Flying Lotus

Whether in solitude or supported by a cast of musicians, Flying Lotus distills a uniquely crisp, spasmodic, and heady sound with elements of hip-hop, experimental electronic music, and avant-garde jazz. Regarded upon his 2006 arrival as a promising beatmaker looming in the shadows of J Dilla, Madlib, and Dabrye, Steven Ellison -- the producer known as Flying Lotus -- nullified all comparisons only two years later with Los Angeles. On that album, his first of five for the Warp label, Ellison advanced a progressive collision of styles that typified the L.A. beat scene of which he was part. While the abovementioned producers fueled Ellison, he had also been excited as a youngster by the '90s West Coast rap classics that combined programming and live instrumentation. His sound continued to develop as he put his own twist on the approach, recording with a crop of jazz artists including the indispensable likes of bassist Thundercat and strings master Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. This process began with the turbulent 2010 set Cosmogramma and peaked in terms of acclaim in 2014 with You're Dead!, which crashed the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 and spawned the Kendrick Lamar collaboration "Never Catch Me," a Grammy nominee for Best Dance Recording. Ellison devoted a few years to various forms of film work and the operation of his revered Brainfeeder label, and returned in 2019 with Flamagra, his second consecutive album to top Billboard's Dance/Electronic chart. After he was Grammy-nominated for Producer of the Year, he provided the score for the 2021 anime series Yasuke. The David Lynch-inspired "Garmonbozia," Ellison's first solo single in several years, arrived in 2024.

From 🇺🇸 United States