covers Album, a tribute compilation in occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Dig Me Out. Pitchfork called the track a "high point", describing Adebimpe's rendition as "barely recognizable, swapping its frenetic spunk for sultry synth-pop".

In October 2024, Adebimpe announced that he had signed to Sub Pop for his debut solo LP, with the title later revealed to be Thee Black Boltz. The album was released on April 18, 2025.

Film and television career

In 1998, Adebimpe worked as one of the initial animators of MTV's hyper-violent claymation program Celebrity Deathmatch.

He starred in a 2001 indie movie, Jump Tomorrow, based on a short college film, Jorge, in which he played the same character.

In 2003, Adebimpe directed the music video for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs song "Pin".

In 2008, he appeared as the groom in Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married alongside Rosemarie DeWitt, who portrayed his character's bride, and Anne Hathaway, who portrayed the bride's wayward sister. In the film, Adebimpe performs an a cappella cover of the Neil Young song "Unknown Legend".

In 2011, Adebimpe directed the visual companion to the band's fourth album, Nine Types of Light. For the film, he recruited a roster of the band's favorite filmmakers to helm individual clips that would be sewn together into an abstract narrative about dreams, love, fame and the future. Adebimpe directed the video for the song "Forgotten", as well as the interstitial clips where a chorus of narrators help try to connect the dots between the film's various segments.

In 2013, Adebimpe directed and animated the video for Higgins Waterproof Black Magic Band's single "The Blast the Bloom", In late 2013, Adebimpe wrapped shooting on Chilean director Sebastian Silva's Nasty Baby, starring opposite Kristen Wiig and director Silva. The film was released in 2015.

Adebimpe made a brief cameo as himself on the IFC program Portlandia in the show's season 4 premiere.

In 2015, Adebimpe appeared in Bob Byington's 7 Chinese Brothers alongside Jason Schwartzman.

In 2016, he provided the voice for the character Banana Guard #16 in the Adventure Time episode "The Thin Yellow Line".

In 2017, he starred in the second season of The Girlfriend Experience.

Adebimpe portrayed Mr. Cobbwell in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017).

He appeared in the second episode of the 2020 HBO series Perry Mason, in a small role as a street preacher.

In 2022 and 2023, he provided the voice for Stephen Gold in the AMC+ series Pantheon.

Adebimpe has been cast in the 2024 TV show Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.

Tunde Adebimpe

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Tunde Adebimpe

🎬 Filmography

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Tunde Adebimpe across IJR

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Early and personal life

Music career

TV on the Radio

Solo work and collaborations

Film and television career

Visual art

Filmography

Discography

with TV on the Radio

🎬 Filmography

Tunde Adebimpe across IJR